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26 August
Trailwalker Eve
Well looks like we're all ready and looking forward to tomorrow. Pierre worried us when he got sick earlier in the week but looks like all is well now. We hope you all watch our progress on the tracker tomorrow, there's no doubt among us it's going to be a tough one. Thankyou all who have supported us so far!! In particular thanks to Phil who is going out of his way to provide much needed support to us as we trek through each checkpoint.
19 August
Final Training Session
Well last Saturday marked our last training walk. Alex, Pierre and John set out to complete the first two sections - a modest 29km. Alex ran into a few troubles early on with some sore knees which warranted a walking stick and a stop for some foot taping. All up we completed it in about 6.5 hours. A decent speed considering. We've come to realise that pacing ourselves will be very important on the day, particularly as the pain from rushing up that hill doesnt get you until several hours later! Now the training is over we are all resting up and planning for the day - not far off now!
04 August
Training on the second half of the walk
18 July John and Moscow started at CP5, St Ives and headed for the end. It was a fantastic sunny day with some highlights where John unexpectedly ran into his daughter on the trail. 31 of July, John, Moscow and Alex all left work of a Friday evening, took the train to Turramurra and then a bus to start our nightwalk at the Sphinx, CP4 at 6:30pm. Conditions were good to begin with, warm enough for t-shirts. This however got worse later in the night with some heavy rain. Moscow left us about midnight at the Roseville bridge. Alex and John continued through the morning until 5:30am where we reached the Spit Road junction and a bus took us back to reality. It was a very hard walk, we got a good feel for how difficult this walk is actually going to be. One of the biggest problems was crossing the swollen creeks from the recent rain, once Alex got his feet wet, the blisters rapidly followed...
04 August
Catching Up
Saturday 10 July we had the whole team lined up for a walk - Berowra to Apple Tree Bay, then back up to Berowra. Approx 25km. Not being satisfied with the length of the walk Alex decided to add in the Cowan to Berowra section and meet up with the rest of the team (adding another 12km or so). This meant Alex started his walk at 4am. A miscommunication resulted in us not meeting up at 7:30 as Alex went up the track to Berowra whereas John, Pierre and Moscow went the alternate way via the road. Eventually Alex caught up at the crosslands. Pierre set a blistering pace on the way up to Mt Kuring-Gai setting the standard, which probably explains how he slipped and out his feet in the creek. The attached photo is when we stopped to change socks. We managed to finish around 1pm feeling pretty warn out
18 June
On Track Appearance
Appy Feet managed to get an appearance in the latest internal magazine! Mention also went to our fellow RailCorp team On Track who may well be in direct competition with us on the day. Lately we've had some extremely generous donations, thankyou for all your amazing support!! It really helps alot to drive us towards our goal of finishing the walk. THANKYOU!
18 June
Suburban Attack!
Pierre and Alex took advantage of the Monday Holiday and caught the early train to Campbelltown for a 7:15 start, the target was to walk approx 30kms to Cabramatta station. Being a fairly flat suburban walk Alex was expecting it to be a pushover compared to the technical bushwalking through Cowan and Berowra. However both Pierre and Alex were at the mercy of the bitumen we walked on - both of us getting stiff and sore toward the end. We reached out target in about 5.5 hours a pretty good pace and we rewarded ourselves with a few beers at the local pub. Unfortunately in the days that followed Alex had some large blisters to deal with and Pierre some ankle pain that had us hobbling around the office this week, better we deal with it now then on the actual walk!
02 June
Take Two
Alex had another go at the same walk again last Sunday. This time much better prepared. Armed with jelly beans, peanuts, a power gel bar and powerade enhanced water I was equipped for success! This time I was in good enough spirits to tackle the extra walk up to Berowra to replicate the full trail from the start to CP1 then CP2 and finishing at Mt Kuring-Gai. The sun came out this time and it's amazing what it can do for morale. I estimated I covered about 39km in 9.5 hours equating to 4.1km/h or 14minutes/km. Recovery was much better with less pain and no cramps. Even still I'm not sure how I'm going to cover twice that distance after the way I was feeling at the end. I think the strategy will be to repeat that walk until it feels easy - if that's even possible!!
27 May
Start to Mt Kuring-Gai
Alex is a bit mental and went solo again for another week. A two week break had me itching for more walking. I originally planned to do the complete trailwalker path but wet weather took its toll and I skipped the section to Berowra (4km return), made it to Mt Kuring-Gai, took about 9 hours (35km i think?), wet and cold, made it a hard walk, especially toward the end. Start to CP1 took about 3 hours. The amount of mental effort I needed to walk down anything was staggering. This was the first time I experienced what I would only assume is mental fatigue. Good news was I held up pretty well physically, no cramps, just soreness. I'm convinced that getting to Mt Kuring-Gai in good shape will be critical to finishing the walk. Next walk is on Sunday, it looks rainy, will be a good time to test wet weather gear.
10 May
Mother's Day Walk
Alex took a walk on Mother's day morning of the first section from Hawkesbury River to Cowan. A 7am start meant that it was quite cool and motivated some jogging on the flat parts of the track. Covered it in about 3.5 hours including some stops to catch the morning sun.
03 May
Solo Training
Alex went on a solo training walk this week. For a change of scenery it was down south from Bundeena to Waterfall. Approximatley 30kms on a fairly flat grade. There were some fantastic sights along the coast and a great sunny day. Next Sunday some of the team are planning to tackle the first section from Hawkesbury River to Cowan.
28 April
ANZAC Training Walk
We took advantage of another public holiday Monday for a training walk from Mt Kuring-Gai to St Ives. Unfortunately Pierre and Moscow couldn't join us, but we had two willing replacements - Kate from On Track and Donovan a fellow graduate keen to get outdoors. Despite a few misinformed turns we made our way past the St Ives checkpoint to reach the cascades before returning to Mona Vale road to catch a bus home. We estimate the walk was about 33kms, a bit more than we had planned(we were expecting 25kms) and we finished in around 7 hours including breaks. Quite a satisfying walk with the next to follow soon! Alex
12 April
First Practice walk - Easter Monday
A short 21km from Cowan to Mt Kurring-gai. All went well except for a few cramps right at the end. More practice required.
26 March
APPy Feet aims to raise >$5000
APPy Feet was formed from 4 crazy workmates from RailCorp's Asset Planning & Performance unit. After missing out on registering a team last year because we were too slow registering, we were organised this year and had our team formed 2 weeks before. John the leader is a veteran trailwalker, having completed the 100km 5 times before with times ranging from 17 to 29hrs.Pierre the mad frenchman has wanted to do this for some time. Moscow said yes straight away without knowing what he got himself into, and Alex is young and will try anything once. Instead of just thinking how mad we are, please be generous with your donation and don't let us walk 100km for peanuts - it is a long way and it is going to a worthwhile cause that helps millions of people every year.
