Hello Everyone,

Well it’s been almost eighteen months since I made an activity entry on my blog site and I am ready to start again. Eighteen months ago I came back limping from completing the Camino Via de la Plata and learned that I had several fractures in my tibia and was missing most of the meniscus in my knee. After an MRI and five orthopedic doctor’s opinions I had no real option and finally had my knee replaced January 9th, almost four months ago to the day.

I have missed the excitement and pleasure of trekking and am anxious to get back to it, so today I leave for Madrid, Spain, to start my recovery and trek the Camino de Madrid. I chose the Camino de Madrid because it actually starts in Madrid and is fairly level and the terrain is not to rough. The Camino Madrid is only two hundred miles and connects with the Camino Francis (my first Camino) in Sahagún at its half way point to Santiago. The Camino de Madrid is a little trekked Camino with only a little over six hundred people going from Madrid to Santiago last year. By the time I get to Sahagún I should have a good feeling for my untested new knee and my overall conditioning. I’ve only had a few weeks to condition because I wanted start the Camino before the heat of the summer and the more popular and crowded season that starts in June. Overall this trek will only be around 430 to 450 miles, depending the routes I will trek.

As I mentioned, I fly out from Los Angeles today and will stay in Madrid for a few days to get some information from the Asociación de Amigos de los Caminos de Santiago de Madrid, which is the private organization that helps maintain the Camino de Madrid. I will probably not start in the center of Madrid to save having to walk through the crowded part of the city and will start in Tres Cantos, just at the edge of the city. I have also decided to use my old friend the Wheelie again because of the unknowns of my new knee. I am excited, and also a bit nervous, but I usually am, though a little more because I haven’t trekked in over eighteen months and my knee.

Thank you all for following along with me, Ted

As I note in all my blogs, please excuse the typos, spelling, grammar, etc., as I usually post on my phone, in strange places, or on the run.