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Back to Kanlymnos - and breathe
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| A happy man up a rock |
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Whilst at Dalyan in Turkey we walked up to a mountain top mast we had spotted - it wasn't far, but it was uphill and took me about forty minutes - the first real uphill hiking for about three months - there was the sudden realisation that I really was getting a little fitter. We also hiked into the Saklikent Gorge - about a two hour round trip with lots of wading, scrambling and slippery boulders - another pointer that things were moving in the right direction. After a hot and busy week in 'Tourist Central" - Turgutreis/Bodrum (more uphill walking) we made it back to the tranquillity of Kalymnos. And there I went climbing - not once but FOUR times in a week - yes, miracles can happen, but only if you keep the faith and work really, really hard!
Back in the dark times of January in Albir, I needed to poles to even get out of bed, walking more than about 50m was a real effort, and I was in constant pain, especially in my thighs. We bought a lightweight camping chair so I could sit down when needed - the 300m from the apartment to the sea had to be done in about five 'pitches'. The damage done from the month/six weeks that I was incapacitated has cast a long shadow - five months on and I continue to make incremental progress - it feels like the fitter I get, the faster I improve - let's see how far it goes.
