See you at the Top!

Its finally here!

I fly out to Nairobi at 2am tomorrow morning - am I excited? am I nervous?

no - I'm sick!

I'm currently lying here in bed trying to get as much rest as possible and shake a nasty chesty cough that came on, on Thursday - how did that happen?

After months of not getting sick, even though everybody I work with has had every germ known to man, why now?

The day I fly out!!

Have gone straight onto antibiotics - I'd be devastated if it went bronchial and I couldn't do the climb - after all my hard work it would be heartbreaking.

I've got 3 days to recover before we do any serious walking, so will take every opportunity to rest or sleep. I'll need to make sure I stay well hydrated on the flight and will take plenty of snacks - 'feed a cold starve a fever'

hmm...think a good curry is in order tonight at the turf bar and maybe no beer....or maybe the beer could be counted as 'medicinal'... ;-)

Once I get to Nairobi we're staying in a nice hotel, so I should get a good nights sleep there, then the following day its an 8 hour bus journey to the trail head - I seriously doubt I'll get any sleep bumping over african roads - although I have slept in some pretty strange places during my travels, so anything is possible! Then monday night we're staying in a lodge so I should be able to get some good rest there.

go the drugs! keeping my fingers crossed...

see you on the other side

:-)

Last Day!!

OMG! its my last day of the stairs - 15 weeks ago it seemed like it would never get here! and now it is, where did the time go??? how did it get here so quickly??

I'm feeling eerily calm at the moment...I'm sure it won't last! Saturday will be good - off to the pub to watch the bledisloe then straight to the airport and fly out at 2am Sunday

bring on beer o'clock 

 :-)

Taper Up? Taper Down?....no, Sleep!!

Anyone who has done any significant amount of intense physical training for a particular goal - a marathon, triathlon, high altitude trekking, professional athletes, at some point close the end goal have to decide whether they taper up (increase) their training or taper down their training and there's also the question of diet - do you load up on the carbs or not?

so with 5 days left before I head off what am I doing?

same old, same old really...

In the last 15 weeks I've ever so gradually increased my workload - 2, then 3 then 4 times up and down the office block every day, starting the jacket weight at 6kg and increasing to 10kg, then also doing a training session every day before work 

Am I going to load up on carbs? 

To be quite honest, having been on a high protein,  extremely low carb diet for nearly a year now, I haven't suffered from any loss of energy despite all the training, my recovery ability is so much better than it used to be, I'm lean, fit and looking good.

I get all the carbs I need from dairy, nuts, seeds and veggies, and besides when I do eat bread or rice I feel fat, sluggish and slow - and I do suffer energy fluctuations due to blood sugar swings  - so why would I want to add carbs back into my diet now?

Don't want to go back to that!

so what am I going to do differently? 

SLEEP!

eh?

thats not in the training manuals!

It probably is really, after weeks and weeks of existing on adrenaline, about 4.5 - 5 hours of broken sleep, and stress, my main goal this week is to get some sleep!

Sleep is when the body gets to assimilate changes you've made, and settle into its new 'shape', so by not sleeping I haven't been growing into myself properly or recovering fully and healing minor aches and pains, on some days I've been so exhausted, that its just been sheer stubborn bloody mindedness that has kept me going 

You have no idea how good it felt this morning to finally have shut down the noisy chattering monkey brain I've been living with and relax completely into a deeply 'out of it' meditation - it took me 5 minutes to resurface when the screecher went off!

And then I was so comfortable in bed, I just went back into another deep meditation until daylight 'woke' me up - felt wonderful after that! :-)

If I happen to miss a few training sessions this week, because I'm asleep I'm not going to get upset - I'm totally going to enjoy the rest - I think I've earned it!

Sweet Dreams!

Packed!

It all fits!

Good old purple nasty - has never let me down!

bit of a tight squeeze though, I'll have to do a repack at some point - I think I've actually packed for 10 weeks instead of 10 days!

only 5 more sleeps to go!!!

To my family I leave....

I've just written my Will.

Forgive me if I start getting a little sentimental or philosophical, but what a bizarre experience!

Quite depressing really in some ways, but motivating in others - I mean you look at everything you have and try and decide what to do with it - is the stuff worth anything? will people want it? What will your loved ones be thinking as they go through your clothes, books, DVD's, photos...

Do I want to be buried or cremated? Where shall I be scattered - thats an easy one for me - it has to be at Booze (my parents cottage in North Yorkshire)

I also look at myself - have I achieved anything worthwhile? Did I live life to the fullest? Did I make the most of my opportunities? Did I ever do anything of note - have I inspired people in any way? How will I be remembered? What will people say about me at my funeral? not that I'll care - I'll still be dead! ;-)

I'd certainly like to be remembered as a person who loved life and adventure, grabbed challenges by the horns and went along for the ride. I'd also like to be remembered as someone who was genuine, caring, generous, compassionate, kind and loving, someone who is a good friend, a good partner, a good teacher (we're all teachers....), a good mother (? now thats something I've not contemplated before - hmm...deep), and a good role model - have I achieved this? I don't know.

I'm pretty happy with where I'm at right now - in some tiny tiny way I am inspiring some people - I have got IT doing the stairs, starting to eat much more healthily, to think about or to start some exercise and to value their health - without your health you have nothing - so thats a start! :-)

Have I helped someone less fortunate than myself? 

Definately - I sponsor people through Kiva - an organisation that provides micro finance to people in developing countries who want to improve their lives through small businesses. It gives people a hand up not a hand out and can totally change their lives - its awesome - here's where my loans are going and some of the businesses:

So thats cool, I can definately do more though....and thats my motivation...

I just want to leave the world a better place for me having been in it.

This is a great exercise to try for yourself....who knows you might discover something about yourself, a new passion, a new direction or the courage to do what you always wanted to do or be....

Go for it tiger!

Snaptastic!

I've got a flash new digi SLR camera!!!

very excited..

comfort shopping - you can't beat it!!

:-)

The Stairs...armchair style!

Why don't you join me on the stairs today?

Easy - just 4 times up and down the office building, with 9kg in the terrorist jacket.

Come on, you can do it....

Oh, you're worried about getting all sweaty and red faced and you don't have your runners or sports gear

Relax!

go get a coffee...or a muffin or something...this is 'The Stairs' - Armchair Style!

you ready?

1st up - you've heard me mention the sand filled terrorist jacket plenty of times - so here it is

lets go!

1st climb - 1/2 way ish

1st climb - complete. Easy!

2nd climb - 1/2 way ish

aren't you glad you're sitting down!

2nd climb - complete

going down is just as important as going up

3rd climb - getting tougher!

3rd climb - complete

4th climb 

4th climb - the wall!

4th climb - complete (phew!!)

bring on the shower.....

eeuuwgh!

Well Done! 288 floors

I need a beer.
:-)