2nd June Steady

2nd June ‘Steady’   San Sebastian to Getaria 28km


Given that the working title for this blog is 'Slowing down to Santiago", steady is the name of the game.

Some of you will know that I run and whenever I do so I run at "a speed". This should never ever be confused with the claim that I run "at speed'. That is a very different matter indeed. If I run a 5km, a 10km or a half marathon I run at the same speed. If I have to climb a hill it is at "a speed" and whilst many of my fellow runners are able to make up ground and time on a downhill section, I don't because I still run at "a speed".

Walking appears to be the same. I have a speed. I don't enjoy / seem able to walk any quicker or slower that what appears to be an innate, built in cadence. Today, on a day when I expected every part of my body to ache, that speed was just perfect to cover the 28kms to Getaria.

It’s been another overcast and occasionally showery day when the rain jacket was on and off at regular intervals, but ideal to get used to the ups and downs of the trail. Much better at the start of this walk to have sudden showers rather than the scorching sun. 

What it did mean however was that many of the downhill sections were a mix of mud, rocks, stones, tree roots, riverlets, wooden logs that had the grippiness of either quicksand or Teflon. The question was how best to negotiate these stretches?

There is a little known parable of Jesus, ( I'm not actually sure if it made the final cut for the canonical bible,) which says "if you find yourself face to face with a difficult descent, then let the Japanese pilgrim go in front of you. Watch where she struggles, slips or even stumbles and then avoid that part of the path." And being someone who likes to put faith into practise, that's exactly what I did. 

So if you are ever faced with a major dilemma in your life and wonder WWJD? In such a situation, just make sure that the 'J' stands for Jesus and not John!


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