There’s nothing people love more than giving advice.
But experience is still the best advice possible.
It was only the first stage and some peregrines tried to catch the bunny. This “hunt” ended (read: a tumble) with a terrible pain in the knee. The fellow sufferer decided to hit the road despite the mishap, which of course turned out to be a bad decision. Quelle surprise, right? I remember the pain during my first Camino, which, granted, joined me somewhere in the middle of the trip. It was the pain one never forgets. And no, it wasn’t the good kind of pain. So, this time it was up to me. He silently knew the situation was about to get even worse, but wouldn’t admit it, since all he wanted was walk. And I get it, if anyone, I do. Because I had that experience.
He told me it was his first Camino and that he’s going to Santiago. I smiled and told him he’s not going far with that knee and it was just a matter of time before the other one decided to give up if he didn’t do anything about it. He wasn’t thrilled about my idea, so I had to put his options on a metaphorical scale: on one side there was suffering in a form of a three-day rest, while on the other there were thirty days of agony brought by every step – which was a horrifying aspect if he loved walking and enjoyed nature. Today, while we were sipping the morning coffee, he told me he’s even considering merging two stages into one. Say what you want, but this is a guy with a good sense of humor. Sure, I had that idea too, but the Camino app warned me against it. As far as ascends and descends are concerned, these two stages are the most demanding. It’ll be a bitch for healthy legs, let alone the bruised variety.
Our conversation ended with his outpour of Italian swear words and him saying he’ll sleep on it.
I think I know his decision.
Now, let’s pray. :)