One of Those Mornings

Daily Miles: 34.22 | Total Miles: 16,152.42

I got up, had a hot coffee, packed my things, and got ready to leave. Because my room was at the bottom of a steep hill, I first took the buggy up without the heavy bags. I parked it in front of the gate and then carried all my gear up separately. It was cool, drizzling, and a few things weren't quite working the way I wanted them to. So I reminded myself once again of the privilege of being able to do this run, smiled, and carried on. A few minutes later I realized I was heading in the wrong direction. A few steps later I turned around. The road was a steep downhill, just as it had been a steep uphill yesterday. Then the navigation sent me onto a small path. I had a feeling that it might not go through, but I followed it anyway. Down and down I went until I reached a staircase. There was absolutely no way I was getting the buggy down there. So I turned around once again and pushed the buggy all the way back uphill. One of those mornings. It would have been wonderful to have a camera following me around right then.

Eventually, I found my way back to the canal and crossed over to the other side. It was much cooler than during the previous days, and somehow it felt like a hard day even before it had really begun. However, about three miles into the run I passed a construction site where a young man was standing. I could immediately see how genuinely curious he was about what I was doing. I mentioned that I had been on the road for 536 days, and he came closer to say hello. His name was Mohammad. He asked where I was from and then suddenly switched to German. There was something in his eyes and in the way he spoke that conveyed such sincere support and kindness. When I ran off again, I felt genuinely happy. I also thought to myself that the world could use more Mohammads, people who have such a beautiful and natural way of encouraging others.

The canal path itself was quiet for most of the day. Very quiet. I guess I could have used someone to talk to today. Instead, I simply kept putting one foot in front of the other for hours. There were no villages to pass through, no cafés to stop at, just the canal, a few cyclists, and the steady rhythm of moving forward. Sometimes those are the days that feel the longest.

Sometime in the afternoon I met Richard, a fisherman who had stopped to take a picture of a huge carp. I stopped as well, and we talked for a while. Later he stopped me again to tell me about the film Les Valseuses, which had been filmed nearby in 1974 with three famous French actors. It made me smile because he seemed completely fascinated by that fact, while I honestly couldn't have cared less. Still, I enjoyed his enthusiasm.

About two miles before reaching the hotel, I met Carla and Ton from the Netherlands. Another lovely encounter at the end of a long day. And that was pretty much the story of today. A long day, good people, and better weather than expected. That's always nice.

Thanks for checking in. Andrea