First my arrival in Molinaseca, end of stage 25. It was a very tough day. As I said already, third most difficult thus far.
I make it to Molinaseca, it took me nearly nine hours. I am beat and now searching for my hotel. The last thing I want to do is to walk past it and have to double back, there is just something about covering the same ground twice.
As I enter ths small village I cross over a bridge and I spot a Farmacia. I will stop there, buy something and ask for directions to the Muriel. I walk in and the first thing I see is a sunglasses display. Perfect, I need another pair. I buy them and ask for directions. I am very close, just a couple of hundred yards to the left and I will soon be in the shower. I find it, it was very close.
I check in and take care of all of the paperwork with Javier. He shows me to my room, 102. It's on the third floor. Don't ask, I don't have a clue as to how 102 is on the third floor. All I know is that after I climb to the third floor I will done for the day.
Javier opens the door and its the smallest room to date. I don't care. I completely dump my backpack and get the Veep working and then the shower. It's now about 7:00 and I do want something to eat but I have no interest in a pilgrims dinner that is not served until 8:30. I head back down stairs in search of something simple and quick. I need to get back to my mini suite to ice my left leg.
As I leave the hotel I immediately spot a small market. I will need some things for tomorrow so I should take care of that now while it's still open. As I enter the owner hands me a piece of ham he has just sliced. It's fantastic. I don't know what it's called and I don't care. I ask him to slice more. He understands and I continue to look around for snacks to take with me. It's the owner again and this time he has sliced a piece of cheese and hands it to me. Delicious. Pease slice more. I am now putting together something I can bring back to my room and eat while icing my leg. This is starting to come together. I buy a bag of chips, a sinkers and three bottles of water, con gas.
I am back at the hotel in less than thirty minutes. Javier is at the desk. I ask for a glass of Crienza Riojia. While he is opening the wine I ask him if there might be a bigger room available? He understands and says yes! It's room 103 right next door to my mini suite. Off we go. I have my dinner and wine with me as we climb back to to see room 103.
He opens the door to 103 and it looks like a suite at the Plaza compared to 102. I'll take it. How much? Ten Euro extra. Price only matters ....
I get my leg squared away and my dinner is ready and I am starting to recover. I will check my email and finish my blog for the day. I never took a sip of the wine. The wifi does not work in 103 and the last thing I'm going to do is to go back down three flights to ask why.
I fall sleep, I think around 8:30 and wake up again at 2:30 in the morning. My leg is still wrapped in ice although the ice has melted a great deal. My leg does not seem much better. I remove the ice and go to the Spanish Bengay. I start to write my blog and a couple of emails which I will try to send from the cafe in the morning. Hopefully the wifi will work from there . For the first time since arriving in Spain on May 14th I set the alarm on my iPhone. I cannot afford to sleep late I have nineteen miles to face and will need an early start. I set it for 7:00 am with a goal of being on the Camino by 8:30.
The alarm wakes me at 7:00. Time to pack, have a carb fest and get on with my nineteen mile journey.
I am on schedule, packed most everything and I will head to breakfast. Before I leave my suite 103 on the third floor I do realize that I am missing a pair of socks. They must be in junior 102. No problem Javier will help fix the problem.
I get to the cafe and tell Javier that I have left something in room 102 and he gives me the key. I sit and wait for my breakfast. It gives me a chance to see if the wifi works in the cafe. It does and I start to receive emails.
I get several, all wishing me well and to just keep using the ice. All helpful. I also get one that is both funny and expected. It's from Mike. We play a lot of golf together and Mike always drives the cart. He drives for three reasons. One because he keeps score two because he has never lost a golf cart and three, Mike was a professional race car driver.
His email is perfectly timed. He sends a message about me having to buy my fifth pair of sun glasses . He knows me like a book.
What's funny is that as I recieve Mike's email I am on my way to get my missing socks in 102 which I left behind in haste to get to my new room, get the ice started and have a bite to eat. Back up the stairs and I have the key for 102.
I enter 102 and begin the search. No socks but I did find my poles, foot cream, my water bottle and my micro fiber towel ! I guess it was good that the socks were missing. I return to 103 .
I am ready to leave and I pick up my jacket and there are the socks. Now I do have everything and I am on my way to today's nineteen mile test. Mike would understand.
The weather is good. It's a bit cool but the sky is clear and there isn't much wind. My leg is acting up and it feels weaker than it has in the last two days. I'm beginning to think that the ice has a positive effect for a period of time and then perhaps I should apply heat. I'm not sure but I am concerned with what I'm feeling and where I am going. I just need to deal with it. At this moment I remember a very special phone call I had with one of my best sales people many years ago.
As our business grew much larger I was becoming further removed from the point of sale. With more than one hundred sales people in the field it happens. I would see my top performers a few times each year and they would call from time to time. I enjoyed the phone contact because it kept me closer to what was going on at point of sale. If you had sales of more that $100 million each year you could call me anytime. If your sales were less than $100 million each year, call at your own risk, BC Jim might pick up the phone.
I got a call from one of my very best sales people and this is what took place. The caller is one of my top ten producers, an elite group of talented people. He was young as we're many of them and he was still learning and developing.
He began the call by immediately complaining about a service issue involving one large piece of business. He was very angry and offered solutions including a couple of terminations and other drastic steps. I just listened. He finally reached the point where he was repeating himself when I asked "are you done"? A quite response, "yes".
"Now it's my turn. I am going to give you something to do today. You will cancel all of your other work until you have completed this assignment, I will not a accept any excuse for failing to do what I tell you to do".
"When I end this call you will go to the Mall, buy yourself a cup of coffee and find a bench to sit on. You will stay there until you see a young mother or a couple walk past you with a child that clearly has a life long disability and then you will call me back and we will finish this conversation. Do you understand"?
I got a very subdued "yes" and I hang up.
Later that day he called me back. I took the call. All he said was "Jim I apologize, I am sorry, I will never call you again with a single complaint. I get it".
"Good, now get back to work and don't ever forget what you just told me". I had forgotten that story although I have told it to a number of young managers as part of my coaching. And because of that memory I will not be writing about my left leg and or any other "minor problem I think I may have".
When I start to think its tough and or that this or that is bothering me I will just tell myself to remember The Mall. My new, second secret weapon. It's one we can all use.
I finished the first four miles in very good time. My leg is not a problem. I take my first rest stop. A little water, a snickers and a couple of cherries which I bought last night at the market. The Camino snack package. At the start of today's walk there are flat paved roads and walkways giving my left leg a much needed break. I have come to the conclusion that for me the length of the walk is not the challenge, for me it's the surface of the trail.
Walking yesterday up and down very steep hills with lots of rocks was very difficult. Just trying to avoid one small injury is the entire focus. I would prefer a walk of tweny miles on a good surface than a walk of ten miles on a trail like yesterday's.
The views are quite impressive but I must stop to see them. I am just walking with my eyes completely glued to the trail. At one point that approach comes in handy. I miss stepping on about a two and a half foot snake. I step to the right, stop and take a picture of my new friend. I sent it to Robin. I have no idea what kind it is and I really don't care. As my good friend Bill at Desert Mountain says, "I don't like any creatures that don't have shoulders". Me to.
Speaking of creatures, I am passing through a very small village and I am greeted by three dogs all very aggressive and running directly at me. This is where the poles are a good investment. One of the three is getting much to close and acting like he will take a bite out of me. I keep moving but I get very aggressive with the poles and that's as close as they get. The real problem is that I was hoping to find a place with shade to take a break. The dogs have killed that idea as they chase me out of town,
The weather is fine it's just starting to warm up. By the time I reach Villafranca del Bierzo it will be in the mid 80's.
I made it! It took more than eight and a half hours. I just need to find my hotel and get in the shower, ice my leg and rest before dinner. As I noted in my previous blog Stage 27, a long walk of more than 18 miles with significant elevation change and an even more difficult descent awaits me tomorrow . By the way when I start Stage 27 tomorrow I will have the same number of days remaining to walk as there are letters in Santiago, eight!
Did you notice that I did not go into any of the details about my "detour". What's the point. I missed a turn and had to go back. Probably added two miles, but who's complaining? Not me, I'm thinking about The Mall right now.
Good night.
I think I need to visit The Mall more often. Great advice Jim. Jill
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