Kath climbs Kilimanjaro

I’ve had a few knocks here and there, and my bones/muscles are feeling a little sore. I have had to book in some physio sessions for the various niggles, just so they don’t get any worse before I set off to Africa. Nathan has said that it’s all pretty expected when training hard like that.

We had a nice sunny day walking in the Peak District last weekend, didn’t quite make the full length of the walk before it started getting dark as we had some early setbacks, and several detours (I wouldn’t say we were necessarily lost, but we did seem to be going round in circles at times – I blame the boys, no sense of direction!).

This weekend we are exploring the Malvern Ranges. Another set of fairly minor peaks but it should be good fun. These weekend trips are taking it out of me but it is exhilarating see other parts of the UK from the top of mountains. I think I carried a bit too much weight in my pack on my last walk as my calves are still recovering. I am supposed to be carrying weights and I have noticed the days which I don’t are so much easier, glad my bag won’t be particularly heavy on Kili.

I am being a bit of a sook about getting cold up Kili, I was offered loan of a sleeping bag that went down to -10 but I’m thinking I may need something even warmer. I’ve been looking in the shops and a goose down bag that goes to -20 degrees seems far cosier. So will just check in with my new buddies at Ellis Brigham outdoors store for some further advice before proceeding. In the last week I have bought waterproofing, insulated bottles, water purification tablets, inner thermal socks and earplugs; all essential items for the big climb. I think my Ugg boots are going to take pride of place in my bag as well, can’t have my toes freezing off!

Did I mention that we won’t be having showers or washing for at least 6-7 days. Ugh, that means not washing hair, or shaving legs or cleaning myself at all. Apart from the use of wet wipes, and a tiny amount of water to wash your face each morning. Ewwwwwwwwww gross.

So Mt Snowdon was great on the weekend, I had a good time with some of the other Kilimanjaro team. Felt like my fitness was right up there which is good. We couldn’t do the ridge walk because of cloud cover but here is a sneak preview of what it looks like (imagine that at 3500 feet):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELdijJpGcyc

We are contemplating going another weekend to try and get the ridge in. Hopefully without breaking our necks!

On the second day we did this crazy scramble up some mountain nearby that appeared to have no trail. From a distance it didn’t look steep but it was almost vertical. Got in a bit of rock climbing as well as swamp crawling and vegetation burrowing. Didn’t get my camera out as was trying to stay upright but photos would have been hilarious.

Going on some more day walks with the Kili crew which is nice…Peak District this weekend, maybe Malvern’s next weekend, it’s all on. We load our bags up with jelly babies, and Kendel Mint Cake – which is a block of mint flavoured sugar. Helps keep the energy up. Apparently you have to do carbohydrate loading and take heaps of this sugary stuff to keep energy and calories up. At altitude you are not hungry or thirsty so you have to force yourself to eat and drink as much as possible. Scottish tablet is another block of fattening stuff that helps you when up mountains; its ingredients are sugar, butter, condensed milk, and vanilla. Hmm yummy!

Ouch vaccinations are painful.. I had 6. Might have a day off training today to recover.

Did you hear that the billionaire owner of  Chelsea football failed to summit Kilimanjaro the other day? Oh dear, I hope he wasn’t very fit (he does look like he works out though!).

He may not hack the pace but I’m sure I can…

I have now had zero alcohol for over a month and am keeping dry until after Kilimanjaro. They say to abstain completely for at least 2 weeks before departure as it can have negative effects at altitude. So I just extended that time frame somewhat. I even had non-alcoholic communion yesterday.

Feeling fitter and healthier now. Gathering together the last of the items I need, with approximately 5 weeks until departure, I need to get myself sorted. Anyone got a 4 season sleeping bag lying around they could lend?

I did the Boxhill circular walk on Sunday, approximately 15km with a few hills. I’m getting these boots well worn in. Now the weather is cooling down I often wear my boots into work so my feet are fully adjusted to having these clompers on them!

I will be off for my shots this week, there is a bunch I need to get and Yellow Fever is apparently painful. Malaria pills and altitude meds are also on the ‘to do’ list in case I decide to take them.

Off to scale Snowdon with the fellow Kili climbers on Saturday. I will take my poles, which are such fun to walk with. Once you start using the poles you never go back! Training is now on the Strength phase with added cardio. I seem to be constantly aching. My muscles don’t seem to get a rest these days. It’s harder to do all this now I’m older, my body takes longer to get into gear than it used it, can’t imagine what it would be like if I was 50 or 60!

6 days a week of training, I really don’t know how I end up motivating myself to do this. Even the trainers at the gym find it strange that I am always there even if I look dead tired. I am doing 4 gym days, one hike day, one run day but I may switch one of the gym days for a run day making it 2 run days. I feel like upping my cardio levels. Hike day includes carrying weights and doing a minimum of 10 miles walking with some hills. I usually catch a train out of London to somewhere less flat. It’s a good way of exploring England. Run day is an hour jog. Gym days are a mixture of weights, core work and cardio.

I enjoy the running quite a bit but the first 15 minutes is always a killer with my mind telling me to stop and how could I possibly continue on for an hour. But once I bypass that pain threshold and force myself through the mind battle, the last 45 minutes is almost easy. One foot after the other just keep going. I think that will be my mantra up Kili.

There are 2 more potentially large-ish climbs to do before Kili. One is Mt Snowdon in Wales, set for 2 weeks time. I am heading there with some of my comrades who are coming to Tanzania with me. It will be a chance to test each other’s fitness and see how much fundraising everyone else has done. We will do a couple of days walking in the mountains before heading back to London – and back to my cat who seems to be missing the attention with all this training I’m doing. The amount of washing that piles up too is amazing. I feel like I’m the local laundrette woman.

The third prep mountain is Scafell Pike in Yorkshire. It should be a toughie; the biggest problem around here seems to be the weather, which makes these relatively small mountains rather dangerous. Hoping for some fine days in there but I won’t hold my breath.

It was a gruelling day scaling the highest mountain in the UK. It is in the north of Scotland in amongst some beautiful scenery with lochs and mountains all around. Apparently Loch Ness isn’t far from there and they filmed Braveheart just down the road.

The day was rainy with gale force winds and low cloud cover, the temperature starting at about 3 degrees at the base then going to -8 degrees in the wind chill at the summit. Considering it’s the height of summer at the moment this sort of weather was bizarre.

So sweating our way up this crazy mountain alongside seemingly hundreds of Scots (who kept saying ‘ai’ instead of ‘yes’)), we actually made it to the top despite sometimes feeling like we wouldn’t. It was so cloudy and freezing when we got there we had to ask around to see if it actually was the summit. Everyone confirmed it was the top so we did a quick 180 spin and got the heck out of there. My fingers were about to fall off and I was cold to the bone, so we virtually ran for the next hour down the rocky slopes trying to warm up. And down the lower levels unfortunately I sprained my ankle and fell and Karen munted her knee so it was slow going, but at least the weather wasn’t as chilly on the lower parts. It took all up about 6 and a half to 7 hours. Then off to the pub it was for some hearty good food to warm our bellies.

The next day we did a waterfalls walk that took roughly 5 hours, it was cute and far less strenuous – reminded me of home. Legs hurt for a bit but I feel fine now so hopefully the ankle thing was just a minor twist and won’t cause me anymore grief.

Back to the training schedule I go, am thinking maybe an increase in cardio is needed as man I was out of breath on that mountain. Will keep you posted.