Last time I walked, 2 years ago, arthritis was an issue for me, compounded by my stupidity in not packing my prescription medication. My toes and fingers were quite deformed.
Getting started was the worst. I seemed fine once the body had warmed up and everything was moving, but after stopping it was always hard to get going again. All my joints would ache, paricularly hips. Getting out of bed in the morning was very slow and painful. Hobbling for the first half hour was normal.
The good thing was that over-the-counter pain killers seem available without prescription in Spain in much stronger doses than in Australia (and I presume NZ).
I changed my diet six months ago in order to lose some weight and a side effect is that I am now off the medication and pain free. And no, I'm not about to preach about the diet - it is weird and will probably kill me.