Fabulous day today! 22K and I could have kept walking. Cutting out the front of my left hiking shoe has made all the difference in the world and for the first time since I started walking however many days ago, I could actually just walk with a natural step and simply enjoy the day, the walk, the countryside. Unimaginably good; I had forgotten what a normal gait felt like and I think I hit a walker's high.

We were off at 7:30 in the dark and very cold morning. Sun finally came over the horizon at about 9 but we had already put 7.5K behind us and were glad to feel a little of the chill begin to slide out of the day. Another beautiful, sparkling, sun-filled day, not a great deal of warmth in the sun but a beautiful light over the countryside. For the first couple of hours of the walk I could feel a number of muscles pull and twinge with some aches and pains but I have have been walking for the last week to protect my left foot and my lopsided gait has put pressure on muscles in my back and upper legs that aren't normally called on to be used this way. ..