37 hours, 37 minutes

And we did it. I am thrilled to announce that Team ABBA finished the 100kms! It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but am so pleased we did it. We finished around 10:30pm Saturday night after hiking for about 32 hours. I was in pain until Wednesday of last week (hence the delayed post...sorry!) and my apartment has only yesterday stopped smelling like BenGay! Despite all the pain, it was a fantastic experience.

It goes like this...

- we started Friday morning (the first day of my 33rd year) at 9:00am, weather was slightly overcast, everyone nervous but genki (full of energy)
- CP1 in good time, Isobel (our support crew) met us on the trail, hiked the last few kms with us, so far, so good.
- CP2 also in good time, steep climb #1 down, Isobel hiked 2 to 3 with us, sun was shining, nice stroll
- CP3 was a quick refueling, we were keen to start 3 to 4 which is a long 15km stretch with a steep climb and a tricky downhill on some very slick rocks...we had done this bit in training and didn't really want to do it in the dark...but we did...
- CP4 around 8:00pm on Friday, 40kms down, 60 to go...3 to 4 is one of my favorite sections of the course, once you get up steep climb #2, you are on a ridge overlooking Lake Ashi which is a lot like Lake Tahoe and is really beautiful. We had plugged iPods in and cruised through. Timon's knees, however, gave out on this stretch and he had to withdraw at CP4. We had dinner and rested for about an hour at CP4 before we carried on...
- 4 to 5 is the hardest part of the course and one that I had not done before...started around 10:00pm on Friday...we were all still pretty genki at this point although we were down to three. We had our headlamps and there several other teams out on that part as well so it wasn't that bad. We were going at a pretty slow pace, sticking together, getting used to hiking at night, having silly conversation to keep the bears away (we had forgotten the bear bells!). Got to the top of steep climb #3 to the little mountain hut, had some tea, and started back down, pretty cold and windy at this point...
- CP5...and it all starts to deteriorate at this point!! Coming down to CP5 was fine and probably the last time I remember feeling genki. It's about 2:00 in the morning at this point and I think it hits how much more we still have to do and with the lack of sleep, it was kind of depressing. CP5 is at about 51kms. 5 to 6 is 10kms walking on flat road...it was torture...and when my feet just gave in to the blisters. It was so boring, at least when you are going up, you are navigating the rocks, thinking about the next step, etc, but walking on road...all you do it walk and we were so tired and we couldn't even chat. Oh god, I can't even write anything more...it's too depressing.
- CP6 around 6:00 in the morning although I am not even sure about this because I was half delirious due to lack of sleep and what was about to turn into bloody stumps on the end of my legs (all this pain without even the benefit of hot shoes!). We had to make as decision as to what to do...Isobel and Timon couldn't get to CP6 as it was not accessible by car so we had to get to CP7 before we could sleep...which was another 15kms away. I really wasn't sure if I could make it but I pretty much had to so just got going.
- I honestly don't remember much of 6 to 7 except for the fact that it thunder stormed and we got completely drenched. It was probably around 7:00 in the morning on Saturday, a few rolls of thunder (oh, it just a passing truck), a few raindrops (it's going to pass over, I’m not getting out my waterproofs), and then the deluge. Christ, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I probably laughed because I had already cried a few times thus far...it's a funny thing, you are completely exhausted, your feet hurt, you can think of about 8,001 places you would rather be, there's no one else around, so you just cry a little and then it seems ok again...well, not ok but better, somehow.
- CP7 is in this little town called Oyama...we got there around 11:00am...Isobel and Timon walked up and met us about 10 minutes from the checkpoint to carry our packs and get us the rest of the way. The people at CP7 were absolutely amazing...there was a big crowd of people and they are lining the sidewalk to get to the check-in booth (we had to check in at each checkpoint with the chip we were wearing to record our times and make sure everyone was accounted for and ok) cheering for us and I seriously did cry at this point! Tired = emotional...we had lunch and I slept for about an hour here. I couldn't have done it without that hour. We had 22 more kms to do and I knew every step was going to be painful but I wasn't going to quit at this point. Once I got up and got myself taped and bengay'ed up and we started out, I thought for the first time "we are going to do this". It was a fantastic feeling. We probably got through the first 10kms just on that thought.
- 7 to 8 was long but pretty and we did it between 3:00 and 8:00 so it was a nice time of day...people were in pretty good spirits, I think everyone could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Don't remember much more...oh, other than my mantra for this part of the course was "Your feet don't hurt. Your feet don't hurt". It kind of worked...must be something to that mind over matter stuff! CP8 was about a 5 minute stop enough to eat and drink something...we just wanted to finish the damn thing!
- We left CP8 around 8:15pm on Saturday for our final 8kms...we knew we had to get up steep part #god knows what (6, I think?) and then back down which was, at this point, more painful than going up given the state of our feet and knees and then up the final climb which, had it been daylight, would have been an awesome view of Mt. Fuji...it wasn't but we couldn't have cared less! We were done! Unfortunately, we forgot how long it was from the top of that hill (well, 1300m...is that a hill?) to the finish...so the last 4kms on, again, flat road were probably the hardest. After a bit of complaining (what kind of masochists are they?) and a whole lot of whining (how could they do this to us?), we finished with even a little spring in our step! Isobel and Timon were waiting at the finish, yelling and cheering for us, and it was fantastic.

So, there you have it...my Trailwalker Japan experience. A one and done for me...I'm support crew next year. :)

Final Countdown

The training is done and the resting has begun! It's Saturday morning here and for the first Saturday in many weeks I am at home instead of out on the trail. I sort of don't know what to do with myself! We happen have a big turnover going in this weekend so I have been doing work while catching up on e-mails and photos.

We did our final training hikes last weekend...40kms on Friday and another 20 on Saturday (it was Golden Week so we had Thursday and Friday off). The 20kms on Saturday was the end of the course (Checkpoint 7 to Finish) and we now know what we have ahead of us. It's going to be HARD! The most difficult part of the course is the last section...two peaks right after each other up to highest point of 1300m. Only consolation is that the views of Mt. Fuji are spectacular assuming we are lucid enough to actually see them! We have our support crew all set up and gear ready so I think we are all set.

I wanted to thank everyone for all your generous donations. The most important goal of this hike is our fund-raising goal and we far surpassed the target we set for our team. So, thank you again for your sponsorship. It means alot to us.

A photo I took right after CP7...here's hoping for a clear day on the 19th!