It was all going so well.
After the leg incident a few days into France I was worried I wouldn’t be able to carry on with the walk. But then 10 days of rest at the lovely organic farm/campsite I thought I was cured.
I continued into Belgium. After a few days of low mileage walking I upped the distance, and maybe that was the problem.
Basically it begins like shin splints, but the pain remains even when I stop. Unfortunately this time it kicked in on a particularly rural section and so I had to keep pushing through for another 30 km or so to reach Maastricht. I jumped on a train to Aachen where I’d found a cheap hotel. The next day I could barely walk.
An additional problem is that some older homeless blokes are reduced to an alcoholic shuffle. With my rucksack and unkempt beard my hobbly gait completed the image. I was generally given a wide birth.
Clearly something is wrong. It seems like I’m suffering from a stress fracture, but I won’t know for sure until I return home and see a doctor. The most worrying aspect is that this sort of injury usually affects runners, not walkers. Maybe my bones are rubbish.
Anyway, for now, I’ll bow out and give my dicky leg a proper rest and hope to be able to carry on from where I left off later in the year.
Thank you for your support. This isn’t over.
