Day 1 Evening dinner

Well we are more prepared that what we thought with our kit purchases as Simon and myself did not need to go to the hire shop, which is good to know. So we were first down for dinner and orderd our meals first, joined by the others half hour later. Then our meals arrived 15 minutes after everyone elses! We then decided to get some water for the dehydration packs, well I did for me, Simon is going with straightforward tap water. I am not sure I can risk my stomach on tap water so we leave dinner in search of a supermarket but to no avail, all shut, so I have no choice but to pay bar price back at the hotel, I cannot believe that I have just bloody paid 12 QUID for 2 litres of water! Si, I think we are in the wrong business! We also get accosted by the armand and get frog marched back into the restaurant we forgot to pay for our drinks! Not a good start!

We are now back in our room. Going to check the kit for one last time, phone Rachel and the boys and then try and get some sleep before a 7 am start, We have an 8 am pick up to next village, followed by a short cable car journey then a 3-4 hour trek in the morning higher up to help us acclimatise. We are currently at 1000m. Then in the afternoon we will be learning mountaineering basics i.e the use of crampons, ice axe and rope skills! Definitely need to try and have a good night sleep, but somehow I don't think I will!

.

Day 1 Kit Check

We have just completed our kit check and met our guide Phillipe, who has miraculously reduced my kit weight by a third which I am VERY happy about as my back is starting to have twinges and feels sore! I am praying this is not the start of something more serious.

There are 5 in our group in total, 6 including our guide Phillipe. A mother and son, Elizabeth and (another)Phillipe from Norway and Samina from croydon and of course me and Simon. Quite a mixed group and all seem very nice and hopefully we'll all get on well. Phillipe is training to be a mountain guide back home in Oslo. Dinner next.

Day 1 Room with a view

Room with a view and what a view, I feel a strange mix of excitement and nerves, but predominately nerves.I can't help thinking would the altitude or our fitness cause us any problems!?

Day 1 Packing yet again

We have arrived at our accommodation for tonight, its basic and suits it function and we are now unpacking our flight bags only to repack our rucksacks having 2 hours to get this right. Had a lovely surprise hidden in my clothes, 3 cards from Rachel and the boys. The boys had drawn mountains and me on top! all wishing me luck and asking me to be safe. I must admit this tugged at my heart strings and brought a tear and smile to my face. It's nice to know the ones you love are right behind you. Ethan I wish you were here too, love to you all

Day 1 Journey from airport

We had to wait for a few other planes to land with fellow climbers on so we decided to grab a drink. Been in the mountain boots now for a while and my feet are starting to ache. Wish I was wearing shorts too as red hot in geneva. need to make the most of this heat before we head up the mountain.

It took around an hour an half to get to the hotel, unfortunately you won't be able to appreciate the attached pictures. My first impressions of seeing her were mesmorising. Were we really going to climb her? She just towers above everything else and looked so majestic. I feel drawn towards her and now cannot wait to take my first steps on her slopes. Unfortuantely my awe of Mont Blanc was short lived with Michael Schumacher at the wheel of the mini bus, it is so hard to hold both cameras still and take photos but thankfully I think I succeed and we arrive in one piece.

first delay

Hopefully, our only delay. The Captain has just announced delayed departure, only 15 minutes, hopefully that won't affect our connection to Chamonix.

Simon as usual is taking it all in his stride, although the boots are still giving him problems. Still after about half an hour of running repairs to these in the lounge he thinks he is ready, with what I think is trial alterations to boots no 10!

Departure Day

Saturday 31st July 2010
Didn't sleep much last night, I must have packed my ski bag at least 20 times in mysleep. woke at 4am could not remember if I had packed my headtorch. Did the boys say that they had taken it last night and didn't give it me back? Can't remember! So finally muster myself to get out of bed at 5.15am to get ready to leave. First thing to do is completely unpack my bag to find headtorch, only to find I had zipped it in the top pocket! It only takes 10mins to repack. Rachel gets up with me to make sure I don't forget anything. I don't think I have, well it's too late now. I go in to kiss the boys goodbye no movement from Kian but Ethan jumps straight up I don't think he slept much either. Kian eventually gets up and we all have a big hug and say our farewells for a week. They have promised me they will be good for Rachel, but somehow think she will have her hands full. Iv'e promised to stay safe and make sensible decisions. Simon arrives, we run through last minute packing queries and set off - a miserable journey as weather awful, but now relaxing in the British Airway's Club lounge, thanks for arranging this Bekki, it makes travelling so much easier hope she can get us an upgrade coming home!

Next stop Geneva

Packed

Friday 30th July 2010

Got home from work significantly later than anticipated, kids wanted to go out to dinner so we went to Frankie and Benny's, its 7pm by the time we get home, better start thinking of packing, however, Kian starts trying on gear which takes another 30 minutes, I am losing the will to live. Boys have you taken my head torch? I am sure i put it on the table. Boys have you seen my inner gloves? Oh there they are packed safety in my helmet! Rachel tells me to stop panicking and not blame the boys. I finally get organised, it eventually takes 2 hours to pack. The ski bag is full but still don't have down jacket in but am shattered and it is time to turn in but not before Rachel shows me a video of an ascent of Mont Blanc that she has found on a website. She points out the narrow ridge we need to cross to summit Mont Blanc and it is a lot narrower than I had previously seen on photos. This really hits home, are we mad? am I going through my mid life crisis? Why are we doing this? But as I walk up the stairs for an early night the adrenalin kicks in.......
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1 day to departure

Friday 30th July 2010

Was very concious with the weeks events that i have done very little training this week, so woke up early and with the knowledge that i was seeing the Chiropractor this morning i dragged myself out of bed and got the running gear on. Good weather conditions for running the first mile drifted by and felt good after 2. still not able to run with a full stride as pulls my back to much at the moment. I arrive home after 5 miles in a little pain but averaging 9 minute miles and convince myself that i have not lost a huge amount of fitness over the last week!

Crunch time now at the Chiropractor, need Edward to give me the all clear, and its good news all joints are working. ok there's still some inflamation but if I take it slowly on the mountain that should go down and not cause me further problems.

Getting rather nervous now, have just seen article in the Leicester Mercury page 3 (me and Simon are wearing tops, honestly!), we definately look the part and it seems to make it more real. Realisation dawns omg this is definitely happening, we are in the paper, it is real and not a dream, we are going to climb Mont Blanc and in 1 days time! Are we ready?

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4 days to go

Wednesday 28^th June 2010

Only 4 days to go now and feeling the pain in my back from last nights hike with Ethan, decided on the way to London that would go out again this evening with full pack.

Plans dented and no training, made the hardest decision of my life to date, said goodbye to my companion and loyal friend of 17.5 years Penny who’s quality of life had deteriorated over the last few months dramatically, having her put to sleep after such a long and enjoyable life was painful but the right thing to do, there is a sombre atmosphere in our house this evening, she’s with my father now, the boys are very quiet.

Most Enjoyable Training Session Yet

Tuesday 27^th July 2010

My most enjoyable training session yet, with my eldest son Ethan, we hike around the village, and down the country lanes, the first time I have had the pack full, total distance covered was 4.2 miles, Ethan talked non stop for the whole time, oh apart from at mile marker 2 in which he enjoyed a twix chocolate bar, lasted about 3 seconds, it became very apparent that Ethan was nervous about the forthcoming climb, as his discussion was focussed on the state of my back. 4.2 miles covered averaging 19 minute miles with full pack on my back and a 7 year old used to walking to and from school so all in all not bad, but my back is now screaming for the ice pack.

Publicity Photo's

Tuesday 27th July 2010




You know the departure date is getting close when marketing call you up for a photo shoot, which was a good thing really as its the first time I had packed everything and put on all the gear, I'm just not as organised as Simon. Bloody hell this rucksack is heavy, how can a few clothes weigh so much? and god it hurts, I am really worried now that I should have put this thing on my back earlier, and once again the seeds of self doubt creep back in of have we done enough training?

Here we Go Again

For some strange reason I find myself once again agreeing to these challenges, 2 years ago it was the 3 peaks challenge in 24 hours, which we achieved in a credible 19 hours flat, however this time its got a little mad. I was planning on doing 1 challenge this year which was Kilimanjaro, I had kept putting it off and off, but then dad died out of the blue from a heart attack, and at that point Rachel and I agreed we would not keep putting things off, and she gave me her blessing.

3 tough challenges for 3 top charities by 3tc software.

Sounds great, what a gimmick brilliant marketing collateral, there's a flaw.

Summit Mont Blanc, Summit Kilimanjaro and Run the New York marathon in under 5 hours, all over a period of 99 days, didn't Barack Obama get 100 days to prove his metal?

Interesting yes, but guess what Marketing aren't doing any of the challenges, no surprise there then.

So how on Earth do you train for this, well first thing is you need to rope other people in, it makes you feel less bad about how hard this is going to be, so the first recruit was Simon Clough my Chief Technology Officer, he's doing all three with me. We also managed to convince Simon's wife April to do the marathon, and I roped in my good friend Russ Kew to climb Kilimanjaro with us, so phsycologically the pain has already been shared.

Training problems that I never really thought of, I need to fit all my training in, whilst continuing to run the business, along with maintaining my family time, with Rachel, Ethan and Kian, this is a difficult feat on its own.

So training, Simon and I worked out we needed endurance for all 3 events, and we felt a combination of long distance walking, biking, and running were probably the best methods of training. I have one slight problem, I have been in some considerable pain with my back since I returned from Australia in September, having consulting the doctors, they referred me to the physio, who gave me a couple of sessions and some stretching excercises that relieved the pain, but nothing concrete diagnosed, so a bit of a dilemma, I don't like Doctors or hospitals or anything like that, I always consulted my father, but he was no longer around following his death in 2009. In the end I decided to go to a chiropractor, scepticle as I was I found the first consultation enlightening, Edward diagnosed my problem Chronic Sacroiliac Joint Sprain on the left side, it was bloody painful thats what it was, apparently this meant that my left leg was shorter than my right slightly which when I ran aggrevated the muslcles as they were unalligned, 10 sessions of treatment duly followed, I was sore as hell after each treatment, but my back felt stronger each time.

That in mind the torture begins, I felt I had kept in reasonable shape since the 3 peaks, however it didn't feel that way on my first 4 mile run, the first 2 miles were extremely painful, and I remember getting back to the house with sweat pouring off me just wanting to die, Rachel looked at me and laughed, followed by "if this is what 4 miles does imagine what 26 will do", my sole of inspiration is always a good confidence booster.

Saturday 29th May

Disaster, football training on a saturday mornings with the Hinckley United U7's that I coach and manage is usually a fun affair, however 45 minutes into the session and my back goes, I leant back to stop a shot from one of the boys and bang, I fell to the ground feeling that I had a 12" knife thrust through the base of my spine, for the rest of the weekend I lay either in bed or on the sofa. Double whammy was that it was bank holiday weekend, so the earliest I could get into the Chiropractors was Wednesday, just when you feel your making progress this happens.















Anyway in the last 3 months I have covered a total fo 211 miles running, 120 miles cycling and around 44 miles walking, does any of it get any easier it doesn't seem to but you keep going in the belief that your body is getting fitter. The attached picture is proof to the contrary, I had just completed a 7.5 mile run on Thursday 8th July.


Saturday 10th July

I arrange a trip to snowden for Russ and I, we are joined by our good friend Pete, why take Russ well to date Russ has only done a couple of spinning classes a week, his main form of excercise is walking between public houses, which he does rather well. I convince Russ that he needs to experience climbing a mountain before he gets to Kilimanjaro, were expecting good weather as we have enjoyed the sun for the last 4 weeks, how wrong could we be, I am however undetered as I have everything Simon's and my visits to Cotswold Outdoors has ensured we have the best kit money can buy, so a great time to test them, especially the Scarpa Manta's which were a last minute switch from the Vega's. We wake at 5.30am but its pissing it down, so we decide that we will have a couple more hours enjoy breakfast and it will have baited, 7.30am its still pissing it down, but breakfast was good feel ready to go, full waterproofs etc, I meet Russ and Pete in reception, Russ is wearing combat shorts and a waterproof, Pete is pretty much in the same get up, hard to guess which one of us looked most ridiculous, them in shorts me in full mountain weatherproofs. Its about 8.30am by the time we get to the base of snowden, its now raining horizontally and blowing a 30 mph breeze, the first mile was like walking up a stream as the water poured off the mountain, however I was warm, the Mantas were feeling good and I was dry, I looked at Pete and Russ, they were soacked to the bone, we took shelter in the half way cafe, Russ asked for a poncho but they had sold out. Visibility had now reduced to around 10 - 15 feet and the wind had raised to 40mph, I kept telling Russ this was good training for Kilimanjaro, as its unlikely we would experience these conditions, by the time we had reached the top, I had decided that visibility was to bad to head back down the Pyg Track, and anyway it was unfare on Russ and Pete to take them down and then bring them back up again, we had time for a few Jelly Babies a bag of crisps before we headed back down the wind had risen again to around 50mph, you know its bad on snowden when the train doesn't run even to half way. All in all though a good weekend, we agreed that we would schedule in the yorkshire 3 peaks following my return from Mont Blanc. It felt good to be back on a mountain.


Thursday 15th July

I needed to go back to Cotswold Outdoors to sort a few kit issues out, whilst on Snowden my gloves fell apart, and the boots were giving me shin splints, we took Russ along with us also so he could get some advice on boots for Kilimanjaro. Gloves replaced, boots fixed with Neoprene inserts, rucksack replaced, sorted? No not quite, Down Jacket, Underwear, food replacement gels etc etc, once again relieved of a significant amount of cash.


Friday 18th July

My body has shut down, literally, I can't get out of bed, I am full of cold and I ache all over, so cancelled my meeting in Derby and lay in bed watching the golf, again another blow for my training. We're supposed to be going on holiday to Cornwall tomorrow, hope I feel better in the morning.


Saturday 19th July

We get up early and I manage to make the gruelling 5 hour trip to Cornwall, we arrive at 11am, all the boys want to do is go to the beach, I just want to go back to bed, but we cannot get into the cottage until 4pm. We finally find a beach and the boys are happy. Holidays are not good for training but I have been well disciplined to this stage so have my running gear as well as my swimming gear. The cottage has a pool, just in case the British weather is lets say British as usual, the boys will want to swim every day anyway so that will make it easier.


Monday 21st July

The weather is good everyone is having a good time, I have just been out on the sea kayaks for and hour and then decided to build a sandcastle for the boys and bang, their goes my back again, I really can't quite believe it, I am begining to think things are conspiring against me, less than 1 week to go and this ontop of my exhaustion from last week does not bode well.


This puts pay to any running for the next few days, so its swimming for me, and front crawl only as breast stroke is bad for my back, that brings another probplem as I cannot swim front crawl, however determination and the need to stay fit and I manage 70 lengths a day of the 10m pool.


Thursday 25th July

The back felt better so I felt I needed to run, could only manage 3.5 miles and it hurt alot.


Sunday 27th july

Again back feeling easier so I again go out, this time I manage 4.5 miles and it hurt but not as much as Thursday, but considering I was upto 12 miles a few weeks ago, its amazing how quickly fitness seems to go, or is that just phsycological?


Monday 28th July

Emergency Chirpractor appointment, god that hurt, but Edward confident things will be ok for Saturday, have scheduled in 1 more session on Friday morning.

So dilemma, how much training do I do this week?, have just looked at Simon's blog, god he's organised, my stuff mostly is still in the bags that I bought it in, apart from the waterproofs that were used on Snowden, I best try and pack the rucksack tonight.

The other thing I have noticed is that our training methods have been completely different, I hope we both have it right, slightly worried I have not encountered any cows during my traing to date, but I will let you know if I do.

Only 5 days to departure, its come round so fast, and I really hope I am ready.

Having another dilemma over do I buy a new camera, will our compact digital get suffcient enough quality photo's and do I buy another Ipod, so as not to upset the family who listen to ours all the time?