Happy Birthday Amol!

Happy Birthday Amol!

Glad your on our team, and spent your pre-birthday day on the mountains!

The Man Speaks

From our resident professional athlete, some words of wisdom on training:

Yo What's up Do-Lifers!

Yeah, good hike. I'm glad that everyone already seems to be in good shape. How does everyone's legs feel? Rather than first having to "get in shape" we can focus on getting stronger and building on what we already have. 30K sounds like a good amount to be doing. I would also suggest doing a long slow jog (around 10k) sometime during the middle of the week to supplement training. Just be careful of shin-splints and make sure you're getting enough calories each day as well as your protein/carbs. This will ensure that muscle recovery is quick, and strength increases. Not enough food, your body will cannabalize muscle to make up for lack of calories = weaker not stronger.

Sorry if this sounds repetitive, 20-30k of hiking each week plus complementary training (jogging, etc) is a heavy workload for anyone, and I just can't emphasize enough how important it is to take care of your body nutritionally. If anyone has any nutrition questions or how they can supplement their training during the week let me know.

Guy

First Overnight!

Knocking out Checkpoints

With the three day weekend coming up, we're planning to knock out the the big middle section of the Oxfam trail, which will put us well on our way to knowing the whole thing, so we can do hikes in other areas.

We're planning a big hike, it'll be tiring but a lot of fun.

The plan is...

First Train to Hakone

We'll be taking the first train possible to Hakone, so we get a good early start.

We'll need to get to Hakone town, as the first part of our hike takes us around Lake Ashi.

Where & when do we meet up?

We are taking the 7am Odakyu Romance Car leaving Shinjuku arriving in  Hakone Yumoto at 8:27.

I'll be at the station at 6:35 to pick up our tickets.

CP 3 - 4: Around Lake Ashi

This is 15k, mostly through the Hakone town, should be a good way to warm up the legs in the morning.

CP 4 - 5: Up, up, up!  Then down!

18k, up the mountains to a temple, and then bouncing back down again.

We'll do a time reality check here as there's bus access to civilization for those who need to get home.

If things go well, we'll reach here between 4 & 6pm.

CP 5 - 6: Through the mountains, hope there's a place to sleep

This is 9.5, and right through the mountains.

Considering time, though, only people who can stay overnight will be able to do this.

CP 6 - 7: Sun's up, back to civilization

We're planning only a quick nap in the night, so we'll be meeting the dawn walking over the mountian to get back to civilization, and the train line!

It's 16k, so it'll definitely push our limits.

All told, over half the hike!

If we get all this done, we'll have cracked over half the Oxfam in one hike, which will be a great accomplishment for our team.

Don't forget your way out!

You'll all want to take a look at this important map, which shows the access to the different checkpoints.

Oxfam Trail Access Map

First Hike - 3 Checkpoints 25km

First Hike - 25 km down, 75 to go

Sunday, March 3rd we took our first hike

 together, covering the first 3 checkpoints of the Oxfam hike.

We basically started in a sports field outside of Odawara station, and ended up in the city of Hakone.

Training for the trailwalker presents the extra fun of learning how to read the maps.

When you're hiking with 1000 other people, it's much harder to get lost in the first stages, when it's not so much a hiking trail, but more backroads past farm fields.

One major leg of the first checkpoint basically has you trampin

g past farm fields along an irrigation canal.

Things like the traffic triangle you see above, with my fine companions, serve as importa

nt signs of which way to go!

Landmarks

When put together a 100km hike through Japanese farmfields & mountains, you can't always count on signs to point the way.  Sometimes you have to rely on the kindness of strangers.

Many years ago, Some kind farmer left his trusty blue pickup in the woods, knowing that his truck would one day become the scrapped car we would use to find our way through the forest.

Signs of Spring

The best thing about getting into the mountains this time of year is you really see the beginning of spring.  The freshness of the world outside the city is always a pleasure to see.

One thing I particularly enjoy about Japan is the vast variety of wildflowers you can find, such as the suisen.  They're traditional Japanese New Year flowers, and have a very fresh smell.  The first time we had them delivered to our home, I though they were green onions with flowers and put them in the fridge.

In March, they're springing up all over the mountains, which is a great treat while hiking.

Planning the next!

Now the real trick will be scheduling hike #2, and the overnight.

We'll keep you posted!