BiggBlue223
BiggBlue
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2017 Camino Frances
2018 Frances
2018 Portuguese
2019 Primitivo
I left from StJPP on 13th September this year with a lot of good advice and a fair degree of preparation. The most important advice being look after your feet, and start slowly. The first day was glorious weather and the climb steeper than I had imagined but I have walked a lot in Scotland and learnt to slow down and manage my breathing, so though tiring it was not as difficult as I could see others were finding it.
I found myself from the second day onwards going a little further than planned as I felt good and was sustaining a good pace. I arrived in Burgos after 11 days instead of 13 days as scheduled. I rested a day then set off again into the Meseta. After Castrojeriz there is in the middle of the flat area a sudden steep climb (14%) and descent (18%) which I remember going up slowly and as I came down thinking this is very steep and putting a lot of strain on my shins. About three hours later I got a pain on the front of my right shin. I guessed it was a strain and would recover after a good nights sleep. The next day it was still sore and getting worse by the end of the next day it was very sore, and I was using Volterin gel plus strapping to no effect the shin was now red and inflammed. I sent a photo to my brother in law who is a doctor, the next day I walked again and though painful I could manage to hike but was slowing down!
The next morning I got a message, telling me to go straight to hospital as it look like a possible infection (cellulitis), so I got a taxi to Leon (77 km away) and was well looked after by the emergency staff, the doctor told me it was a bad tendonitis, gave me anti-inflammatory meds and told me to rest for a week with my leg elevated. I said I could only manage three days, and she smiled rolled her eyes a little and said 'good luck'.
So three days in a hotel leg packed with ice (ten minutes every hour) gels, meds, beers and prayers appeared to make no difference. on Oct 2nd I set off again and started to walk by the time I got to Astorga the leg was swollen and sore. I knew it wasn't infected, but I also knew others with shin splints and tendonitis had made good recoveries after a few days rest. I hiked up to Cruz De Ferro and the descent into Molinaseca was very painful on the leg.
Other pilgrims who looked at it all said "looks bad you should see a doctor", so I called home and with a very very heavy heart decided my Camino was now over. I made arrangements to go to Madrid and fly back to London the next day.
After arriving in London it was arranged for me to get blood tests and an X-Ray. The bloods were fine and I got a call from the doctor telling me that I had clear evidence of stress fractures on my right tibia. And that i did the right thing to come off the walk, had I continued it would only have gotten worse with the possible outcome of permanent damage. It also explained why the meds, gels strapping etc did nothing to alleviate the condition, and why the swelling just got worse.
My brother in law is an orthopedic surgeon and said shin splints/stress fractures are very hard to diagnose accurately without MRI or x-ray. He added had they x-rayed in Leon nothing would have shown up as stress fractures are so small (but painful).
I think having a 21 year old brain in my 61 year old body would have been the cause of my going too fast at the start, plus maybe I did not prepare myself sufficiently though I did train for a month or so before, and never more then 11km (Mmm there is a clue perhaps). It is possible the orthotic insteps I had put in put too much weight onto the front of my foot, then the steep descent after Castrojeriz was the straw that broke the camels back in my case.
I have 4 weeks leg rest then will return next year march to finish off, (it's not going anywhere) I was very sorry not to finish with the many friends I made along the way, but know beyond any doubt I could not have finished.
Stress fractures I think are a lot more common on the Camino than others imagine so if your pain is not helped by regular painkillers or anti inflammatories, consider stress fracture. It requires you to stop, as it is not only very painful but can cause problems later.
Curiously the weather for me had been amazing three hours of light gentle rain during my camino but that was it, my friends who are almost finished tell me the weather has been great. In fact whilst walking in the MEseta it was regularly 34/35C too hot if anything.
The other memory I have of this trip is how busy the Camino was, so many pilgrims and I was told it was the busiest September on record I think everyone had the same logic.
1. Schools are back, it'll be quieter
2. Colleges are back it'll be quieter
3 Folks are back at work. it'll be quieter
4. It's not too hot in mid Sept,
5. Well I guess all things considered It'll be quieter
Not so, I usually left around 06.30 and there were always people out on the path at that time. If I left at 8AM it was at times like a sponsored walk so many folk. The early folk were in a race for a bed, the later folks tended to have reservations, most people had one story of their albergue being full and having to walk to the next one. Next time I would go a little earlier (March) or later (October), that said it is wonderful to meet so many fantastic folk. And if you have to walk a little further, it'll be quieter.
I found myself from the second day onwards going a little further than planned as I felt good and was sustaining a good pace. I arrived in Burgos after 11 days instead of 13 days as scheduled. I rested a day then set off again into the Meseta. After Castrojeriz there is in the middle of the flat area a sudden steep climb (14%) and descent (18%) which I remember going up slowly and as I came down thinking this is very steep and putting a lot of strain on my shins. About three hours later I got a pain on the front of my right shin. I guessed it was a strain and would recover after a good nights sleep. The next day it was still sore and getting worse by the end of the next day it was very sore, and I was using Volterin gel plus strapping to no effect the shin was now red and inflammed. I sent a photo to my brother in law who is a doctor, the next day I walked again and though painful I could manage to hike but was slowing down!
The next morning I got a message, telling me to go straight to hospital as it look like a possible infection (cellulitis), so I got a taxi to Leon (77 km away) and was well looked after by the emergency staff, the doctor told me it was a bad tendonitis, gave me anti-inflammatory meds and told me to rest for a week with my leg elevated. I said I could only manage three days, and she smiled rolled her eyes a little and said 'good luck'.
So three days in a hotel leg packed with ice (ten minutes every hour) gels, meds, beers and prayers appeared to make no difference. on Oct 2nd I set off again and started to walk by the time I got to Astorga the leg was swollen and sore. I knew it wasn't infected, but I also knew others with shin splints and tendonitis had made good recoveries after a few days rest. I hiked up to Cruz De Ferro and the descent into Molinaseca was very painful on the leg.
Other pilgrims who looked at it all said "looks bad you should see a doctor", so I called home and with a very very heavy heart decided my Camino was now over. I made arrangements to go to Madrid and fly back to London the next day.
After arriving in London it was arranged for me to get blood tests and an X-Ray. The bloods were fine and I got a call from the doctor telling me that I had clear evidence of stress fractures on my right tibia. And that i did the right thing to come off the walk, had I continued it would only have gotten worse with the possible outcome of permanent damage. It also explained why the meds, gels strapping etc did nothing to alleviate the condition, and why the swelling just got worse.
My brother in law is an orthopedic surgeon and said shin splints/stress fractures are very hard to diagnose accurately without MRI or x-ray. He added had they x-rayed in Leon nothing would have shown up as stress fractures are so small (but painful).
I think having a 21 year old brain in my 61 year old body would have been the cause of my going too fast at the start, plus maybe I did not prepare myself sufficiently though I did train for a month or so before, and never more then 11km (Mmm there is a clue perhaps). It is possible the orthotic insteps I had put in put too much weight onto the front of my foot, then the steep descent after Castrojeriz was the straw that broke the camels back in my case.
I have 4 weeks leg rest then will return next year march to finish off, (it's not going anywhere) I was very sorry not to finish with the many friends I made along the way, but know beyond any doubt I could not have finished.
Stress fractures I think are a lot more common on the Camino than others imagine so if your pain is not helped by regular painkillers or anti inflammatories, consider stress fracture. It requires you to stop, as it is not only very painful but can cause problems later.
Curiously the weather for me had been amazing three hours of light gentle rain during my camino but that was it, my friends who are almost finished tell me the weather has been great. In fact whilst walking in the MEseta it was regularly 34/35C too hot if anything.
The other memory I have of this trip is how busy the Camino was, so many pilgrims and I was told it was the busiest September on record I think everyone had the same logic.
1. Schools are back, it'll be quieter
2. Colleges are back it'll be quieter
3 Folks are back at work. it'll be quieter
4. It's not too hot in mid Sept,
5. Well I guess all things considered It'll be quieter
Not so, I usually left around 06.30 and there were always people out on the path at that time. If I left at 8AM it was at times like a sponsored walk so many folk. The early folk were in a race for a bed, the later folks tended to have reservations, most people had one story of their albergue being full and having to walk to the next one. Next time I would go a little earlier (March) or later (October), that said it is wonderful to meet so many fantastic folk. And if you have to walk a little further, it'll be quieter.
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