Moclin to Alcalá la Real 25km

Although I woke up about an hour before the alarm was due to go off, I had a really good night's sleep, I was warm and comfortable underneath the duvet. We got up and got ready and were on the road by 0630. Today's stage was 25km, but the first section was all downhill. For once it did not take a long time for us to get out of the town - Moclin is a very small place. As soon as we reached the edge of the town we found ourselves on a very steep descent on a gravel path, we both slipped a couple of times but managed not to fall. The walk was pleasant enough once we got to the bottom of the hill, the path was a mixture of tarmac, gravel and earth, and fairly level. The yellow arrows were easy to follow and we didn't need to consult the map very much. At roughly the halfway point, we stopped at a little village that had a cafe, and had some breakfast, we were ready for it by then having walked for about 3 hours.

I started to get a severe pain in my lower right leg, every step was agony, but we were only halfway and so there was no option but to keep on going. Ken reminded me that according to research by the SAS, when you get to the point you feel like you can't go on, and that you have nothing left to give, you have reached the end of your rope, you are actually only at 40%. Unfortunately I wasn't in the SAS. The path had one steep ascent and a few quite steep ones, but for the most part it was level. Still, I was very glad when we arrived in Alcalá la Real.

After all the usual camino/albergue tasks were done, I spent some time on WhatsApp booking beds for the next few days, my leg was too sore to wander about the town. According to the guidebook, the next stage has no major ascents or descents so hopefully it will be a straightforward walk. I messaged Jaap about the pain in my leg in case there was something I could be doing about it. He thought it was just strain from muscles, ligaments etc being used to an extent and in ways that I was not used to, and it would get better over the next few days. I also thought that I might have to buy new shoes when we got to Córdoba. The ones I brought with me were not new, I had bought them for my trip to Yosemite, but the tread was now worn almost to nothing, my feet were very sore, it occurred to me that might be contributing to the pain in my leg.

Ken got some news from home and has said that he might have to return once we got to Merida.もっと詳しく