Day 9 - May 16th: Eat to Run, Run to Eat

Portomarin to Passantes: 26.8 miles / 240 total

I’ll start my blog entry today by following up on Doug’s alt blog name suggestion: “Eating Your Way Across Europe.” I get asked a lot why I do this, and one of my top reasons is that I love to eat and drink—and this is definitely a facilitator!

There weren’t too many lodging options for us yesterday, so Christina booked a room at the Firenze Casa Grande, a 17th-century watermill and miller’s home converted into a hotel. Set in a fairytale-like forest at the foot of a roaring river. The manor itself was an exquisite stone structure, immaculately preserved. The drawback was that it was a 35-minute drive from where I finished the day. Doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re running from 7am until 5pm, eating from 7–8:30pm, and then sleeping from 9 to 6am, there’s only about an hour to spare—and 35 minutes round-trip eats right into it.

The other issue was that breakfast wasn’t served until 9am, so I had to start out with no breakfast or coffee until I found something on the trail, which I finally did around 10am. On the positive side, they had a gourmet restaurant and Jax was free to roam the property—including the restaurant. So for the first time this trip, Jax got to join us for dinner, staying quiet in a down position. We were happy to share some spoils with him. Later, he snuck over to the only other diners—fellow pilgrims—and made friends.

Since I left Santiago, there have been thousands of pilgrims coming at me. Today marks a shift in that traffic. I passed the town of Sarria about 20 km into the day. It’s where, at roughly 100 km from Santiago, most pilgrims begin. East of that should mean far fewer pilgrims and, hopefully, more pet-friendly lodging options. With so many people up to now, going backwards on this trail hasn’t been too difficult to navigate. When there weren’t any pilgrims at the end of yesterday, I got off track a few times. Now that I’ll see fewer people, I need to be extremely attentive. The trail markings aren’t always clear, and Nothing worse for the mind and spirit than getting lost and adding kms to the day.

Early in the day when the fog was thick and the trail quiet, I came upon a couple moving together in rhythm coming at me. I stopped to ask if they spoke english and learned they were married for 45 years and doing there first camino. They were kind enough to share a little of their story with me.

My shin is definitely on the mend. I was able to do some light jogging towards the end yesterday. I pulled Jax after 18 miles because his energy felt low and I thought I saw him limping every so often. Happy to report he was back to full energy on the trail today, and I felt that little spark again too.

But again today, I noticed him favoring his left paw and licking it. Another early hook on his day after 15 miles, and Christina came to pick him up. Unfortunately, not before he slipped into a pasture, found a cow flop, and rolled in it. Righ before Christina got to us, a woman herded her goats right in front of Jax and me. He was mesmerized.

I got my first taste of navigating off-trail today when I saw a shorter route to the village of Triacostela that cut over a mountain on a rugged little trail. To get there, I had to scramble through a wooded area that was slick with mud and overgrown with brush. Thorn bushes scratched up my exposed shins and thighs, lit them on fire, and even after a shower they’re still burning. But I was super happy to be alone on that trail for the better part of two hours—up, over, and into the village safe and sound.

I ran out of water on the hottest day so far and I’m definitely in a calorie deficit after missing breakfast. Since we began, my weight has been steady at around 169. We brought a scale and I weigh myself after every run to assess. Hopefully that doesn’t change after today. I remember during my U.S. run I also started at 169 and held steady for the first few weeks—until around one month in, when the dam broke and I dropped down to my high school weight of 154. Non bueno.

I ended the day solo in the village of Passante—3 km and one day ahead of schedule. Now I’m looking forward to a hot shower, a good meal, a cold beer, and then some rest before doing it all over again.

I appreciate the support.

Cheers,

David.