Day 137 – 140

Km 4421 to km 4547, Prémian (France) to Mouthoumet (France)

Day 137

07/09/2022 – 42km

A day of quiet country roads for the most part.

I passed through an incredible little village called Minerve. It’s built on an outcrop or island in the middle of a gorge.

At the end of the day I came down onto a plain covered with grapevines. I’m actually camped in a kind of no man’s land between the fields because there’s nothing else around here.

Day 138

08/09/2022 – 14km

Some bad tidings. I woke up today with my old fatigue symptoms. Very mild, but I’ve been on alert for them and I’m pretty certain. So I cut my hiking short to get some more rest.

Despite not hiking very far, it was interesting. I walked beside the Canal du Midi for a while, which connects the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.

So as for my condition, I’ll just have to keep taking it easy and see. I’m meeting up with my dad soon, so I’ll continue along to meet him and hopefully we can still have a nice trip together. However, the fact that this feeling came back so quickly (and I haven’t been pushing it) is very disheartening. I hope this isn’t the end, but I need to be prepared for that eventuality. 

Day 139

09/09/2022 – 32km

I’m still not feeling 100%, but once I started hiking everything felt good. I guess I’ll have to see how I feel tomorrow.

Today was much clearer, and I could see the Mediterranean as well as the Pyrenees for the first time from the trail.

Day 140

10/09/2022 – 40km

Very hot and dry today. I would say I’m not feeling either better or worse than yesterday.

Since a key part of overtraining is rest (or lack of it), I wonder how linked my recent bad nights’ sleep is. The nights are quite hot at the moment, and I’m not getting off to sleep as easily as I’d like, not that I can be certain of the reason. But I’m holding out hope that perhaps I might feel better once I’m up in the Pyrenees. An experiment soon to be conducted.