Marangu

Saturday 11th August

After an interesting taxi ride we finally arrived at the Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort hotel at 10.30pm. The road to the hotel is part dirt track and potholes that is coroding away with each rainfall. A very bumpy ride!

In the dark the hotel looks great as Simon said not as primitive as he thought, we had a beef sandwich with chips for dinner Simon had lamb casserole, basically needed to eat to take malaria tablet.

Slept for 8 hours solid, don't do that at home. Bed had a hard mattress so good for my back. In daylight the hotel is by no means a luxury hotel but it is clean, staff are polite, adequate food and a decent bar and pool. As it says in the advert, It does what it says on the tin. It's somewhere to sleep, eat and wash!

It was surprisingly cold last night and again this morning. Breakfast was an interesting choice, fried banana, eggs, samosas, porridge and rice crispies. Today is a day for R&R so we decide to do a little walk around the village, visit the Live Chagga Museum which is next to the hotel, which is a living museum dedicated to teaching people about the Chagga culture (the dominant people in the area) and then to the Kilasiya waterfall. Ethan would be impressed here as it is like being in Jurassic park, with big leafy tropical plants and banana trees. Not quite sure that I want to see what insects live in these surroundings though!

Although sunny and clammy down here, Mount Kilimanjaro is shrouded by cloud eluding us from our first full sight of her. I know you should not wish your life away but tomorrow can't come quick enough.....

Departure day & Tanzania

Friday 10th september

Its 2am and I have slept through the alarm! Rachel said she heard it and thought I had turned it off to have a few more minutes in bed, she wakes me at 1.58 and informs me of the time, then I receive a text, Russ and the taxi are waiting outside! Bugger no time to check if I have everything what a nightmare I really wanted to have one last check before I left! I wish Rachel had woken me when she heard the alarm! I know I don't have my balaclava as that has done a disappearing act and Rachel and the boys deny all knowledge of its whereabouts, although I do know that Ethan had tried it on. It is bound to turn up at home as soon as I am on the plane. Oh well hopefully won't need it. fingers crossed. I also wake Ethan in the commotion to get ready, and both Ethan and Rachel wave us goodbye and wish us good luck. We pick up Simon and head to manchester, slept most of the way as was knackered.

Flight across was quick and painless. It's strange having a chicken sandwich for breakfast! 2.5 hours to wait for connecting flight. There is not a lot to do here and Russ is bored after 5 mins! This is going to be a long and tedious wait. Russ just wants to get there and get started as do we all.

The flight took 8hrs roughly and was relatively smooth and the food was good, however the width of the seats could have been better. Poor Russ drew the short straw and gets to sit next to a rather large German lady which we find highly amusing!! I'm sandwiched between him and Simon. Not a huge choice of films but watched Iron Man 2 albeit with dutch and chinese subtitles, so not much of the screen left, a short break and onto Avatar, a good way to kill 3 hours I did doze for about an hour of this film. Courtesy of KLM and kindly donated in support of our efforts Russ and I decided to borrow our in flight pillows they will be perfect for the tent and we will return them on the homeward flight. The service was excellent, although I do suspect the steward fancied Simon.

Its hot when we land at 8pm and 21 degrees. I'm first through and I get all the bags so first worry over. We then sail through only to find the transfer we arranged has not shown up which is typical. After a long flight that's the last thing we need. Next problem is that Simon and I have no phone signal and still don't as I type this in the car. I hope that getting a signal is not always going to be this hard, as staying in touch with Rachel and the boys is going to be hard. A few questions later and a further 45 mins and we're in a car hopefully on the way to the hotel. There is less legroom in this cab than the plane, the roads are bumpy and I have no seat belt as there is no clasp to click into place. I really hope that this is not the start of things to come.

I sit in silence looking out of the window into the dark moonless sky, wondering what the landscape looks like, how friendly will the locals be and wishing we could see our first glimpse of her, Kilimanjaro.

Excitement begins to bubble up inside of me. This is it. Our second adventure begins.... bring it on.

Altitude training machine

This is the machine that I have been using with Simon to assist in acclimatisation. The office have found it highly amusing as well as Rachel and the kids and all tend to come and ask for things when I am on it as I can only nod or shake my head! I am sure I have most probably agreed to things that I shouldn't have!

Ethan has commented that sometimes when I am on it my eyes seem to bulge like a goldfish, which makes me feel really great, Not!

Lets hope it has worked.

Sent from my HTC

1 Day to Departure

Thursday 9th Septemer 2010

This week has flown by and departure date will soon be upon us. The week however has been good from a training perspective. On Sunday 5th I managed my furthest run todate of 15 miles, the previous week I managed 4 miles on the Monday as a cool down, 4 mile sprints on the Wednesday and a 6 mile run on Friday.

This week I completely rested to ensure I get in one last run before departure. I scheduled this for Wednesday 8th, and covered 14.5 miles. The upside is I feel my marathon training is on track, the downside was i have a small niggle developing in my right hamstring and inside my right knee, also managed to get the start of a blister, my fault for wearing the wrong socks.

We paid one last visit to cotswold outdoors for final kit collection (I think both myself and Simon could quite easily get a job there as we know that store inside out and can now quite easily advise people on what equipment to get!), We bought mainly sleeping bags and mats with minor bits and bobs. We chose a Mountain Equipment Snowline sleeping bag good for temperatures between 10 and - 20c, with a max of -37, Simon and I both felt we didn't want to be on the mountain shivering in our bags wishing we'd spent just an extra £50.

Amazingly once again we leave the store having spent another £1k, but you know what, I don't mind, I'd rather have the best and be comfortable than suffer discomfort , especially as its hard to descibe how isolated it is going to be at that altitude. Plus the plan is to do another mountain next year, much to Rachel's disdain. Her nose turns up at the shear mention of this! We're looking at climbing Elbrus with our friend Phillipe from Norway. The only trouble is it clashes with Easter half term for the kids (another reason why Rachel is not happy!), so would have to do a different time if that is possible.

Rachel thinks this is my midlife crises and it probably is in a way. It's definately cheaper than a Porsche and well at least I am have not got a mistress!

I am concerned with one thing at the moment, and that is Ethan. He is very quiet and concerned about this next climb. He is aware of the events that took place on Mont Blanc and is worried that Kilimanjaro is bigger and therefore harder. Its hard to explain to a 7 year old the differnt technicalities of both mountains. He has asked Rachel several times 'Daddy won't run out of oxygen will he?' which makes me think should I be doing this?

What I have asssured him is that his daddy has done everything to make this trip easier and that we will not be ascending 3800m in one day again. Although these numbers don't mean anything to him! I have also promised him that I will try and keep safe and not attempt anything if I do not feel right.

What I have not mentioned in my previous blogs is that because of the events on Mont Blanc the company hired a Hypoixco Altitude training system (mainly to ensure my life insurance covers me), to assist with the acclimatisation for this trip. Effectively the machine simulates Air Pressure at various altitudes and you spend 5 minutes on it breathing through a mask whilst monitoring SPO2 levels and heart beats, then 5 minutes off recovering.

Standard SPO2 levels at sea level should be between 95 and 100%, this then drops the higher you climb, at 3724m your SPO2 should be between 84 and 86% mine went to 73% this explains the AMS on Mont Blanc (everybody is genetically different and it doesn't matter how fit you are, Simon's levels were 20% better than mine from the start for instance), regular training on the machine slowly increases your altitude and helps thicken your blood and the production of red blood cells. Now on the last day at 6495m my SPO2 drops to 94% against a recommended percent of between 76 and 80% and with all the training my resting pulse has dropped to 48bpm. I have therefore never felt more ready and prepared for this mountain (but then again I felt great on Mont Blanc and look what happened there!) I must not become complacent!

The donations have been coming in thick and fast a special thankyou to Pat Walls of Arqiva Ireland with their kind donation of 500 Euros and Emma Jones of SFL for their donation of £500, any amount small or large is greatly appreciated and will go to 3 great causes.

Breakthrough Week (I think)

Sunday 29th August

I was back at the chiropractor on friday for further treatment as I feel my back is getting worse and am living on ibuprofen 3 times a day to numb the pain. Edward said he is going to struggle to maintain my back pain because of the level of training intensity that I need to do. It is decided that I should get an MRI scan to eliminate all other possible causes. Great more doctors and hospitals. I will also have 3 more sessions before we leave for Africa.

A different tactic today for the long run, I did 6 miles on saturday at gentle pace, however previously on my long runs I have gone out without water, so I have prepared the hydration pack.

I am on the road for 6.45am and feel good. I have set a time period of 10 minute miles and the plan is to do 13 miles which is a huge increase on last Sunday, but feel confident and stronger.

The hydration system works well I take on board fluid every half mile and I have found a nice rhythm, the downside is I haven't worked out a route yet that doesn't include the 3 mile uphill back to Burbage in the headwind! By the time I reach this section I feel good, but as usual my energy is zapped by the headwind, without that I felt I could have carried on for at least another 2 miles. Still 13 is a success, and on walking into the house Rachel says, for the first time, that I don't look too bad and she is even more surprised when I tell her I have just run 13 miles. She looks impressed, so hopefully the new training plan is working.


Thursday 26th August

The training plan says we need to introduce interval sprints into our training. This means running at a faster pace than normal for a set distance or period of time, then walk or jog slowly for a set time or distance. This helps build aerobic capacity and speed.

I decided to do a 5 mile circuit with speed increases every tenth of a mile.

The session goes well and is by far the fatest time I have covered 5 miles since training began. Things are looking up at last!


Tuesday 24th August

Today my plan was to have a genle warm down run. I need to focus and stick to the plan. Simon managed 12 miles at the weekend and April (Simon's wife who is also running the marathon with us) did 15, thats how far behind we are.

So a gentle 4 miles tonight. Easy. I am feeling stonger everyday. This time I used the running machine when the kids had gone bed as I am concious I see very little of them currently and will be away again soon.

The Long Run

Sunday 22nd August 2010

The alarm goes off at 7.00am, however I am concious of not waking the family so turn it off quickly (mistake) as within minutes I,ve put my head down and drifted off, another 10 minutes turns into 2 hours, oh dear missed my early run!

After collecting the paper and breakfast everyone is just lazing about not particularly wanting to do anything so I wait an hour and put the running gear on, its not to warm so should be ok.

The run itself was still hard and I could feel my knee twinging after about 7 miles and this was running with my knee strap on, also my back is not getting any better, so still only have a 3/4 stride. My long circuit takes me past my in laws. This is just in case I am too knackered to carry on and I can always beg a a lift back if needed! But I manage to plod past and continue back to Burbage from Sapcote. This is the worst part of the run, as its about 3 miles and slightly up hill for most of the way, running into a head wind, it happens every time and completely zaps your energy.

I manage 9.65 miles averaging 9.30 min miles, not bad but absolutely knackered, the test is Rachels comments on walking into the house. Sure enough she tells me I look bloody awful which does nothing to boost my confidence but at least she is truthful! Starting to get worried now as by now I should really be running up to at least a half marathon. Still tomorrow is another day (rest day Yeah)and then back to a posivtive mental attitude!

Time to get Serious

Friday 20th August

Simon and I have been discussing at work the need to concentrate on the Marathon, the feeling being if we are fit enough to have achieved Mont Blanc, then Kilimanjaro should be no different with the exception of the altitude.

We have worked out a fairly basic Marathon training plan to fit into our short build up, bearing in mind we will be out of action for 2 weeks in Tanzania!

What this means is that I need to get more into my running training, so this evening I planned a gentle run, 4 or 5 miles. I don't particularly want to as my arms are hurting from the second set of jabs I had yesterday but this is a poor excuse! I go out at a very steady pace and feel better, so maybe my lungs are starting to recover from the exploits on Mont Blanc which seems such a long time ago now.

The downside from opting to do a short run is that I need to do a long run on Sunday!