I'm glad you found some value in it!! Thanks for watching!

Yep, I got that. Thanks! 😀 Glad you enjoyed the recap!

You can reserve campsites on the MN DNR website. :)

Thank you! Yes, we're looking forward to it!!

Cool! I stayed at the Marblous, and enjoyed it! They had a really good breakfast.

Very cool! Congratulations on your recent marathon finish! That long incline at Athens is sneaky draining, lol, but at least you know about it ahead of time and can conserve your energy accordingly! Good luck and have fun!

@@runawaywithliz I finished Athens this Sunday. Those hills were no joke, but not as brutal as I expected. Still, it was worth it for the scenery and getting to meet other runners from around the globe. I was shooting for six and a half hours and ended up being far faster than I thought. After finishing this one, my next marathon will be far more manageable.

Congratulations on your marathon finish! There are certainly some beautiful spots on that course. Glad to hear you enjoyed your experience!

Yep! The two times I've done the Wild Duluth races finishers received coffee mugs (and hatchets for challenge finishers). I think medals are less common in trail races. Only one trail race I've done gave finishers a wooden medal. The rest had things like coffee mugs, wine tumblers, or stickers. Once you get up to the 100k distance I believe you start getting belt buckles.

Awesome! Good luck and I hope you have a great race!

Hello! We booked all of our accommodations, including Keyaki in Takahara, through the Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau website.

Thank you for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it! It was fun to put together :) Good luck if you plan to run Athens in 2025-it's a great race!

Lovely! I hope you are all having a fun time on the Primitivo! Buen camino!

Very cool! Congrats to her! I hope she has fun running it again this year!

Hello! I don't remember how much fuel I carried with me at a time. Maybe 4-5 gels and 1-2 Larabars? I had extra fuel in each of my drop bags, and enjoyed Coca Cola and the occasional solid food at the aid stations. The cut off for this particular race was 16 hours, I think. So I finished sometime before then. 🙂

Yes, it's a gorgeous park! I definitely recommend it if you get the chance! We certainly didn't need the extra table for this particular trip, haha. Other than that I wouldn't have brought less-but then again, I am not an aspiring minimalist or backpacker! I liked the in-between nature of cart-in camping, where you’re not limited to what you can carry, like for a backpack-in site, but it's still somewhat remote with the sites being spread apart and without RVs and campers. And a couple of the sites were REALLY close to the parking lot, where it wouldn't have been a problem to make multiple trips if we'd have wanted to bring more! ;-)

@@runawaywithliz - I used to be set up for car camping with the wife and kids. Now the kids are grown and the wife doesn't _rough it_ anymore so I do exclusively cart-in and hike in sites solo now. I did the cart sites at Tettagouche just up the road and it was a half-mile slog uphill both ways. That and I now have a truly tiny car (Subaru BRZ) so combined that prompted a serious rethink from my old car-camping rig. So I got a lighter tent, a lighter cot, a lighter stove, lighter chair, lighter cooking gear, etc. Shed about 35 pounds of kit and a lot of packed volume without losing anything comfort/convenience wise. Loved my spot at Tettagouche - It was like I was all alone in the universe the entire week - but my next trip up nort I plan to stay at Split Rock. The views are hard to resist.

Hello! We booked our accommodations through the Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau/Kumano Travel website.

We didn't book our seats in advance but I would guess you are able to do all the add-ons like that during purchase. But I can't say for certain. Good luck and have fun on your trip!

Hello! Free camping isn't allowed-along the Nakahechi route, at least-but we did see some people hiking who looked like they were carrying everything for camping, and I believe our accommodations in Koguchi had camping available! There is a nice article on the Tanabe Tourism website I found about camping that shares info about available campgrounds along the Nakahechi route that could be helpful if that's the route you plan to take: www.tb-kumano.jp/en/2023/08/28/11578/ Hopefully that's a good starting point for you at least! I hope you have fun planning your Kumano Kodo!

Hello! We did prebook all accommodation, which is what is recommended and considered polite to do on the Kumano Kodo.

Thanks! My in-laws have a timeshare there, so if they invite us to join them again I'm sure we'd have a good time. I'm not sure what the distance from the resort to 5th avenue is, but when we were there, there was a shuttle. I think it was free from the resort to 5th avenue, and a small fare to get back.

@@runawaywithliz thank you

Very neat! Hope you have fun with it!

I'm sorry, I'm not sure what it's called! It is from free KZbin Audio Library.

Hello! We bought our poles at Mont-Bell, near Tennoji station in Osaka.

@@runawaywithliz cheers for that

Hi this is really helpful. Can I ask a couple of questions? 1) did you take a bear bell or bear spray? 2) do you think I need to bring a she wee? Or are there enough toilets that it's not necessary?

Hello! We did not take a bear bell or bear spray. I don't believe it's really necessary on the Nakahechi trail. I've never heard of a she wee, but it looks intriguing and like it would be handy for gnarly porta potty situations! There were regular restrooms along the Nakahechi at rest stops. They are marked on the trail map if you get one before your hike at the visitor center. Only a couple times did a toilet look like it was being given back to nature.

Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful for you!

How cool! And congratulations on your finish as well! Between the heat and that incline it was a tough one! I enjoyed exploring Athens very much, and good luck to you on your future training goals as well!

haha, I know, I wouldn't want to trip (on camera)!

Thank you!! 😀

Hello! We hiked it at the very beginning of October. We took 5 nights to do it. But our first day was only around 5k/3 miles, so if we'd stayed in Kii-Tanabe rather than Osaka I think it could have been done in 4 nights!

Hello! I'm glad you liked the video! We hiked the Kumano Kodo at the very beginning of October, so I don't know much about hiking in August. I think it might be hotter and rain more in August? The one time it rained overnight on our hike, the trail was quite slick in certain spots the next morning, especially for the descents. So definitely some boots with good traction and hiking poles would be a good idea!

Hello!! I’m so happy that you like the running videos because I love to make them. That is so exciting that you're training for your first marathon together! Grandma’s is such a neat course. I’d recommend taking the train to the start line if you’re able! But it does leave super early, so I wouldn’t blame you if you decided not to either, haha. The biggest thing I can think of when going from roads to trails is reframing ideas you may have about pace/time goals, and to be kind to yourself if you are not running as fast as you would be on a paved trail. In my experience, PRs aren’t so present in trail running dialogue (unless you are a person who is actually trying to win the race). Things like rocks and tree roots and elevation gain will slow you down. So many people even choose to hike up hills rather than run them, especially if you choose to tackle a course like the Wild Duluth races-which I LOVE and cannot recommend enough, but that course just demolishes me, ha. You’ll also want to get used to carrying your own hydration vessel if you don’t already, since most trail races are cupless. And maybe start incorporating some solid foods when fueling on your longer runs. Whatever your body can handle--I like things like apple sauce, PB&Js, bananas, Larabars, dates…other things I’ve seen people use are potato chips, pretzels, cooked salted potato slices…lots of options! In an ideal world I would do all my training on trails while training for a trail race, but it’s not realistic for most people. It takes more time to drive to and from trails, especially if I want one with decent elevation gain. I try to do at least two long runs a month on trails (more if I’m able). And I like to add a hill repeats workout once every one or two weeks during my weekly run. I hope that’s helpful advice! Good luck to you and your wife with the rest of your training for Grandma’s!! It’s going to be such a cool experience!

@@runawaywithliz this is such thoughtful and helpful advice. Thank you! We will be keeping up with your training adventures!

Sure! It's just a simple, customizable salad with a green, at least two veggies, a cheese, and a protein. We like arugula (or spinach is a good base too!), a roasted cubed sweet potato, sliced onion, and whatever other veggies sounds good on it (I like to add roasted cubed beets or roasted red pepper!), a crumbled cheese (I like bleu cheese!), and some type of protein (we often use either cooked shrimp or garbanzo beans or walnuts). Dressing is just olive oil and a little vinegar, like apple cider vinegar. (inspired by the humble ensalada mixta of España!)

Thank you!! I'm glad you liked it!!