My plan is to leave good old Blighty sometime in September and make my way through North Africa down to Kenya and Tanzania.Tanzania promises to be a spectacular event. One of my good friends is getting married there in December and along with the Serengeti i will also be undertaking the mammoth task of scaling Kilimanjaro.
Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing peak in the world. At 5895m (Over 19000 feet!) the trek is a 5 day expedition leaving from Moshi. My start date for the adventure will be December 1st. Trekking through tropical rainforest at the bottom to the snow capped peak will be one of the most gruelling challenges i can possible undertake. Having spent a few months at altitude in Bolivia and Peru, trekking through the Amazon and Patagonia in the south of Argentina i believe it will be both possible and highly rewarding.
I have begun preparing already for this trip with the purchase of new, sturdy, hiking boots and all types of clothing equipment. It is going to be strenuous and require me to be prepared. Because of this i also have to get into shape.
Training is going to be rigorous and has begun already. I'm weight training 4 times a week and running 3-5 times a week. Yesterday i went for a run around Woodford and Chingford with Graham, one of my oldest friends, and we completed a circuit, just under 9km long, in around 44 minutes. A solid time and good base level for me to build on. My aim is to be running 10km 3 times a week, alongside weight lifting and sprint training.
This is going to be a good base for my fitness levels but i also need to do some form of conditioning work like hiking. Today i hiked from Woodford to Epping through Epping Forest. 15kms is not a big distance and would probably be only half a days hiking at the bottom of Kilimanjaro, but it is a good start here and the perfect opportunity for me to break in my new boots. Before leaving the UK i am going to be doing more of this sort of work and hopefully do it in areas with greater levels of elevation.
Another aspect of fitness is, of course, diet. My food intake has to be absloutely correct. I'm on a high protein, high quality carb diet packed with fruit, veg and sources of omega 3's and 6's. Being in Woodford, living back at my folks for the time being, makes this regime very easy to maintain. The real test will come when i am no longer on these shores, travelling through Africa, trying to maintain the workouts and the diet. But that is all part of the fun, right?!?
That's all for this first post but keep reading for my progress on my way to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
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