Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro - Preparation

See you at the Top!

2010-09-10T22:37:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-09-09T04:39:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-09-07T02:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

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....

2010-09-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-02T03:56:00.000-07:00

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

very excited..

comfort shopping - you can't beat it!!

:-)

The Stairs...armchair style!

2010-09-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

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.
:-)

Meet the Stars of the show....

2010-08-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

It occurs to me every now and then that I'm probably writing most of these posts in completely the wrong order - not that there is any order, its all just random when an idea crosses my mind!

But, I was thinking last night that I'm only 11 sleeps (?? maybe I should say days...too much going on in my head at the moment for sleep!!) away from the 3rd biggest trip of my life (RTW solo and Bhutan are 1 and 2) and I haven't really explained why I keep going on about how fantastic my boots are or how wonderful and warm my sleeping bag and doona jacket are...

I mean who cares? Does it really matter?

Well, yes it does.

Let me introduce you to Warm....

and Dry.....

The stars of the show.

Here's why

At altitude if you're wet and cold and have no way of getting warm and dry, your body gradually withdraws blood from your extremities in order to preserve its core temperature. This is why toes, fingers and noses are the most susceptible to frostbite. Once there a re no more extremities to shut down, the body starts to lose core heat...

then you die.

quickly.

If you're wet but warm for the moment but again have no way of getting dry, you will get cold and...

you die....

quickly.

If you're cold and dry you can still die - just a bit slower than if you're wet.

Even if you have shelter, if you're cold and wet, and can't get warm and dry - you die.

hmm....I'm not selling this trekking stuff terribly well! :-)

Of the treks I've done at altitude, there were 2 particular days in Bhutan when it was just miserable. One of the days we hiked 9 hours at 16000ft through a driving blizzard - now I mentioned before that I get very hot when I hike and within about 1/2 hour of setting off, am stripped down to a singlet - not this day! I had every layer I possessed on - when we set off in the morning it was minus 2 and got steadily colder and windier and more snowy - god knows what the wind chill was - brass monkeys for sure!

After a few hours of whiteout, my feet were wet through and cold, my face felt like it was being sliced open by razor blades and that was through the balaclava! My gore tex jacket was beginning to lose the battle against the sleet, my waterproof pants had already given up the ghost so my legs were wet and in pain from being so cold. We couldn't find any shelter at lunch, so ate that on the go just to keep moving - we all just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other because to stop would have been fatal.

The thing about hiking through a blizzard is that its quite scary - you are deprived of all your senses - everything is white - there is no path, there is no sound except the wind, there are no landmarks, there is no sense of distance or time or direction.

Your mind plays tricks on you - 'what if I can't keep up?', 'what if I get left behind and get lost?', 'what if no-one finds me?' - unless you can see the person in front - there are no tracks to follow - its so incredibly easy to become lost and then you really are on your own....

By the time we got to camp, I'd cursed every deity known to man and beast (and probably a few new ones!), I had gone through every emotion you can think of from fear, depression, anger, despair, apathy, resignation and finally to sheer exhaustion and numbness - just numb, mentally and physically - it was like I didn't have feet, legs or hands, I didn't have a nose, I was a lump of ice. I couldn't think, I was on total autopilot - head down against the wind

one more step....one more step.....one more step....

That was the only thing I was capable of thinking.

Never have I been so glad to see a tent!

Camping at 16000ft in snow and minus temperatures is not everyone's idea of heaven, but that day I wouldn't have swapped that tent for all the 5* hotels in the world.

I just collapsed and tried to strip off everything asap (ish!) to get some dry clothes on, but that took about 1/2 an hour - try untying frozen mud caked boot laces with frozen hands - I ended up cutting them undone! I stayed in my sleeping bag for about an hour until I stopped shivering at which point the pain of getting feeling back into my feet and hands kicked in - OMG! I was in tears, it was excruciating.

One of the other guys was in a much worse state than me - full hypothermia - it took the guides hours to get him back to normal.

It was the day from hell and it felt like it went on for 3 weeks!

The second day that really emphasized how frail humans really are - half of our yaks went AWOL - we got to camp after another freezing wet day....

and there was no camp!

the kitchen tent was there, but none of our baggage yaks, so no dry clothes, no tents and no food! We were camping in a corrie/cirque/cwm (bowl for you non geography students!) and at night in the mountains the wind always blows from high to low - in this case straight off a glacier.

Bitter. Bitter Bitter.

We all huddled together in the kitchen tent for what seemed like an eternity to share body warmth, but each of us was getting steadily more and more cold and sliding towards hypothermia. The thing with hypothermia is that as your body slowly shuts down in an effort to try and preserve your core temperature, you get very drowsy and all you want to do is sleep - this is fatal.

As a group we must have run through every crappy joke, every karaoke song, and everybodies life stories in an effort to stay awake and functioning.

Our yaks finally showed up about midnight and that must have been the quickest camp setup ever - everyone pitched in and then just crawled into their sleeping bags - if someone had teleported me to a tropical beach at that point it would have taken weeks to thaw out!

Nasty.

So that is why I'm so enthusiastic about a sleeping bag and a pair of boots!

And by now you're probably wondering even more why I'm doing this when its obviously so awful....

because I get to do this....

Rinchenze La Pass - Bhutan

in the most stunning, remote, beautiful, unspoilt parts of the world - until you've been there for yourself, I cannot possibly describe in just words how incredible an experience it is.

So, for those of you who like to know techy sort of details

My sleeping bag is a custom made RAB Expedition 1200 100% goose down, rated for comfort at temperatures of -30C

My boots are Asolo Stynger GTX's

My doona jacket is a Goose down 700 from Kathmandu

My gore Tex jacket is about 15 years old and still going strong!

Its good to know that I'm being looked after by the best!

:-)

13 Sleeps to go...Trial pack!

2010-08-29T04:53:00.000-07:00

This time 13 sleeps from now I will probably be at 35000ft somewhere above Africa - it really is getting close now!

I thought I'd better to a trial pack today just to see if I can fit everything into the purple nasty. I'm only allowed to take 12kg of stuff up the mountain so if I can get away with only taking that much stuff then I'll be set.

I should explain the purple nasty - its in the piccy on the right, just above the walking stick - Its my trusty old Karrimor backpack that I got when I was 21 for my 1st interrailing trip around Europe!

I've had it for 20 years!!!

Its been everywhere that I have - round Europe twice (1st time was with a bright pink buvket and spade attached to it - long story!), round the world several times, Peru twice, Chile, Argentina, Tahiti twice, Easter Island, USA 5 times, Bhutan, all around UK and Australia - and its even been to China and Mongolia, which I'm very jealous about because I haven't been there yet -

My backpack went to China and Mongolia without me!

How dare it!

Best money I ever spent - only 1 clip has ever broken, its still waterproof, there are no holes in the fabric - this is one tough backpack!

ok back to the packing...

The trouble is that I have to cater for everything from tropical to arctic - the tropical is fine - 1 pair lightweight walking pants, 1 lightweight shirt, sunnies, hat, 2 pairs thin socks - job done.

The arctic is slightly more difficult - the trouble is that when I hike, I get very hot very quickly but as soon as I stop I cool down just as quickly to the point of shivering even if the temperature is warm. So I need to take layers of thermals that I can strip off down to even just a singlet - yep even at minus temperatures I get that hot! and getting sweaty is not pleasant because as soon as you stop and cool down the sweat gets even colder - at that point I generally need to pile on 5 or 6 layers just to stop the heat loss!

At altitude temperature modulation is critical, you can't afford your core temperature to fluctuate too much and hypothermia is always a risk. The hardest part to gauge is when you're sitting still or doing nothing, because there is nothing physical to generate heat, I tend to find I just get colder and colder - I have been known to wear my sleeping bag at the dinner table!

So I've spread evreything out on the floor and ticked it off the equipment list - looking good. Mind you I've still got to get it into the purple nasty - got distracted doing other things so haven't actually put it in the bag yet - minor details!

The travellers mantra....halve the amount of stuff you take and double the money!

I'll get it all in somehow

:-)

Sorted!

2010-08-25T03:31:00.000-07:00

Peregrine must have read my mind! I was about to email them to find out all the info I need about where I'm staying, local contact numbers etc - and there in my email inbox yesterday morning was everything I needed to know!

Definitely much more confident about heading off to Africa by myself now. :-)

3 Weeks...

2010-08-23T03:41:00.000-07:00

3 weeks...

3 WEEKS!

doesn't matter how I say it, its not long at all - am I ready? I have no Idea!

I have no idea who will be meeting me at the airport in Nairobi - if I get lost or don't get met, I have no idea who to call!

I have no idea where I'm staying in Nairobi,

I have no idea who is going to be on the trip or even how many of us will be in the group

I have no idea how much money I'm going to need or what the weather is going to be like! Am I going to get hassled by thousands of people wanting to 'help'

am I just a little bit nervous about this - you bet! I can't believe I've done so little preparation beyond the physical training - so unlike me!

hmm...better get my act together! time to hit the books...

Belief

2010-08-18T02:22:00.000-07:00

What is belief?

this is what dictionary.com comes up with:

–noun

1.something believed; an opinion or conviction: e.g a belief that the earth is flat.

2.confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof: a statement unworthy of belief.

3.confidence; faith; trust: a child's belief in his parents.

4.a religious tenet or tenets; religious creed or faith: e.g the Christian belief.

I was thinking about belief whilst climbing the stairs today - I have plenty of time to think about things when doing the stairs!

Why I was thinking about belief I don't know, I think it was probably on the third ascent when the thought suddenly popped into my head that I could climb this mountain.

Somehow, for some reason, my fitness, my training, everything I've put in to this trek in the past few months, it all of a sudden just seemed to crystalize inside me - I was feeling good, climbing at a steady pace as I had done for the past 2 ascents today and it occurred to me that I was moving up the stairs much more quickly than even 2 weeks ago.

My legs weren't burning with lactic acid so much, and I wasn't getting so out of breath even to the extent that by the time I finished the 4th ascent I wasn't feeling like there was an alien trying to burst out of my chest at any second.

And then I knew I could do it.

It all just seems so right - no more doubts, no more what if I haven't trained enough...from here on, the extra training will just consolidate where I am.

Of course I'm not going to slacken off - that would be dumb (see my post on Complacency!), I'm not about to waste all the hard work I've already done!

so there you have it.

Belief - a conviction

I finally believe that I can do it.

Feelin' Feline...

2010-08-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

It's wonderful being this fit and healthy!

You know that 1st stretch you have in the morning after you wake up? well its even better when you can feel every muscle in every part of your body uncoiling and uncramping then sliding into its correct space - lean, sleek, strong - catlike

I love seeing my back and shoulder muscles rippling under my skin - so cool.

oh come on!
cut me a little slack...after 10 months of sheer hard work, sweat and discipline, I reckon I'm allowed to pat myself on the back a little bit to acknowledge my achievement! :-)

try it for yourself...you'll understand what I mean :-)

Bit and Pieces

2010-08-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

4 weeks to go, another 6688 steps down and another 15k on the boots - looking good! No trouble with my shins today either on the stairs so feeling a lot better!

I think I'm quite well on top of all the things I need to do for this trip - have got all the jabs for the hundreds of diseases, have got the altitude sickness pills, have got the yellow fever certificate (somewhere?) so they'll let me back into Australia, have got the doona jacket, boots and clothes for every type of climate from tropical to arctic, have got most of big items of equipment - custom made sleeping bag (big plug for RAB here - love my sleeping bag! kept me toasty warm at 16000ft & -10C in Bhutan), self inflating sleep mat (well I'm not going to be blowing it up every night- won't have the energy!), thermals and waterproofs...

all set! aren't I?

so I've just been through the what to take list....

oh.

Lots more bits and pieces - all the niggly little things like sun cream, paracetamol, spare laces, spare batteries for the torch, 1st aid kit, blister stuff, copies of documents, money (quite important!), spare batteries for camera, travel insurance, will (well, just in case I fall off the mountain, someone has to know how to distribute the property empire! hehe!)

etc etc!

Another thing to do is sort out a camera.

I do have a good SLR camera, but its a film camera and I want to upgrade to digital, but I couldn't decide whether I go for a cheap happy snappy or SLR for this trip. for around the camp and people pics, the happy snappy would probably be a good idea, but for the close up shot of that charging lion I'd really want something with a bit of power

Problem solved, I'll rent the camera!

I had no idea you could do that, until one of the guys at work suggested it - what a great idea!

So I'm going to hire a digital SLR body (I can use my own lenses), that way I can try before I buy for the next big trip :-)

brilliant.

now I'm nearly all set :-)

Not Now!!!

2010-08-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Shin splints!!! with only 4 weeks to go...****!

was running in this morning and only got to about 3k before I had to stop..

damn, just when everything has been going so well - the walking into work has really helped with the stairs, have been doing really well on the stairs - am easily doing 3 times up and down and only struggling by the 4th time

I thought I'd been managing my body really well - haven't had knee problems, haven't had back problems, haven't had feet problems and apart from muscle soreness in my quaddies theres not been a hint of leg issues

damn, damn and bugger.

better get to a physio asap and get some work done and switch to swimming for the week.

damn.

Stair Masters!

2010-08-13T02:36:00.000-07:00

Awesome! 3 of the guys decided to do some stairs today for a bit of a laugh - I have to admit I didn't think they would go through with it, but they did - so at 5 oclock after beer we went from floor 18 up to 32 and then all the way down - well I didn't go all the way down, I ducked back into the office at floor 18 and left them to it :-) (I know...wuss!)

Good on you guys for proving me wrong! Proud of you....

now we just have to work on those who have promised to do the stairs but have yet to make good on that promise...

you'll all be stair masters by the time I go!
:-)

Friday 13th!

2010-08-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

Lucky or unlucky?

Finally! after weeks of existing on 4 - 5 hours of interupted sleep, I actually had a decent nights sleep! my apartment is quite weird, it seems to go really really silent - the sort of silence that you can hear - about 1 minute before the 5:30am tram rattles down St Kilda Road. This is when I like to wake up because I can get a good 1/2hr meditation in before the screecher goes off at 6.

Today I woke up just in that moment of complete silence - very cool - so feeling really good, and trained well as a result.

so far so good for Friday 13th!

Breathing is easy? right?

2010-08-12T03:02:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me whilst huffing and puffing up the stairs that I'm really glad that I know how to breathe - I know that sounds totally odd, I mean we all have to do it or we'd be dead, and we all take it completely for granted - breathe in, breathe out, repeat - how hard can it be?

Ask an asthmatic person having an attack, they'll tell you its hell. For non asthmatics,try to imagine someone placing iron bands round your chest then slowly tightening them more and more so every breathe becomes a panicked fight to get oxygen into your lungs whilst your brain is screaming at you to try harder...

Now imagine that same asthmatic being at an altitude where there is even less oxygen available - this, essentially is me.

No, I'm not stark raving mad, and no I don't require all those crappy drugs and inhalers and no I'm not a pale faced weedy little waif (thanks to my wonderful mother) and I haven't had an attack for a long time.

Even the huge stress I'm placing on my chest and lungs doing the stairs doesn't set me off - why?

Because I know how to breathe!

There are so many different ways to breathe - watch a baby, they breathe down into their stomach, watch someone who is stressed or angry or excited they will be breathing shallowly using only the top of their chest, watch an asthmatic having an attack very often they will be using their shoulders to force their chest in and out - its exhausting!

Watch someone who is deeply asleep they'll be breathing like a baby, watch someone meditating - chances are they will breathe into their stomach 1st then work their way up their torso filling their lungs from the bottom up, then they'll pause before breathing out from the top of their chest back down to their stomach.

In some forms of Yoga the emphasis is on breathing all the way out using your stomach muscles before you let your diaphragm rebound naturally sucking in a big hit of air - in fact the breathing technique my mother taught me to manage my asthma as a kid was the same - instead of panicking and concentrating on fighting to breathe in, I had to breathe all the way out until I couldn't squeeze any more air out and then the in-breath that followed was much deeper, easier, quicker and most importantly relaxed.

In fact the one surefire way to calm down when you're stressed or angry is to focus on breathing more slowly and more deeply filling the your lungs from the bottom to the top and when full, hold for a second before breathing out emptying your lungs from top to bottom - try it, you'll be amazed.

Just out of curiosity, I thought I'd get you a breathing picture from google images - there are millions, outlining lots and lots of ways to breathe!

heres a sample, should you be interested http://www.indoindians.com/index.php/200901201043/Keeping-Fit/breathing-exercises

So what technique do I use - from bikram yoga, I contract my core muscles and diaphragm forcing the air out of my lungs until I can't breathe out anymore, I pause for 2 heart beats then let my diaphragm rebound sucking in lots of air using the whole of my lungs, then I pause for another 2 heart beats and repeat.

Sure I sound like a steam train, but it works!

till next time, be grateful for your breath.

Happy breathing!

These boots are made for walking....

2010-08-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

Did I mention how much I love my Asolo hiking boots? Here they are again just in case you haven't seen them before!
:-)

Had a good day today - my feet seemed to be on air cushions (or is it the thought of seeing Will tonight...hmmm..?)!
These boots are so comfortable, its like I take 'giant' strides (of course being so little giant is relative of course!)
The tramp to work took 40 mins instead of 45 and it was such a beautiful morning - must be getting walking fitter, even the 10kg of metal in the backpack didn't seem so heavy today.

The stairs at lunch also didn't seem to be such a challenge - it was only about 1/2 way up the 3rd time that I really started to get fatigued - mind you this week I only have 6kg in the terrorist jacket, which is definately much nicer!

These boots are definately made for walking - hope Will is still on for a long hike next week

Check out the View!

2010-08-10T00:27:00.000-07:00

WOW! check out the view!

this is my life for about 1 1/2 hours every day...told you its all about the mental training :-)

really struggled today only managed 3 times up and down not sure why, I just didn't have the energy - maybe because I did circuit training last night instead of boxing which involved a lot of sprinting and running, I have also had to change my diet to add even more protein - so instead of yoghurt for 2nd brekky the last 2 days I've had more meat! I think its overloading my system as I'm finding myself really low on energy by about 11:30.

I'll try switching back to the yoghurt tomorrow and see how that goes.

167200

2010-08-08T03:56:00.000-07:00

thats roughly how many stairs I have tramped up and down in the last 10 weeks! and now we're getting to the pointy end of the training - this week sees the 1st week of 4 times up and down the building at lunch - thats approximately 6688 stairs per day!

Wonder if I've walked up the mountain yet - lets see - the average rise of a stair is maybe 15cm? so thats
167200 * 0.15m = 25080m or 25.08km

I'm about 1/3 of the way up the Mt Kilimanjaro already!

Who says kids have all the fun?

2010-08-04T04:15:00.000-07:00

I got to test whether my beautiful new Asolo boots are waterproof today - it started to rain just as I stepped out of the office to walk home - hooray!!! :-)
so waht did I do? Did I scurry home as fast as I possibly could?
NO!
I went and jumped in all the puddles I could find to get my boots as wet as I possibly could! The deeper the better...
True, I arrived home soaking wet, and I'm sure more than one person stuck in going nowhere rush hour traffic would have wondered what a 40year old woman was doing splashing around in puddles like a 5 year old! probably thought I was a complete nutcase - but who cares anyway? Its not about them, its all about my lovely boots - and yes, they passed with flying colours.
For a real test, if I can find a shallow enough bit, I'll go and stand in Albert Park lake for 20 minutes and scare the swans! :-)

see, childhood - wasted on kids!
Whats stopping you?

go on - revive your inner child!

Be afraid....be very afraid!

2010-08-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Who'd have thought a little tiny chick standing just 5'3'' (163cm) could be so scary!
This morning I was walking in to work (probably stomping in reality, I was pushing myself a little!) with weighted backpack, baggy leggings, hiking boots, looking a bit of a sweaty wreck with my hair all over the place and was just going down the last bit of the street to work in my own focussed little bubble world and one of the guys I work with came past me and made a quick quip about beating me, which I laughed at - like I said earlier they've got me pegged as supergirl at the moment!

So after I'd transformed back into a normal human being, and was my usual mild mannered computer programmer self, I went to chat to the guy and he told me that initially he didn't know if he should say anything to me because I looked like I was about to kill someone!
yikes!

I reassured him that I was merely very focussed...

but maybe he might not want to upset me....

hehe :-)

Tiff?

2010-08-02T03:13:00.000-07:00

Has Charlie had a tiff with the weather gods? we got rained on twice - just enough to get a bit damp and then the wind would pick up cutting straight through the skin - it was freezing!

The hot shower when i got home was wonderful! nice and toasty now and full of a very yummy west sumatran kangaroo curry!!

Happy Days! :-)

Cough, Cough,Cough - its Yellow Fever...Honest!

2010-08-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

Getting much closer now!
So I've had 4 days 'off' due to...eerrrm.....Yellow Fever would you believe?

ok, ok - more like green gill disease! ;-p

You see it was like this - the Kiwis did the job and thrashed the Aussies in the Rugby, and James Anderson took 11 wickets against Pakistan...so I figured a few beers would probably be appropriate and everyone who knows me, knows I always buy my shout(s)....and its would have been rude not to....

ok, i know - what a load of crap, come on though - I think I deserve a little hair down time! :-)

I think its done me good as well - felt good at the gym this morning, Nicola devised some evil butt and core workout and I actually had company on the stairs today - there was a guy who went up and down the building twice - he did it much faster than me - I'm up to 10kg in the terrorist jacket slow and steady plodding was the order of the day.

oops better go to boxing!
talk soon

Complacency

2010-07-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

Have I done enough training to do this mountain? Am I fit enough? What if I haven't done the right sort of training? I just don't know. These are the doubts I have, and the questions that keep driving me - its only 6 weeks to go, I just can't afford to be complacent.
This week has been a little slack on the training - after Thursday turning into an all dayer - I had a posh lunch for the launch of melbournes new rugby team and then everyone kicked on till the wee hours - Friday was a bit of a write off and today i've only cycled 10 k.
Hmm...not good.
This is definately not part of the plan!
From here on in I'm thinking that I really need to go into bubble world and shut out all distractions - after tonight that is (hehe)
...off to the pub to watch the Bledisloe Cup - go the Kiwis!

:-)

ohm....

2010-07-28T03:38:00.000-07:00

It seems that I've been pegged as a bit of a health guru at work - I've had several people ask my opinion about fitness training - what to start with or how to mix things up or additional exercises for particular body bits, 3 or 4 women and several guys have been asking about how to lose weight - which I can totally understand since I've been disappearing before their eyes and am patently the healthiest person in the office not having had a single day of this winter with any of the bugs that have knocked most people out.

I've explained to numerous people why I drink peppermint and green tea and the camomile tea has come in very handy for a few other women as well (and even 2 of the guys!)

The bowl of nuts I have sitting on my desk never lasts more than a day and several people who have terrible eating habits (skipping breakfast and lunch!!!) are eating fruit on a regular basis, which is brilliant.

On Monday when we had the fire drill, my legs were stuffed by the time I got out of the building - having already done the building 3 times my legs really didnt want to do any more stairs! But on Tuesday I was completely fine - the funny thing was, so many people came up to me complaining they could hardly walk cos they were in so much pain they wanted to know what I would do in their place to fix it!

After explaining exactly what I have done to achieve the results I have, one lady even said I was inspirational! I think thats kind of sweet really - I haven't set out to be an example, I'm just training to be fit enough to climb a mountain.

But you know what, if some people decide to start a fitness program or eat more healthily because of me then thats really cool.

I am really liking the new training - walking to work with the weighted backpack is definately impacting my legs less so I'm finding the stairs much easier this week - just as well next week is 10kg in the terrorist jacket, and after that we're really getting to the pointy end of the preparation...

And my beautiful 4WD boots - magic!

Charlie and the Weather Gods

2010-07-26T03:29:00.000-07:00

Charlie is the trainer from Step into Life here in St Kilda - I reckon he has a deal going with the weather gods - what a perfect night for training outside. We train right by the beach which is lovely at night with the city lights in the distance and the westgate bridge all lit up.

Tonight was cool and clear and just at that point when the 1st star appears and the sky fades into that beautiful dark blue and there wasn't a breath of wind - again! I think in the 4 months I've been training with Step into Life the only bad weather day I've experienced was the day that Charlie wasn't taking the class!

Fingers crossed this keeps up for the remainder of winter!

7 Weeks to Go!

2010-07-26T01:10:00.000-07:00

Really enjoyed the extra 1/2 hour in bed! I think I'm going to like my new training plan!

Upped the terrorist jacket to 9kg today and did the office building 3 times - then this afternoon we had a major everybody out fire drill - so I did them all over again!

I've started another blog to chart my progress with Biosignature and I thought it would be a good idea to get photos of before and after - check this out what a change!! I'm only 3weeks into biosig so this transformation is all worked out by me - I have quite literally worked my butt off! its like an extra 1/2 person could fit into my old jeans!

gotta go - boxing tonight, its starting to get light in the evening which means summer is on the way - yay!

long time no speak

2010-07-24T03:02:00.000-07:00

Where did the week go? I can't believe I haven't done an update since Tuesday.
So whats been happening?
After the gym in the morning I had my second Biosignature assessment which went really well. In the 2 weeks since my 1st assessment Kats scales said I've lost 3kg (I haven't its more like 1!) and the pinch tests indicated I've lost 1.5% body fat and am down to 16%. Kat said she has not come across anybody who has had such good results in just 2 weeks so if I keep this up she'll make me her poster girl for just how well the process works - cool. For those of you who want to know more about Biosignature and how I'm going with that head on over to 'Baggy to Buff' and follow my progress.

Also on Tuesday I had the last of my injections, just Yellow Fever and Hepititus B so thats another part of the preparation out of the way. I feel like I'm really on top of what I need to do to prepare which is excellent, and thanks to Katmandu having an fantastic EOFYS sale, I've got all of major bits of clothing and equipment that I need - I probably saved more than $500 overall - even better I was a bit sneaky and bought kids stuff! it was cheaper than the adult stuff and still had the amazing discounts - how cool is that! I love being small!

I think the best item I have bought is my 100% goose down 700 insulation jacket - its sooo warm and cosy its like wearing your doona (duvet)! so going outside in the cold is like snuggling up back in your bed!
I know its the middle of winter here inMelbourne, but its like cold doesn't exist anymore - I can't wait to try it out for real on the mountain.

The rest of the week has pretty much been training and work - I'm still struggling a bit with motivation - only did twice up the stairs on Thursday and didn't get to Bikram Yoga on Thursday as had to stay back at work and yesterday had a bit of a big night on the beer which has put today all a bit out of whack.
For some reason I'm also beginning to obsess that I'm not doing ENOUGH training!
Whats puzzling me, is that I'm finding this preparation so much harder than when I trained for my last trek in Bhutan, and for that I trained 6 hours a day everyday for 3 months whilst working a job - I'm really starting to wonder how I did that? Maybe its because I'm 8 years older, maybe its because I'm having to do a lot of extra cooking to follow the biosig diet rules - I just don't seem to have the time to fit it all in. Maybe I'm simply expecting too much of myself?
Who knows.
So I'm going to change training strategy for next week and focus more on stamina instead of cardio - I'll still do the stairs every day but instead of going to the gym in the morning, I'll load up the backpack and walk to and from work - I need to get some mileage on the boots anyway to make sure they're worn in, 10k a day should do the trick.
The walk in to town from St Kilda is pretty easy, and its the best time of the morning to be doing it - 6:30 there's hardly anyone around so its quiet and as its beginning to get light around 7 now you get that wonderful transition in the sky from the deep blue of night to the pale blue of day and as I cross the river the sun is just silhouetting the MCG, its really stunning. It probably my favourite part of the day. Added bonus I won't have to leave the house till 6:30 - lie in! :-)

Lets see how I go with this - 7 weeks to go now its really beginning to get close!

mental as anything...

2010-07-19T16:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know what the stats are - and I'm sure there's plenty of experts out there who will tell you all sorts of conflicting things about how much of training and succes or failure comes down to mental attitude.
Today has so far been very much about the mental - 1st of all, I actually got woken up by the screecher! Never a good thing - I was exhausted and seriously contemplated just staying in bed and having a lie in.
Having dragged myself out of bed and stumbled about getting my stuff together I set off on the bike and my legs burned out instantly with lactic acid which made the rest of the ride not very pleasant - it also didn't help that this morning it was really cold as well as dark.
Even my bike seemed to want the day off - the chain is slipping really badly and as I set off at one set of lights I nearly came off and hit a car!
By the time I got to the gym, I was definately not in the best of moods and today was endurance - stomping uphill for 45 mins on the treadmill with a 13kg backpack - boring as batshit.
But its done now thank goodness - will be interesting to see how I go with the stairs today, not having done them yesterday and upping the jacket to 8kg and legs already burned out.....

its definately going to be mental!

8 weeks to go!

2010-07-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

It still seems like ages away, but I know before I know it I'll be off.

Feeling really good today - almost bounced out of bed at 5:30 but decided to make the most of that extra 1/2 hour before the screecher went off and did a quick meditation instead.
Had a charmed run to the gym only got caught at 3 sets of lights (there are 14), then a good 1/2 hour spin sesson.
Nick (the new trainer) wanted a volunteer to try out his new core workout session on - silly man - after 10 mins he was more red in the face than me! I suggested he might want to get down to the gym a bit more often!!!
:-)

weight 57.9kg - another 0.5kg gone 17.1% bf

Boots 1 Sarah 0

2010-07-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

Well that turned out to be a bit harder than I expected! I'm knackered! That was just supposed to be a stroll out the markets and back to test out the boots...what I didn't anticipate was carrying 6 - 7 kg of awkward shaped shopping bags with handles that cut your hands to pieces - ouch!

At least I beat the rain!

Ok so the boots are really nice - very comfortable, I only had 1 layer of medium thickness socks and my feet were toasty warm, not sweaty though so breathability is good - it just isn't cold enough in Melbourne to be able to gauge how they'll be up high. The rigid soles are just bendy enough so I can walk without feeling like I've got planks of wood strapped to my feet and the ankle support and heel grip is excellent.

I do have the beginnings of a slight blister on the sole of my foot so i'll have to keep an eye on that - i'll have to do a long walk, at least 10km, every weekend from now on to really get them worn in properly.

Happy so far.

cup of tea and a sit down required, before starting on this weeks cookathon - have to prepare my meat based breakfasts (kerala lamb and saffron chicken curry this week!), lunches and dinners for the next few days - thank god for tupperware! - whatever happened to relaxing weekends?

Boots...camp

2010-07-17T23:34:00.000-07:00

Morning! what a great day it is too - today is all about my boots.

As you can see from the above pics, my poor old boots have done a great job for nearly 10 years - they have been around the world, have trekked the Himalayas in Bhutan have pounded pavements and moors, up scree slopes and through bogs in Booze, through snow and streams they have kept my feet warm and dry and never a blister to be seen.

Alas, I I fear that Kilimanjaro would be a mountain too far for these faithful friends so it has become time to let them go to the great hiking trail in the sky....

Please bow your heads for a 1 minute silence to respect my dearly departed loved ones...

Thank you

(yeah I know... :-) )

So once I decided that I needed to get new boots, how did I choose? There are so many different styles out there at such different prices and made of varying technical sounding materials that promise all sorts of fabulous feet pampering things - where do you start?

Having only had 2 pairs of boots in the last 15 years or so, both made by Karrimor, this was naturally my 1st instinct - stick to what has been so good for so long. However being in Australia, it soon became apparent that getting Karrimors would be a bit more difficult than I had 1st anticipated.

So what next? google of course! 'best hiking boots' soon turned up 1000's of possibilities and after much scanning through reviews I'd narrowed it down to a few choices.

Next step is of course to go try some on...so in the middle of a hot summer day in Melbourne I went to the outdoor shops on Little Bourke with 2 layers of socks (thin inners and my thick winter alpine socks!) and within about 10 minutes it was game over.

The Asolo's just fit perfectly - they were so comfortable and light and having just rolled my ankle badly at the gym only 3 days earlier, ankle support was naturally a big consideration for me and the way these boots wrapped around and held my ankles when I tied them up, pretty much sealed the deal instantly! Now all I had to decide was whether to go for the rigid sole or the less rigid sole - I eneded up going for the rigid sole, given that the slopes on Kili will be covered in scree and I'm also contemplating climbing Mt Aconcagua next year so i figured I would need the extra tough 4 Wheel Drive version of the boots.

And here they are

So today is going to be the 1st time i take my beautiful new Asolo boots out for their 1st long walk - I've done 5 km in them up to now several times and of course I've been doing the stairs in them and they have been brilliant - so comfy, almost like wearing a pair of runners! Whilst my legs might be dying, my feet have been cosy and supported every stair of the way.

The plan is to walk to South Melbourne to do the markets and back (of course!). This will be about 9-10 km.

Will let you know how I get on :-)

lazy days

2010-07-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

aahh - saturday mornings! 2 hours of deep meditation - very cool, now feeling totally centred, focused and calm.
today is a 'day off'' - a mere 5km run into the city to meet up for brekky and at some point i'll cycle home - easy!
its the brain doing the workout today :-)

have a good one!

back on track

2010-07-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

was in bad headspace yesterday, didn't train in te morning, only did twice up and down the office building and went frock shopping instead of bikram yoga last night!
that is not going to help me get to the top of Mt Kili!
I'm not going to beat myself up about it, today is a whole new day and after a decent nights sleep am feeling strong and energised again - good spin and core work session this morning at the gym.
Have a great interval workout, which I'm convinced is what helped me lose so much weight so quickly back in December it goes like this:

30 sec standing hill, 30 sec, sitting sprint, 30 sec rest * 5
20 sec standing hill, 20 sec sitting sprint, 20 sec rest * 5
10 sec standing hill, 10 sec sitting sprint, 10 rest * 5

then you can mix it up as much as you like to do longer workouts - it will get your heart rate way up and you'll certainly get a bit sweaty!

and then you can have Kangaroo curry for breakfast.... :-$

zzzzzzzzzzz!

2010-07-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

soooo tired today - didn't sleep - again! 3rd night in a row, brain on full whirl most of the night - why? how is it possible not to sleep when i'm so tired, now feeling completely crap and de motivated - must sort this out.

AARRGHH! the purple spotted zog beast is after me!

2010-07-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

Phew! fortunately no weird dreams last night although I did wake up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep again - so really didn't want to get up when the screecher went off, could have quite happily stayed in bed for another few hours!
feeling energised now after good weight session at the gym and more venison for brekky (:-?)

Woah! tropo maaaann!

2010-07-13T04:38:00.000-07:00

just taken my 2nd trial Larium pill (anti malaria) - the doc says some people have pretty psychadelic dreams...I'm about to find out!

The Mystery man on the stairs

2010-07-13T03:46:00.000-07:00

2 days in a row now there has been a man dressed in his suit wearing a beanie and gloves (its not cold on the stairs!) sitting with his head in his hands on the level 10 stairs looking like he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Yesterday I did stop and ask if he was ok and he said he was, then he was gone by the time I was on the way down.
Today he didn't even bother to look up - wonder if he is ok? Do I stop and ask again if he's there tomorrow? Would I be intruding? Do I leave well alone?

thoughts?

Its working!

2010-07-12T05:18:00.000-07:00

Awesome - the last 5 weeks of effort has really started to pay off - just did my fitness test - 5km run and have taken a massive 18s per km off my time! I felt like I was running on air cushions the whole way...wow!

Stairs, stairs, thrice the stairs

2010-07-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

just done the office building stairs - 3 times (114 floors!) with 7kg - legs hate me....

only got the 5k run to do tonight and am done for the day

Venison for brekky?

2010-07-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

does this sound horrible to anyone else? it certainly doesn't particularly appeal to me!

I should explain why I'm having such a bizarre choice of food for breakfast.
If any of you have ever lost a fair bit of weight or even if you haven't, there are probably bits of you that you dont like, that are not the shape or dont have the toning and definition that you'd like or wobble where they shouldn't. Go on admit it - you know what I'm talking about :-)
So while I was up on the Gold Coast a few weeks ago at a conference I got talking to a really nice guy (behave!) who happened to be an ex SAS Officer and is now a personal trainer - anyway I asked what I could do about THOSE bits and he suggested trying a Biosignature Assessment.
I wont go into the details about it you can look it up here - but basically through a combination of detox, hormone balancing and diet you get to look absolutely fabulous! go check it out
Anyway back to the venison...
After recording everything I ate for 5 days (remember I'm already eating incredibly healthily) Katrina (my coach) told me I needed to eat more animal protein for breakfast - unfortunately bacon is not allowed...sigh...but any lean meat or fish is, oh and eggs are good.
so Kangaroo burgers anyone? rabbit rissoles? hmmm...think this is going to take a bit of getting used to!
At least I can have the greek yoghurt with berries i love so much for 2nd breakfast a few hours later....

Hate the Screecher!

2010-07-12T05:11:00.000-07:00

woke up an hour before the screecher....again! then when I just about managed to get into a totally zoned out deep meditation the screecher went off, talk about rude awakening! bring on summer when I can ditch the screecher and wake up when its light!

dragged myself out of bed to head off to the gym - am going to do some spinning this morning, dont want to wreck my legs for stairs and fitness test this evening.
definately felt better after the spin...
got on the scales for the weekly weigh in - another 1/2 kg gone! body fat down to 17.5%

10 weeks to go - a bit of a write off!

2010-07-12T04:51:00.001-07:00

Let me just summarise last week - definately not my best! I came down with a cold so skipped all training on Monday, and Tuesday (we had a work lunch so I couldn't do the stairs - thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it! ). Then Tuesday night I had the 1st group of injections - Typhoid, Tetanus, Diphteria, Polio, and Flu (they threw that in for free - yay - not!)

ouch!
Wednesday I just couldn't bring myself to get out of bed when the screecher went off but at least I did do the stairs - 3 times but without the jacket. Didn't get to training wed night either - went out for a beer! :-)
Thursday I only managed the stairs and Friday - well i lost some weight by getting my hair cut!
hmm...definately need to get back on track this week!