1 km walk and training begins for the Camino De Santiago

 August 30, 2025 - 16 days post hip replacement surgery and in the midst of recovery.

Looking at my doctor's reference materials, he suggests that when starting to walk after surgery, don't do more than 1 mile (1.6 km). before my surgery, I generally exercised by walking or biking every morning. Of course for the last 16 days, I have only walked around the house progressing from a walker, to a cane, and then no cane (see my posts with labels "hip replacement" and "recovery"). Prior to surgery, I didn't hike for about 3 years with only sometimes walking for 20 minutes with a cane to get the dog out of the house. 

But just to be clear, we all walk during our everyday life. So just doing life required me to walk. I had to get to work. I travelsed for work. Airports were a challenge. I used a cane. I would lean on my suitcase with wheels and I would hope to get to my gate ontime. So before surgery, just getting around day to day was a struggle for me and once it was evident I was net getting better hip replacement surgury was the only answer (see my "about" page which describes my motivation).

So today, Saturday morning, was my first walk as I train toward  walking the Camino - sounds crazy but it will happen. That's the carrot that keeps me motivated. Today, I did 1 kilometer (km) and it took me 30 minutes. My first km. File that away and remember this moment. There is no need to limp. My leg muscles are tight and still don't have full range of motion and there can be some pain when I bend at the knee. Slow, small, deliberate steps are in order at this point... and I'm thrilled to do so.  I'm starting to count my steps every day to measure improvement over time. 

Although there is no need to limp, my brain sometimes wants to favor my left leg (surgery leg) as before I was often met with pain when using my left leg during any activity, so I have to be mindful not to limp and let my leg muscles do what they do. It's weird how my brain, when I don't think about it, wants to limp and protect from pain in my hip joint that simply no longer exists. 

So I chose a straight flat road through a neighborhood and next to a park - down and back. Slow and steady. No limping. It went well and I was thrilled to be outside and off the couch for 30 minutes where I have been posted up for the last two weeks. When I got back to my car, I drove the distance and could see the it was just over .6 of a mile which is 1 kilometer exactly. It took me 30 minutes - 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back. One small step for man... Maybe not as epic as walking on the moon but a milestone for me. Here we go.

Buen Camino!