Post-Trailwalker Thoughts

I'm proud to announce that our team has successfully completed Trailwalker 2007!

Our original plan was to finish the whole hike in 38 hours. Then we reduced the rest time and the plan became 34 hours. We ended up finishing in 39 hours. Thanks to all our friends who came to support us. It involved a lot of waiting time, patience, care, and coordination. This year's winner went to the Firefighters at 12 hours 24 minutes, a close tie with the Cosmoboys at 12 hours 26 minutes. The record for this race was something like 11 hours 50+ minutes.

It took us over 3 months to train for this day. It was barely enough, because we're not very active. (I first read about this comment from a long time marathoner's blog and I felt very slightly offended - or disappointed at the very least. But when I thought more about it, he's quite right. We can hardly qualify for being active if we only hike every weekend and perhaps jog once a week.) Throughout our trainings, we had only trained for a familiarity of the route, and our speed and performance over two or three stages of the trail. The only long haul we did was 50km and for one time only. We weren't trained for endurance. It's also important that all four people in the team shared the same goal. This would include the dedication in training, level of enthusiasm and perseverance, amount of rest and sleep during the event, and the presence of a plan to be followed.

On the whole, I think the weather was great. It was slightly chilly at night and a bit too sunny during the day. But compared to what we endured under 35C, I think the heat was moderate. I think I was in a pretty good shape, much better than our 50km practice. We suffered no serious injuries. Most of us had pain in different parts of our legs towards the end. I finally experienced what it's like to have knee injuries. Towards the end, after numerous steps going downhill, my knees started to get sore. The bottom of my feet, particularly the balls of the feet and underneath the heel, also hurt on impact with every step I took. The last Stage of the trail was flat, but it was hard enough to endure with all the pain and having to walk-sleep (that's my invention for falling asleep while walking, the opposite of sleep-walking). The brutal part was the very last descent to the finish line, led to by another long flight of stairs! I just had to curse it.

It was a great experience. I can now call myself an accomplished Trailwalker. I'm not so sure at this point whether I want to do it again in the near future. Participating in an event like this has too many dependencies. But if I was to do it again, I'd aim for finishing it in the 25-30 hour range.

Thanks again to all our friends who sponsored us, encouraged us, advised us, and supported us at the scene. One friend (along with 2 other) hiked with us overnight and went to work right away on the next morning. He missed that evening's running race allegedly due to his lack of sleep. He also had to take students out to the open water on the next day.

P.S. Now I wonder when I can start my training for my half-marathon. ;-)