Firstly, if it doesn’t improve you should seek medical help.
We finished 10 days ago. We took 38 days with days off in Pamplona, Burgos and Leon. We are still in Europe doing the touristy thing and fortunately didn’t have to rush back to work. I have a recovering blister on my heel that can’t decide if it’s going to recover or not. Our feet are only just recovering from the tingling and we do regular trigger pointing to ease it and encourage circulation. The shaky legs are also just recovering. What I have found, not so much Ian, is that I am extremely lethargic and tire easily. I want to be in bed by 9pm. I just want to sit and do nothing, which is extremely hard on our European friends. Our recent joint replacements gave minimal problems, shoutouts to our surgeons.
With our limited medical knowledge we have reached the following unproven physiological explanations (please don’t hold it against us as we are probably wrong but just needed to justify how we felt). For nearly 6 weeks we were propelled by adrenaline. To get up early, get done and be out by 8am. For a non morning person like me it was an awesome challenge and accomplishment. To try to do it early in order to avoid the heat was difficult because I am such a slow walker. In the first 4 days we started at 8 and finished at 5 until we got wise and in Pamplona sent a bag on to Santiago. Sorry, I’m digressing here because I’m reliving. Every day there was a pounding of the soles on the different terrains, which with the weight of the pack, changed the dimensions of the feet and the bracing of the body in order to achieve the daily goal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. We loved it. Even after the second week when we were stronger and weren’t so tired, the body was still working and changing to accommodate what was happening. We think that the day to day adrenaline rush, the meeting of exceptional people, the excitement of first getting up and going to the last kilometres of #&$*(mine) added to all the changes. Then settling into a daily routine and being more efficient in settling down at the end of the day and learning how to pace yourself, even the evening in your own little territory.
To get back to my ‘theory’. We think that with the withdrawal of adrenaline the body is settling and inducing a ‘down’ feeling. We are also thus feeling the aches and pains that we didn’t feel because of the increased adrenaline while walking. It takes time for the body to recognise this and adjust accordingly. So we assume it will take some time.
Sorry for the rambling. We have been so busy with buses, trains and planes we haven’t actually had a chance to really be alone. Probably when we get back to Australia and watch all our videos we will be in another place and probably have another ‘theory’.
Do see a doctor for some neurological testing. My nerve transmission speed is a bit below 90% of normal, so that affects balance. Numb feet means that it takes a bit longer to make those micro-corrections to stay stable.
