Smarter with Age-- I Think Not

Back in November 2009, I stupidly agreed to do the famous Kansai 56K (34.8 miles) hike. To my defense I was caught up in the excitement of completing such a feat while living in Japan. I mean, when else would I get to experience such an amazing adventure?  Apparently three years later.

Yes, you heard it. I am doing that stupid, crazy, no fun, painful, toenail injuring, long, hike again. Somehow my "friends" (I mean really are they your friends if they talk you into something so stupid and make you give into peer pressure?) convinced me that it will be a great, memorable time that we can forever look back on doing together. I will reserve judgement until after Nov. 11, but somehow I am thinking it will not be as fun as promised.

Mt Maya in The Fall

Yesterday my neighbor and I agreed to meet some of our friends at the top of Mt Maya to give them a change of clothes and shoes. (They were doing that horrific wonderful 56k hike I did last year)  The plan was to walk to Sannomiya (about 7 km) and then take a bus to the Mt Maya Ropeway and take that up the mountain.

Everything was going as planned until we hit the ropeway. A worker told us "Wind!  Danger!" and that the ropeway was closed. I started to panic a bit as we had sandwiches, clothes and shoes to switch out at the top. After a horrible game of charades and some help from a guy who spoke great English, we discovered we were going to have to take a tram part way up and then hike it to the top. It took about 35 minutes to hike to the top, and other than the billion steps we had to climb, it was a beautiful hike. The leaves are all changing so we had some great scenery. We even commented some of the leaves on the ground were so perfect it was almost like they were purposely placed there.

While waiting for our friends, we took in the view.  Just another reminder of how beautiful of a country Japan is and how lucky I am to be living here.

The Results are In

Official start stamp - 5:20 am
Finishing time - 6:24 pm
Total time - 13 hours 4 minutes
Came in 404/2000

I am pretty darn proud of myself. This had to have been one of the hardest things I have ever done. Not only was it physically grueling, but mentally as well. I have to admit there was one point when I wanted to put down my walking poles and say forget it. This just isn't worth it. But in the end, I made it.

The morning started at 3:45 am when I and another person that lives near me to a cab to Suma, the starting point . We got there around 4:15 am and met up with 28 other gaijins and 1970 of our closest Japanese friends. You could just feel the energy in the air. And maybe a bit of fear too. People were laughing and chatting and you could tell just how excited everyone was.
The official start time was 5:00 am but it took us until 5:20 am to make it to the starting point and get our card stamped.
And off we went!
The first leg of the hike was full of stairs. However stairs in the mountains are not like traditional steps. There were lots of broken rocks, concrete, wood, and just dirt ones.
There were many beautiful views along the way, like watching the sun come up over the mountains.

Shortly after the sun came up this was the next part of the hike.
After that, a walk through a neighborhood then more stairs, including one stretch of 900 meters (.56 miles) straight up!
And another spectacular view.

We finally reached the first checkpoint at 9:59 am. We stopped for about 10 minutes to drink some water and eat some trail mix and then we were off to the second leg. This is the part that was the absolute worst. At this point I stopped taking pictures and went for survival. It was straight up and very hard. At one point I stuck my ipod on, sucked on my inhaler and had to keep telling myself "You can do this, you can do this".

At 1:04 pm we reached checkpoint #2! By this time all the gaijins had broken off into groups. There was one group that was way ahead of us. Then there was my group of 7 people. Then there was a few other groups behind us. Throughout the whole day, Mary Gail and I stuck close together. And I have to say she made the day fun (if you could call the day fun) with all her laughing and joking.
We stopped at this checkpoint for about 30 minutes and then was off again. The 3rd part of the hike was mostly walking along the top of the mountain between Mt Maya and Mt Rokko. There was alot of road during this part and it was the easiest stretch by far.

We reached the third checkpoint at 3:49 pm. If you are going to quit, this is the last place to do so. We stopped for about 5 minutes and then was off to the end.

It very quickly got dark and it was a bit freaky navigating through the woods and rocks in the pitch black with only a headlamp. Most of the time Mary Gail, Jake (one of the HS math teachers) and I were the only three in one spot so we were going in very blind and praying not to get hurt.

When we came out of the woods we walked downhill for about 20 minutes on a road and this is when I called Matt and asked him how much farther. He told me we were almost to the end. I think Mary Gail, Jake and I had the biggest smiles ever at this point. We quickly made it to the finish line at 6:24 pm.

The other guys in our little group finished about 15 minutes before us. But we made it!

My legs are aching, I have blisters on my feet and I am afraid to see how I feel tomorrow, but I can't stop smiling. Wow. I hiked 56k (34 miles) in 13 hours. Dang.

More pictures can be found here.

Doomsday is Near

In less than 48 hours I will be on my hike. For those who are new to my blog, you can read about my serious lack of judgment moment here.

Sunday morning I will be hoping in a cab around 3:30 am to head to Suma, the starting point of the 56k (over 32 miles) hike. The group of us 32 gaijins will be meeting at 4:30am and the hike officially starts at 5 am. We have until 10:30 pm to finish.

I have to admit I have been doing a raindance around my house much of the past week. Unfortunately the raingods must be out on holiday as it is supposed to be partly sunny and 71 on Sunday, with no chance of rain.

Tomorrow I am going to head to the store and attempt to find some funky muscle spray that was recommended and stuff to make trail mix. Matt says there will be vending machines and small stores along the way to get some stuff, so I really just need a bottle of water and a few small energy boosting snacks in my backpack. I am also going to load my ipod up with some new tunes and maybe a few podcasts. And yes I am planning on taking my point and shoot camera. This will be one "adventure" that I must document, as it will never happen again.

I have to admit I am really feeling unprepared for this. I may even wind up on social security disability afterwards. But how do you prepare for a 56k hike? I don't think this will be about strength or how athletic you are, but rather how much endurance you have. Let's just hope I have about 17 hours worth.

Stupid, stupid, stupid

You may remember Matt "guest blogging"  last November about a 56km (31 MILES) hike up and down 4 mountains that he did three weeks after arriving in Japan. I laughed at him from back in North Carolina saying what an idiot he was and how I had no pity on just how bad he hurt afterwards (yeah, I know. I am a nice wife)

Well it is official. I am an even bigger idiot.  Yesterday I agreed to do the same painful hike that he did last year. THIRTY-ONE MILES. Of course there is no way I could get Matt to do it with me.  He isn't that stupid. Thankfully there are 31 other expats that are just as crazy as I am so I won't be doing this alone amongst the sea of 2000+ Japanese people.

So November 8... doomsday. Yikes.

Ashiya Gardens Mountain Hike

Since Japan is very mountainous it is easy to see why hiking is a favorite pastime of many of those living here.

Last Saturday Matt, Chris and I went on a hike with a group from CHIC up the mountain in Ashyia. It was very different from the hike I took in February. This hike was filled with rock climbing and many obstacles. This one also didn't have the stopping points with vending machines and little snack places like the one in February.




Chris really enjoyed the hike and is now asking us when we are climbing Mt. Fuji. Poor kid doesn't understand that climbing Mt. Fuji is nothing like the hike he did here in Kobe. Maybe in a few years when he is older, but until then it is something Matt and I are planning for in the future as a kid-free weekend.

You can see the rest of the pictures here.

What Was I Thinking?

Some of you may remember Matt and the insane 30+ mile hike. If not you can read about one of the craziest decisions he has ever made here.

Tomorrow I am going hiking up the first hill from Matt's hike. Three and a half hours of glorious hiking. I am going armed with a backpack, my asthma inhaler and of course my camera. I have heard the views will be awesome and make it so worth it. Don't worry there is a group going so if need be I can be carried back down. (Just joking... I think)

Yikes. What have I gotten myself into?

Life in Japan... Part 2 (From Matt's own words)

Now that I have been in Japan for a few weeks, I thought I would give everyone an update. As I have said before, everyday is an adventure. I will pick a few of my adventures to share.

Taking a hike
A few of my co-workers had an extra ticket for a famous hike done once a year in Kobe. The hike is 56 kilometers (for those who only understand English measures that is 31 miles). Being the competitive person I am, they were able to talk me into it. I figured my feet would hurt, but I would be able to make it. They forgot to mention the hike was up and down 4 mountains!!! We started a 4:30 in the morning before even the sun was up.


They let me borrow a head torch as my English friend would called it (a flashlight that attaches to your head) and we set off.

Along with 3000 Japanese people. Trust me it got worse.

This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.

If they told me I was going to be mountain climbing – I would have surely declined.

I did get some great views from the top of the mountain.

I started at 4:30 in the morning and I finished at 7:00 at night.
Finish line! I was so sore, I could barely move for four days. I thought I was going to need a life insurance quote. I vow to never do this hike again.


Every Day Life
I am getting more used to day-to-day life.

Food
A lot of the Japanese business men eat at these noodle bars or stand up restaurants that have different types of meat on a stick. These places are everywhere and fairly cheap.


Not all Japanese eat Sushi all the time like people think, although there are many sushi restaurants in Kobe. Here is one I went to. It had the biggest sushi I have ever seen. It is not like they give you a knife. You just have to pick up the whole thing and put it in your mouth.


Yummy!!!! There is a little rice under there, you just can’t see it.

Trains
I have got to enjoy a few packed trains. I am sandwiched over by the door. They actually had a train person push the last people in to shut the doors. This is normally not how busy the trains are, but it does happen.


Restroom Life
At work I go in the toilet that says western style. The alternative is a squatty Potty.

On the western style they have little directions to show men how to use the toilet seat. I am surprised most women have not put these in American houses. I am not sure what it says, but I think we get the point.

The controls for our toilets at the house take a college degree to figure out. I know what the button on the top right hand side does. It squirts water on your bum!

Goodbye for now!

Well I could go on for pages, but it is getting late. I will send another note shortly. Time is going by pretty fast. I am not sure that Alexis would agree with that. I am trying to keep myself really busy and I am working crazy hours. Hope everyone is doing ok.

Take Care!