Walk It Off - The New Camino

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Early on on The Camino we had a saying when we got tired or the going got rough - WALK IT OFF! It became a bit of a joke. When we saw that sign that said 10 more kilometers and we thought it was only 5 you would hear someone say - WALK IT OFF! So today I took walk it off to a different place, but let me back up a bit first.

The Camino has been changing. We new it would but we didn't realize the impact it would have on us. It really first started hapening 2 days ago in Ocebreiro. About 5k from there a busload 20-30 maybe more scouts we dropped off by bus. They walked the 5k to the municipal albergue were many of us were staying. It was funny listening to them talk about how far they had walked. OMG! Well according to the rules of municipals large groups have to wait until the last hour before they can get a room. I have to say I have to say I actually felt sorry for the kids - had to sit around and wait in the heat from about 2pm until 9pm. Lucky them - they did get beds though.

This was the first time I saw this. I have seen more now. next day there were more newbies on the Camino. And today - as I passed the marker that indicate3d 100k more to Santiago - even more newbies were present. In order to get your recognition and certificate in Santiago you have to walk at least 100k. Camino is crowded now - family outings, tons of young people just having fun, lots of groups and those who only have time to walk a small section. There is really no quiet time to walk alone and meditate and talk to God like I used to. I guess that in itself is a lesson of what I will have to deal with in keeping God in my life like He has been on the Camino up to this point! It is hard to have the same kiind of conversations - even in your head - with so much activity around you.

As I walked this morning I contemplated how The Camino had changed, but then a thought occurred to me.... Yes there were many more people, but was it The Camino so much or me and my attitude. As hard as you try you can't help but being a little resentful and judgemental of the newbies. You watch them buzz by you on their fresh legs and you just think - hmmm let's see them go over the Pyrenees in the rain and sleet! Or you listen to them laugh and carry on like the Camino is a party and you think lets see them do a 30k across the mesata! It just happens, those thoughts, even if you don't want them to. At the first stop of the day - it was time for my 3 hour into the Camino cafe con leche and breakfast stop - I was angry by the crowds. I went to the bathroom and then almost walked on with out my coffee and breakfast. But realizing that was dumb I stopped. I talked to some of my long time friends outside the crowded bar and we shared our same sense of sadness and frustration at the cahnge in The Camino. They all felt it too. We also discussed how some of it might be us too - knowing we were finishing soon maybe this attitude is part of the psychological pulling away from a way we have become used to .... what will life be like no longer on The Camino. It has changed us and as normal human beings we resist and resent that change just a bit. Even though every day we say we are tired of walking! The newbies give us a concrete something to blame as we pull away and prepare for the end.

I pray continually for patience with the newbies. I try to rejoice in the fact that at least they get to do a small portion of the Camino. I have thought about doing a service and study tour with SOTA students. If we did that I would only be able to take them for a sm.portion. Or what if I only had 2 or 3 weeks to do the Camino, then I would be one of those newbies. Better some then none at all. Yet, even knowing this, you fight the resentment despite yourself. I do feel sorry for them in a way too. They didn't get to experience some of the real suffering that really effects you and makes the Camino a life changing event in an epic way - the crossing of the mesata and the Pyrenees; the Walk it Off when you want to quit but you have no choice but go on as there is nowhere for you to stop and quit at. I pray in their short walks they experience miracles and life changing events without these things. I hope they have them on at least a small scale!

So today I "walked it off"! As the guidebooks and thge Camino signs directed everyone to Portomarin, I chose to walk on. The guidebooks, which I don't carry as I walk on faith, te3ll you there is only one albergue and it only has 28 beds, so best bet is to stop at Portomarin. The signs route you up the stairs and up the hill rather then around the town and back across the lake and onto Gonzo. I walked into Portomarin and saw all my friends waiting for the municipal albergue to open. I heard others tell me all the privates were full and I walked on. I prayed I was litening to God's direction as I had asked Him for it earlier as we were approaching the city. I am not sure I was listening to Him or my own stubborness that said I am not going to sit down in the heat and wait for the albergue to open when there is still walk left in me. I said and pray and WALKED IT OFF! Praying for God to make sure there was a bed left for me when I got to Gonzar 8k further down the road! Ia bit angry as I headed back out of town and realized the signs had purposefully routed us up those stairs and into town when really we could have just circled around and walked on. But I realilzed that even back in the day the ancient pilgrims would have headed into town for food and shelter and the church.

The beauty of the walk I encountered for the next 2 hours was that I again had my quiet time with God. I only encountered 4 people on the trail and a few bicylist. Another lesson - going back to reality I will have to seek out my private time with God. It probably won't come to me easily as it had earlier on the Camino - I would have to find it and prepare to work for it some in the future! It was a lovely two hours and I was blessed when I arrived here with a bed in the albergue and a great peregrino's meal in the cafe across the street!

Some other thoughts along the way today. The cyclists are fewer now. I don't know why but they are. The ones that come down the trail are kinda a pain as they take up too much space on the now congested path! However they are much better than the newbies - the cyclists almost offer a gracias when you move and a Buen Camino! The newbies barely speak and ignore you as you go by. Gone are the days when you actually got tired of saying or hearing Buen Camino and getting asked by one more person where you started and how long have you been walking. We actrually miss those times now! I also got to thinking about the constant pain. If you are an athlete you know about training routines. You mix up your training exercises and don't do the exact same thing day after day. You also take rest breaks to allow your muscles to recooperate. I wondered why the Camino never seemed to get easier. Well if you think about it we never do any of that. We walk every day - day after day - on the same two feet. There is no change in the routine. Our feet and legs do all the work EVERY day and if we take a short day or a day off it isn't enough to recooperate. Our poor legs and feet never really get the rest they need. There is no upper body workout for the day or some weightlifting - except to throw our packs on our backs! So no the Camino never really gets easier. So yes those newbies can blow by us on their fresh legs. The difference is that we know about JUST WALK IT OFF! When they stop for a rest half way up that hill we keep trudging! When they are done after 20k we can do another 10 if we have to! We still hurt and our feet hate us but we know The Camino way is to JUST WALK IT OFF!

So July 24th I will meet many of my Camino friends for noon mass at the cathedral. The word has got out among us old timers. Our one last big get together. I am sure the tears will flow. It will be a hard day. Many of us have become a family - bound by the Camino and the experiences we have shared. I do dread the end myself. I will walk on to Finisterre, but that is not the same. That is just for fun - wow never thought I would take up a 3 day walk just for fun - it is no longer the Camino.

We joke on how it will be when we go back home. Will we walk past people and say Hola and Buen Camino just out of habit. Will we take the dog for a 5 miles walk now with the dog wondering what the hell is going on. And where is the wine and bread with our meal - don't you know that is standard! And where is my bunkbed - the I want to be on top jokes! What I don't have to wash my clothes by hand and hang them on the line with everyone else's?! I am sure my feet will wonder what happened to the daily masasges they have gottn. Walking 20-30k a day you have to rmember your best friends! Feet are so important.

Buen Camino to you my friends. The time to end is fast approaching. It will be a hard change. The Camino has become a comfort and a joy even in its difficulties!

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