Pilgrimpace's Blog

Pilgrims are often obsessed by the state of their feet for reasons that are obvious – damage to your feet can make the pilgrimage extremely difficult and painful.  It is your feet which take you on the journey; they are important.  I have relied on a number of things to keep my feet in good shape.  I wear well worn in boots – these gortex fabric boots from Mammut are what I currently wear and did the job for taking me across Spain last year (I would wear leather boots if I was doing a long winter walk).  I prefer boots to sandals or shoes as they give me good ankle support.  I wear the boots with superfeet insoles.

Next come socks.  I wear two pairs – Bridgedale Trail socks over liners.  These help reduce the rubbing that can lead to blisters.  I put Equimins Udder Cream on my feet before and after walking.  I find this keeps them soft, reduces friction, and helps keep them free of any infections.  Massaging them with the cream after a long walk is fantastic.  Make sure you keep your toenails short, without any sharp edges.

While walking, it is vital to listen to your feet.  If the weather allows, I try to stop regularly and take my boots off (Gerard Hughes tried to do this every hour on his pilgrimages).  If you feel any ‘hot spots’ it is important to stop straight away and treat your feet.  I prefer using some sheeps wool and tape to protect the area to stop a blister forming; many people like compeed.

I did end up with some blisters on the Camino last year.  At the end of the first week, there were a couple of really long stages  from Almansa to Higuerella and then to Chinchilla.  I became so tired towards the end of the 26 miles to Higuerella that I fell asleep while walking.  My body hurt so much that I paid no attention to my feet.  I needed to get to the end, to the excellent albergue there so I could shower and sleep, to the bar and restaurant for good food.

I developed four blisters.  Some of the results of my spending most of my time in solitude can be seen in these blisters having names.  The synoptic foot had Matthew, Mark and Luke.  The Johannine foot, John. I treated them by using a sterile needle to drain fluid and then covering them with Second Skin.

Within a couple of weeks of walking my feet had hardened up and I had no more problems other then some general pain.

It is your feet which take you on your journey; they are important.  Frederick Buechner meditates on feet in his excellent book Wishful Thinking:

When the disciples first came upon the risen Christ that Sunday morning of their terror and confusion, it wasn’t his healing hands they touched or his teaching lips or his holy heart.  Instead it was those same ruined, tired dogs that had carried him to them three years earlier, when they were at their accounts and their nets, that had dragged him all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, that had stumbled up the hill where what was to happen happened.  ”They took hold of his feet and worshipped him” Matthew says (28:9).

Generally speaking, if you want to know who you really are, as distinct from what you like to think you are, keep an eye on where your feet take you.