In August 2008, thanks to some friends inviting me on their adventure, I ran the NPT in 4 stages over 4 days.  I mostly remember MUD and one glorious chicken dinner! I also remember crying at the end.  It was a cathartic "OMG, I did this thing" cry.  I've only had a few moments like that in my life. Included below is the summary of the experience I logged in my running journal a few days after the event:Mon 8/4  Did some final packing and was picked up by my ride at 3:30pm .  We hit the campsite and set up tents.  Two of the guys left to spot a car at the end of the trail for the first day's run.  The other 3 of us started cooking dinner.  After the other two returned, we ate and then played cards for a while.  It rained while we slept so I know the quality of my sleep wasn't the best.Tues 8/5  We woke, ate, packed up, and hit the trail.  The first 10 miles were on a road.  The ADK club says you don't have to do the road part to earn the end to end patch, but our group had our mind set on it so we did it.  I was glad to finally hit the trail.  I finished last of our group the first day but not by much.  While in the woods, you don't see people that are just in front of you.  I felt I was way behind, alone in the woods, but at the end of the day, we came out onto the road for the last 1.5 mile, and I wasn't that far behind one of the other guys.  I could have hurried to finish with him, but I felt no need as I was going to have 3 more long days ahead.  I finished the 36.6 mile course in 9 hours.  Whew!  I knew this event would be tough.  Upon finishing, we had to hop in the car and drive back to pick up the car we had left at the start.  On the way, we decided we couldn't wait to cook dinner as we were starving.  We stopped to order pizza and picked it up after we picked up the car.  Yum.  After checking in to the campsite, two of the guys took off to spot the car at the end of the next day's trail.  The rest of us set up camp and re-packed our bags for the next day.  The other two didn't return until around 11pm .  I felt really bad for them, but they were the quickest two so it probably wasn't quite as grueling for them.  It thunder-stormed that night (and our tent leaked) so again sleep wasn't the best.   Wed 8/6  Same story in the morning.  This time though, the trail was tougher.  It was more technical and had more elevation change.  Granted, there wasn't a ton of elevation change on this whole trip, but there were lots of roots, rocks, mud & muck!  This course was shorter, but it took us longer!  However, I gained a ton of confidence on this day.  I realized that I wasn't at all tired or sore from the preceding day.  Wow, maybe this was going to be possible!  In fact, I didn't finish last this day.  I was about 15 min ahead of the guy that was in front of me on Day 1.  Our campsite on night two was a primitive one at Wakely Dam right along the trail.  When I got there (31.1 miles in 9 hours 40 minutes), our support guy had arrived (he had to go to a conference for work the first 2 days, but planned to be here for the rest).  Having him made life seem luxurious!  He had cheese & crackers waiting for us.  I didn't have to fumble through my bag looking for food at all.  Plus, he had bought roasted chickens from the grocery store so dinner was served immediately.  AWESOME.  There were again no showers, but at least there was a lake where we could rinse a bit.  Unfortunately, it was again thunder-storming in the vicinity so nobody wanted to swim, but a rinse was good.  It was also beginning to get chilly.  Our support took a guy to go back and pick up the other car, but luckily they weren't going to have to spot it for the next day as our support could just drive up there the next day to get us.  It saved a ton of time.  Another night of less than the best sleep, but good spirits nonetheless.   Thurs 8/7  As we were right at the trailhead in the morning, I decided to take off a bit before everyone else.  I figured I was the slowest and needed as much head start as possible (plus I liked the feeling of not being the last, lonely soul in the woods. . .having runners behind me made me feel safer).  This day was the shortest course, only 27.3 miles.  Most of this course was very runnable, including ~6 miles on a dirt road first thing in the morning.  We made great time (7 hours 20 min for me).  This day had the most significant climb, but even it wasn't that bad.  On the way down from the climb was when I first felt some pain.  My ankles/front of shins started to hurt a bit.  Prior to this, I had had NO issues whatsoever.  Upon arriving at the campsite on Thursday, we had our first showers of the trip.  Fabulous!  After showers, I noticed swelling in my ankles/feet.  Eeek.  I iced them that night and took Ibuprofren.  I had no intentions of using it while I ran, but I figured the evening dose couldn't hurt.  Our support took two guys back to get the other vehicles and then they actually drove one to the finish for the next day (we were only allowed 2 at our campsite).  Plus it would save us from having to get one of them the next day.  While they were off doing that, we went into Long Lake Village to a market.  I bought fresh fruit and a sandwich.  Both were marvelous.  When the other crew got back to camp, we cooked pasta to carb up for the next day.  Some of us were quite nervous about the last day as it would be the longest mileage (40 miles. . .38.5 on trail).  We had no idea of the terrain as no one had been on that part before.  The forecast was for rain/thunderstorms and cooler weather so that made us nervous as well.   Fri 8/8  Three of us decided to hit the trail at first light ( 5:30 ) so we could be sure to get out before dark.  The other two used headlights at this time, but I felt I could see well enough.  Luckily, the first 1/3 of the day had runnable terrain.  We covered that pretty quickly which gave us some confidence.  We realized that we could slow down significantly and still make it out during daylight.  The second 2/3rds were much more challenging.  I think it was mostly because the terrain became tough, but maybe it was because of fatigue and the fact that I started out faster than I had the other 3 days.  There was so much mud.  And my ankles/shins hurt.  Every time I'd step in mud beyond my ankle, it would hurt so bad pulling it out.  The suction was just a lot of force and it extended my ankle to a painful degree.  Ouch!  Basically the first 1/3 was okay, but the last 25 miles hurt.  I expected much more of the trip to hurt so this wasn't that bad.  When I finally got out of the woods (12 hours after beginning), I was so excited!  I didn't care that I had 1.5 mile more to go.  Those pavement miles to the official finish seemed ridiculous to me.  In my mind the trail was over and I was a champion!!!  Yes, they were still painful, but it just didn't matter.  I had made it!!!  After the run, we set up camp, took showers, and then went out to dinner.  Finally, we got to sleep, and it didn't storm that night so it was the best sleep of the trip!   A few extra thoughts. . .on day 4 we ran across the top of a beaver dam.  Way cool!  We went on some suspension bridges where the rivers were simply RAGING!!!  It rained off and on on all the days.  We crossed a 3 log bridge with no rails over a very high gorge.  Eeeek!   I'm a fan of mantras to get through tough times, but I don't think they work so well on trail runs.  Basically, you have to focus and plan each foot plant so there's little time for daydreaming.  The first 3 days I didn't need them, but on day 4, I know I did some repetitive thinking to help pass the time.  Here are some thoughts I remember:   On the easily navigable parts I sang 99 bottles of beer on the wall.  Midway through I switched to 99 bottles of soap on the wall (there was soooo much mud!).  I only got to 74 before I had to focus again.   On the tough, tricky, rooty, rocky, muddy, murky parts I kept thinking "hurry, gotta get out of the woods before dark"  but the phrase was equally balanced with the thought "be safe, can't get hurt".   And on the last 25 miles where I was running on "cankles" (ankles so swollen you can't differentiate between them and the calves) my mantra was simply "Oh F*^%!  Oh  F*&^!"   All in all it was a great trip that went better than I might have imagined.  I had though my foot bump would give me issues; it didn't.  I had thought my calf that had been bothering me off and on since Boston would give me issues; it didn't.  I had thought my knee which bugs me when I play volleyball would give me issues; it didn't.  The ankle issue arose, but I'm not thinking it's really an injury (at least I hope not!).  I think it's just overuse.  I've been icing, elevating, and taking Ibuprofren.  They are much better, but not perfect just yet.  The rest of my body feels fine, and I want to get back at it!!!