Vaknade ett par gånger och tittade på klockan, men det var inte förrän när klockan var 04:10 jag bestämde mig för att faktiskt stiga upp och bege mig ut på en runda. Låg och drog mig en stund till innan jag gick upp.
04:48 startades Runkeeper appen och jag var igång. Lite känningar i höger vrist, men det blev inte värre under rundan.
Kändes ganska bra, med ett bra löpsteg. Kändes lite kyligt på armarna i början, då det endast var 11-grader varmt, men solen var på väg upp (även om det var ljust hela rundan).
Efter drygt 5-km hade det gått drygt 28,5-minuter, vilket väl får sägas vara en OK tid, med tanke på uppehåll.
Nu hoppas jag att allt klaffar, så att jag kan bege mig ut i morgon bitti också. 😉
En stund efter detta kom så också de första meddelandena från The Conqueror Events.
Ännu ett träd planterat!
Texten går att läsa här:
Aokigahara nicknamed Sea of Trees and at times infamously referred to as Suicide Forest, is a dense, moss-covered forest that sits within the Hakone Izu National Park. Registered as a National Natural Treasure the forest was born out of an eruption from Mount Fuji about 1,200 years ago, when new trees started sprouting from cooled lava. Because the forest is formed on top of dried magma, trees are unable to grow their roots deep into the ground. Although the thickness of the soil is only 10cm, the forest is filled with evergreen conifers, Mongolian oak, Fuji cherry and maple trees.
Hiking trails have been paved in the forest for visitors but anyone veering off the designated path can easily get lost and be difficult to rescue. Plastic tapes can often be seen rolled out to mark the path and assist visitors to find the way out. Then there are times when people have no intention of coming out and getting lost is a means to ending it all.
When I entered one of the trails on Aokigahara it was with the intent to find Fugaku Wind Cave and Narusawa Ice Cave. The trail was wide, well-marked and well-maintained with sunlight streaming through the canopies of the trees. I needn’t worry that I might get lost.
Fugaku Wind Cave was a 659ft (201m) long lateral cave accessed via a staircase. Due to its natural ventilation and year-round average temperature of 37°F (3°C) the cave was used as a refrigerator during the 17th to early 20th century to store the eggs of silkworms.
Narusawa Ice Cave was a looped 492ft (150m) lava tube that maintained the same temperature as Fugaku and was also used as a natural fridge during the pre-electric refrigerator era. A small section of the cave was only 3ft (91cm) high where I needed to walk sideways in order to see remnants of trees from a thousand years ago. Ice pillars begin forming over the winter period here reaching their maximum size by April. They can grow up to 10ft (3m) high and as thick as 20in (50cm) wide.
Leaving the forest, trail and caves behind, I proceeded to trek through urban areas to Lake Kawaguchi.