tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34347166039560376342024-03-05T02:07:55.302-05:0096DaysToKiliAndBeyondLife's adventures on the way to Kilimanjaro and beyondUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-63413787848747228392013-09-11T14:08:00.000-04:002013-09-11T14:19:58.103-04:00Yogalates and Steamy Fartleks = 1 GREAT Wednesday!<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today at lunch, on my mission to up my cross training beyond that of just yoga, I started a weekly yogalates class. I know, it is still quite yoga-esque but, what can I say, I love yoga and the feeling of wonderful self-absorbed happiness that follows a great practice. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway ... yogalates, or Yoga Fusion as the class I am taking is called, is more 'lates' and less 'yoga'. My shoulders are unexpectedly sore and my abs are quietly humming now in what I expect will turn into a yell later today. We used weights and resistance bands and I learnt that yoga blocks can be used for torment as well as assistance: think V Sit Ups perched on a block. All things considered, I think I am going to love yogalates!</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qfsvKhd6mOE/UjCy-1D_8NI/AAAAAAAAAQA/qjH8N_Y9jec/s1600/flickr-400428874-original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qfsvKhd6mOE/UjCy-1D_8NI/AAAAAAAAAQA/qjH8N_Y9jec/s200/flickr-400428874-original.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traffic Light by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98425334@N00" target="_blank">grendelkhan </a>on Flickr</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also on the books for this afternoon is a 7km fartlek experience. A steamy 7km fartlek experience. The humidity in Ottawa today is something ridiculous like 38 degrees. It looks like the sky is bursting at the seams trying not to rain. Gross. But AWESOME as it will make our effort count so much more! I used to dislike fartleks until, as is common I find in most things hard about running, I had a euphoric moment of insanity last week while chasing a 20-something fast boy. I felt like I was a child again chasing a playmate down the road. Pedestrians, accurately, looked at us like we were nuts. Cars swerved out of the way as we barreled full tilt towards them and I just didn't care, I wanted to beat that boy to the next corner so badly! Or the traffic light on the next block. Or wherever the next place was that we had yelled to race to. I never did beat him but I know he had fun too, staying just out of reach, it was uber fun! I'm really looking forward to tonight :)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So far, my first week of focused 20lb killing is going great ...</span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Take that 20lbs ... you gotta go!!!</b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-65257919682068548272013-09-10T08:48:00.001-04:002013-09-10T08:48:19.816-04:00Sears Great Canadian Run - The Relay to End Kids Cancer - 100KM<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X_9TdRXQcDI/Ui8S9btyVfI/AAAAAAAAAPk/-J2FJz-YPLM/s1600/road_800x500_Email+Header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X_9TdRXQcDI/Ui8S9btyVfI/AAAAAAAAAPk/-J2FJz-YPLM/s400/road_800x500_Email+Header.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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On October 5th, I will be participating in the Sears Great Canadian Run - The Relay to End Kids Cancer. </div>
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My team, 'Dylan's Divas' has chosen to run the 100km route. While I don't know anyone on the team, I am excited for the day. We are all runners and we are all there to support a very important cause. I only know how it feels to watch a parent die of cancer; I can not even begin to comprehend the horror of watching your own child fighting cancer. <br />
<br />
In my time working at CHEO, I was often heart broken watching the children who were obviously impacted by cancer playing in the yard. Their bodies were under such attack and yet they played with the glee that only children can muster under such circumstances. It really isn't fair. <br />
<br />
If you are free on October 5th, consider coming out and cheering us on, volunteering, or, if you are able, supporting our team (or, you could even join us) ... no amount of assistance is too little. The link below gives all the details and will also introduce you to our team's number 1 reason for running, Dylan.<br />
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<a href="http://searscanada.akaraisin.com/2013OttawaRun/4019c50e9953426496b74c6e4d736381?abcId=3765274&TV=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: large;">Samantha's Personal Page</span></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-75535800453568696282013-09-09T14:40:00.000-04:002013-09-09T14:40:28.937-04:00Blogger Fail ... but let the marathon training begin Well ... I know ... I stopped writing in here for much too long. I'm having an adventure crisis though as we can't decide what to do next! The world is, quite simply, too rich with adventure possibility. <br />
On our must-do list at the moment we have: scuba diving live-aboard in the Galapagos, diving trip to Little Cayman, get our ice diving cert. somewhere and also, pre-Galapagos & Little Cayman, get our nitrox cert. Clearly our adventure planning has really taken a focus on scuba diving!<br />
<br />Beyond scuba diving, my running continues. In fact, I have registered for my first ever marathon at the Ottawa Race Weekend in May, 2014! Eek. I had a training plan in mind that would put me at this point in about 3 years from now ... but, like most other things that I feel challenged to do (someone said I wouldn't run a marathon 1 year and change ago and that was when and why I started running in the first place), I've grabbed this one by the horns and jumped right in. <br />
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This has created an interesting reduction in fear that I was experiencing for the 30km Around The Bay Road Race that I am also registered for in March, 2014. This race has been creating anxiety since I registered months and months ago. The tales of the final hill have created many a nightmare. But now, with a 42.2 in the plans, the 30k has moved into a happier part of my mind. I wonder if this could be a fear-management strategy - always register for something scarier!!!<br />
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Anyway, my reason for starting this train of thought was to ask how people manage to run 5 times a week AND cross train? I do know the answer though - scheduling - but I felt like asking it anyway!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sgeX-5vT5a4E89b-_tmUqtqMgz4MRSM9RYvlewjSRJ6cMImbdmCXgPPqch4sUZHeO_djd7B1LmrQe-oknlhy99nd4qPqmhS-8Z5r_TMkqYbtc-7HXBibclJncBPsYw_Cn5QW0BfnKnE/s1600/OTDL5559-cp12x17-11236.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sgeX-5vT5a4E89b-_tmUqtqMgz4MRSM9RYvlewjSRJ6cMImbdmCXgPPqch4sUZHeO_djd7B1LmrQe-oknlhy99nd4qPqmhS-8Z5r_TMkqYbtc-7HXBibclJncBPsYw_Cn5QW0BfnKnE/s320/OTDL5559-cp12x17-11236.jpeg" width="211" /></a>Another thought, I can see this blog becoming a mush of adventure travel and running training which might break the #1 rule of blogging - stick to one topic. But then, what if my ultimate goal for running training is to be able to comfortably complete marathons in amazing tropical destinations. I think I answered my own question - new goal identified.<br />
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And last but not least ... I have a new goal to always look better in finishing photos than this one from my first 1/2 marathon this spring! I don't know why I am sharing it, but it is the best pic I have from that race.<br />
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(& I am working on sorting through the 100GB of photos we have from Kili and will eventually post a link and a lessons learnt post on here ... I am sorry for the delay)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-63195545890175454662013-08-02T14:25:00.000-04:002013-08-02T14:47:45.758-04:00Day 7 - July 12, 2013 - Best sleep ever!!!<h2>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #4c4c4c;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have finally typed up my notes from on
Kilimanjaro ... I will post them as a post per day ... only because otherwise
it would be a 10 page post ... which I think would be quite overwhelming!!!
Pictures will come shortly ... I promise :) My little inserts in
italics are thoughts I've put in after the fact</span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 7 - July 12, 2013</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had the absolute best sleep ever of my life last
night. Absolute, hands-down best. The rock under my back didn’t bother me, the
angle of the tent didn’t bother me, the cold didn’t bother me and the frequent
trips to the toilet tent throughout the night (oh yes, I haven’t mentioned this
yet – when you are made to drink 3L of water a day plus they give you on
average 2L of water through soups and teas, there is a lot of trips to the
toilet tent required at night) of my neighbours didn’t bother me; I slept like
a baby. I wasn’t even awake when they
came to do our wakeup I was peacefully and happily fast asleep. Amazing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had another long trek today – 19.7km. And, where it should have been absolutely
beautiful due to the scenery and views it was quite sad. Apparently while we had been on the
mountain, the south side experienced a very bad fire and acres and acres of forest
and moorland was just smoldering (some parts were still burning). It was very sad. The guides were extra saddened as the area
is a place of worship for the native Chagga people, of whom a few of the guides
belonged. It put a somewhat sad end to
our trek.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The fire hadn’t reached as far down as our first pause at
Mandara Huts (2743m) where they had … *drum roll please* … a working tap and
showers!!! We didn’t use the showers,
but some of us definitely used the taps.
I actually walked into the shower stall by mistake thinking it was a
toilet and just stood in it for confusion wondering why there was an empty
stall …so foreign was the idea of running water or a shower. Oh, and when I did find the toilet (squat
toilet that is) I just about got stuck.
Apparently 40 some kms of hiking in 48 hours and that whole summit
business leads to getting stuck in a squat position. Thankfully the walls had some texture and I
was able to pull myself back up without just collapsing into the hole … phew! Ahhh, yes, more toilet talk!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last 8km were absolutely breathtakingly beautiful with
rainforest, waterfalls, amazing vegetation and air so so thick. It almost felt too heavy to breathe. Amazing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That ends the summary of our days on Kilimanjaro. It was a successful trip and provided me the
best and worst experience of my life. I
didn’t have any great career revelations but did find a new zen inner self that
I did not know existed. I also, again,
realized that I love travelling and so need to have a career that can support a
future full of adventure!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will post the lessons that everyone should know next week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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And then I can start thinking of our next adventure!!!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-67862277968270584522013-08-02T14:22:00.001-04:002013-09-10T08:36:34.374-04:00Day 6 - July 11, 2013 - A wedding anniversary to be remembered ... it's summit day!<h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoXy7Dghy0kDfw_ytweK9cshqqDjKmek38LuYFwcN1hb7KcqxDI3iqbtNMY6xRBfWjiJ01cSpHbpR0VKL1BhsLamphHmiYi0wog3IAx-iWZX6jTGwU7H2xQ_a8Jij50Q9qRUncGuSzz0/s1600/Top+of+Kili.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoXy7Dghy0kDfw_ytweK9cshqqDjKmek38LuYFwcN1hb7KcqxDI3iqbtNMY6xRBfWjiJ01cSpHbpR0VKL1BhsLamphHmiYi0wog3IAx-iWZX6jTGwU7H2xQ_a8Jij50Q9qRUncGuSzz0/s320/Top+of+Kili.jpg" width="320" /></a><i><span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have finally typed up my notes from on
Kilimanjaro ... I will post them as a post per day ... only because otherwise
it would be a 10 page post ... which I think would be quite overwhelming!!!
Pictures will come shortly ... I promise :) My little inserts in
italics are thoughts I've put in after the fact.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 6 - July 11, 2013</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b>Cold and dark and steep and dusty and slow and steep and
tiring and steep</b></span> (did I mention <span style="color: #666666;"><b>steep</b></span>?)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">for 6.5 hours.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That was a
description of the first 6.5 hours of mine and Luke’s 3</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">rd</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> wedding
anniversary.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A strange activity, really,
to celebrate a wedding anniversary!!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It
was definitely one that we won’t ever forget though. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Or, for that matter, probably beat.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although, it has given us a great benchmark
for future anniversary activities!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The professional description of today, that we read
yesterday at lunch (<i>possibly not the best
idea ever</i>) reads as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Tonight is very difficult - particularly the final 550m -
and you’ll need to commit to fight for the summit. You will inevitably feel like
giving up and going to sleep. This is normal and can be overcome with
perseverance. When resting please ensure you only stand or sit and do not lie own
or close your eyes. Please trust your guide; he is very adept at judging
whether your condition will allow safe progress or whether you have succumbed
to a potentially dangerous condition and to proceed will not be safe. Nausea
and headaches are normal and around a quarter of climbers will vomit at or near
Gilman’s Point.</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did not vomit … woohoo!
A couple of unfortunate souls in our group did though making us the
perfect average group. A lovely stranger
also did and splashed on my boot. I didn’t
like my boots very much by this point though, so it really didn’t bother me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Going to the loo on the way up was the scariest loo experience EVER. Picture pitch black, 2 foot wide (maybe)
trail, 1 foot of light radius max from headlamp and being told to just step
over the ridge to the next one down to have a wee. Adventure loo to the extreme! Plus, in the dark, you can’t really see what
previous loo deposits you may be stepping down into. I had a narrow miss! And, yes, I am aware of the loo theme
throughout this 6 day summary. In times
like this it really comes down to the basics!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Arriving at Gilman’s Point (5708m) was AWESOME. I’d love to say primarily for the view but it
was just sheer JOY at finishing the ‘demoralizing switchbacks’. I’d love to reference that properly, but it
was read to me from a book and I’m not sure which one. They are quite demoralizing though just due
to the sheer number of them, the dark and the slow slow slow speed with which
you move through them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was quite surprised by the remaining distances though to
get to Stella Point and then Uhuru Peak (5895m) but I was very very lucky and
had a load of energy and was super hungry (phew for all of my sharkies and
cliff bars that I brought with me)!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The walk over to the peak (with a steady climb of some 180 more meters) was incredible with views of the
crater and glaciers and just the sheer joy of having made it to the top. I luckily had no feelings of altitude
sickness and actually thought I could have jogged over to the peak … with that
being said, I probably would have died if I tried … but I’m going to keep thinking
I’m Wonder Woman with nothing to prove otherwise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The descent was incredibly fun – think alpine skiing in deep
soft rocks. Now that I write that it
doesn’t sound as fun as it was … but, perhaps the exhaustion and the sheer joy
at not having to walk slowly down were great contributors to the
experience. I have since read that it
is very bad to ‘ski’ down the face though as it is causing rapid erosion … oops
<span style="color: #b45f06;">(<i>Lesson 7</i>)</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Arriving back at Kibo Huts for lunch we were all shocked
and, I think it would be accurate to say, absolutely HORRIFIED to find out that
we still had another 12km to hike to get to our camp for the night. We had a big group HMPH. The total distance that we covered was 20.4
km and we were on the move from midnight until about 5pm non-stop. It was an incredibly slow and LONG day! I have never, and I can’t imagine ever in the
future, been so excited to see an outhouse and our tent at the end of that 12k
(Horombo Hut at 3760m).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had expected that tonight would be a great night of
celebration but it was, instead, a night of falling asleep wherever we stopped
and counting down the time until they had finished serving our dinner and let
us go to bed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">LONGEST.DAY.OF.MY.LIFE.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-78351611076448816852013-08-02T14:14:00.001-04:002013-09-10T08:58:10.470-04:00Day 5 - July 10, 2013 - extreme grumpiness achieved<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I have finally typed up my notes from on
Kilimanjaro ... I will post them as a post per day ... only because otherwise
it would be a 10 page post ... which I think would be quite overwhelming!!!
Pictures will come shortly ... I promise :) My little inserts in
italics are thoughts I've put in after the fact.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;">Day 5 - July 10, 2013</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 5 I woke up, after my first good night of sleep (yay for
exhaustion finally kicking in), in a great mood and full of energy and super
hungry.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Woohoo :)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We hiked 4.9km to School Hut at 4722m and then got ready for
what we thought was our afternoon of sleep before our midnight ascent
start. This was incorrect. It turns out that you don’t get to have an
afternoon of sleep after all. Boo
that. In fact, <span style="color: red;">EPIC BOO THAT</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Instead, we arrived at camp just before lunch. Got set up (ps – I hate hate hate hate the
set up/pack up process. Sleeping bags
suck when you are freezing cold and dirty and they have to get stuffed into
their stuff bags and then fit into your bag.
Suck suck suck) for the afternoon sleep and were then informed about our
3pm acclimatization hike. Umm, we are
already at 4722m and we have to start hiking to the top at midnight … why oh
why oh why must we go for an acclimatization hike at 3pm?!!? Even better, after lunch we were informed
that we had 1.5 hours to nap. Hmph. I hate naps.
But I did it. I had the coldest
nap of my life. Well, actually, I just
lay in my sleeping bag thinking about napping.
I suck at napping. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our 3pm acclimatization hike mostly just gave us a glimpse
at how tricky the steep scree descent is going to be. And we mostly all grumped about how we’d
rather be asleep and how cold it was.
But we all did it. That’s what
counts on missions like this! Do as you are told, drink water, walk slowly, get to the top. Period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Went to ‘bed’ at about 5pm, when all was said and done. Very very very grumpy. I think I slept for maybe 2-3 hours MAX
before being woken up by a delightfully cheerful ‘Time to get ready, be in the
mess tent in 5 minutes’ at 11:00pm. I
won’t write in here what I responded with (very very very grumpy x10) but it
had something to do with 5 minutes being ridiculous ESPECIALLY since we had to
stuff those stupid sleeping bags back into their stupid bags!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ll continue from 11pm onwards as Day 6.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-36556739541394652092013-08-02T14:09:00.003-04:002013-08-02T14:48:33.654-04:00Day 4 - July 9, 2013<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have finally typed up my notes from on
Kilimanjaro ... I will post them as a post per day ... only because otherwise
it would be a 10 page post ... which I think would be quite overwhelming!!!
Pictures will come shortly ... I promise :) My little inserts in
italics are thoughts I've put in after the fact.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</h2>
<h2>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 4 - July 9, 2013</span></h2>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Day 4 I had a new thing to complain about in my head (I
think I did a pretty good job of being silent, for the most part, about my
complaints) in that my face felt like it was on FIRE from the wind burn. My lips and nose and cheeks were all chapped
and we didn’t bring Vaseline <span style="color: #b45f06;">(<i>Lesson 4)</i></span>. At this point I actually cursed <a href="http://www.samanthafulton.myarbonne.ca/" target="_blank">Arbonne</a>’s
lessons in skincare and wished that, above anything else, I had a tub of
Vaseline to dip my head into!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did, HOWEVER, have a GENIUS revelation in the middle of
the night and used my Body Glide on my face and had immediate relief. Yup, I had reached the point where it was
okay to just wipe off the item that I had been using on my feet and use it as
lip protection. I even shared it with
the group. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">(<i>Lesson 5</i>)</span> It is
an amazing thing how quickly you become very close and comfortable with
strangers when you are all experiencing something like climbing a
mountain! On Day 1 we were sort of shy
about personal issues, by Day 2 we discussing toilet patterns at dinner and
now, on Day 4, pretty much anything goes!!
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 4 was awesome, but very very tiring. I am not supposed to give camp names as we
were doing Team Kilimanjaro’s custom Rongai route. They add in an extra ‘secret’ camp for their
climbers to give extra acclimatization chance and a more secluded camping
option than the super populated Kibo hut.
To get to our secret camp though we covered a total of 11.6km!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We hiked via Mawenzi’s north west ridge (maximum height
4614m) to The Saddle between Mawenzi and Kibo.
This was a walk that never seemed to end as you just don’t seem to get
any closer to Kibo for, what feels like hours and hours. Hours and hours of scree and nothing but
scree. Oh and the remains of a crashed
plane … very eery. We also got
thoroughly freaked out by seeing the summit ascent route. Not a word of a lie, it looked straight up
for a kilometer. I will put pictures on
our website and link to here in the next little while … you will hopefully be
able to see what I mean from these pics!
The view of both peaks though was absolutely incredible!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We veered off the beaten path and actually descended to our
camp for the night. After being so high
(4614m) it was really amazing to get to go down to camp. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t imagining actually
feeling the air getting thicker. Oh,
camp was at 3936m.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">(<i>Lesson 6</i>)</span> Oh yeah
and, at this point, at night I was sleeping in my winter running tights, fleece
pants, 800 down jacket and a toque in my sleeping bag. So, if you are coming for this mission –
bring warm sleeping apparel … it’s crazy cold at night!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-24615731187683241782013-08-02T14:05:00.001-04:002013-08-02T14:48:47.486-04:00Day 3 - July 8, 2013<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have finally typed up my notes from on
Kilimanjaro ... I will post them as a post per day ... only because otherwise
it would be a 10 page post ... which I think would be quite overwhelming!!!
Pictures will come shortly ... I promise :) My little inserts in
italics are thoughts I've put in after the fact.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</h2>
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 3 - July 8, 2013</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I stopped writing notes on Day 3 due to being too cold in the tent to want to write once in bed, except to jot down
distances and altitude … so I shall write the rest of this from the jaded
memories I have of the experience … lol, I am not actually that jaded and
hopefully can remember the most interesting moments.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
There will be a repeating theme from here until the end of Day 7 – I am cold,
hungry and DIRTY.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For Day 3’s main hike we only covered 3.7km, but gained 624m
in altitude ending at our camp at 4303m at the Mawenzi Tarn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Arriving in camp I actually had a moment of energy burst as
I had a potty emergency and, at this point, the rocks were getting such that a
privacy break didn’t seem to be up to my level of standards (<i>these standards disappeared within about the
next 24 hours</i>). I managed to pull an
almost run out of somewhere and rocketed (<i>all
things considered) </i>into camp for the last 200m or so. This 200m felt the equivalent of a 5k run in
terms of exertion and I had a few moments of breath catching on my luxurious
toilet bucket. Yup, I have now changed
my opinion of the toilet bucket and love it.
Mostly because I don’t have to squat and secondly because the tent
around the bucket stops the dirt (sort of) from blowing into places that
shouldn’t experience blowing dirt!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After lunch we had to do an acclimatization hike to one of
the ridges of Mawenzi (the lower peak of Kilimanjaro) and it was quite steep
and a little bit dizzying at the top. I
say ‘had’ … it was optional … but really, when they say they suggest doing an
optional acclimatization climb who would say no?!?! That would only be for sane people and at
this point I think my sanity was sincerely up for debate! But, oh my goodness, the views were FANTASTIC. We just sat up there (I think it was a couple
of hundred meters above camp) and looked down on the world for 15minutes. This was, at that point, by far my most
favorite moment of the climb! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-79558485351318472652013-08-02T14:01:00.002-04:002013-08-02T14:49:03.399-04:00Day 2 - July 7, 2013<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I have finally typed up my notes from on
Kilimanjaro ... I will post them as a post per day ... only because otherwise
it would be a 10 page post ... which I think would be quite overwhelming!!!
Pictures will come shortly ... I promise :) My little inserts in
italics are thoughts I've put in after the fact.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 2 - July 7, 2013</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I didn’t sleep at all (well barely at all) last night and
woke up this morning in a bit of a grump … a cold uncomfortable grump. While we have great sleeping pads the angle
of the campsite is not flat (<i>SURPRISE
lol. I’m not sure why, or how for that
matter, I was thinking there would be a flat campsite on the side of a mountain</i>)
and there are mighty big rocks in random places. We also have very tight mummy sleeping bags
on account of the cold and I am definitely not used to sleeping with things
over my head. Turns out though that it
does drop below zero on night one and you do indeed need to have something over
your head. I also learnt that I should
have brought a wonderful pillow with me <span style="color: #b45f06;">(<i>Lesson
2</i>)</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All things considered, I found it quite difficult to get
moving this morning. It was just cold and
everything was very dirty from yesterday and … well, I already did not like the
toilet bucket. Sigh, what a princess!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh, and, day 1 was all it took for my boots to start rubbing
on my heels. I changed my socks and put
in a liner in hopes that this will solve the problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today’s hike has morning and afternoon portions covering a
total of 11.8km. In the morning we hiked
to Second Caves at 3482m and had an AMAZING lunch of chips (French fries for my
North American friends) and veggies and a really delicious salad. The carnivores of the group (hehehe) also had
fried chicken – I think it was fried anyway; I didn’t pay a lot of attention as
I wolfed down my amazing chips!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
My boots have officially eaten a solid chunk of both of my heels. Bugger.
I do have a blister kit though and applied freezy gel things to both
heels. I wasn’t convinced (<i>and correctly so</i>) that they would stay
put …but I didn’t think of any alternative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After lunch was HARD.
The scenery was heathers and then moorland and it was steep for almost
the full 6.0 km. I also smoked my head
super hard exiting a lava tube … which is one of the few things I haven’t
actually banged my head on ever in the past!!
As cool of a first as that was, it didn’t really help my headache and
dizziness that stuck with me from lunch onwards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was very cool that we were above the clouds all day. It is a strange feeling as it’s like a great
big white fluffy pillow and makes you forget how high you are! A couple of times a bit of a gap cleared and
we had a great view of Kenya very very far below us!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our camp for tonight was Kikelewa camp at 3679m and we had
an amazing view of Kibo. It was a little
daunting knowing how much higher we had to go … but only for a few minutes
before my feet and the dirt distracted me!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luckily, in our group of 8, we had some seasoned trekkers
who know the genius of duct tape and travel with it on their water bottles for
easy access. I learnt that duct tape
is, among many other things, really useful with blisters when your freezy gel
pads come unstuck about an hour after putting them on <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(<i>Lesson 3</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So … I am now the dirtiest I have ever been and have duct
taped feet. I even put the duct tape on
over dirt … I am not sure if this is a safe thing to do but you know what they
say about desperate measures. There is
no way I’m going home without summitting (I'm making up words) because of my boots (<i>Turns out it is perfectly safe to duct tape
dirty blisters</i>)!!!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-58632132488914845142013-08-02T13:53:00.000-04:002013-08-02T14:49:26.408-04:00Day 1 on Kilimanjaro<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>I have finally typed up my notes from on Kilimanjaro ... I will post them as a post per day ... only because otherwise it would be a 10 page post ... which I think would be quite overwhelming!!! Pictures will come shortly ... I promise :) My little inserts in italics are thoughts I've put in after the fact.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h2>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day 1 – July 6, 2013</span></h2>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We started this morning with a 5 hour van ride to the base
of the Rongai Route from Arusha (as Rongai is the only Northern approach there
is a significantly longer drive to arrive at the start point than the other
routes). Upon arrival at base, we had a
somewhat embarrassing lunch … let me explain that a bit … in booking with Team
Kilimanjaro, one of the ‘perks’ offered is chairs and tables for all
meals. This, when I read it from the
comfort of my desk, did not sound like a huge and wonderful perk (<i>oh how I have now discovered otherwise</i>). However, at the base of the route there is a
tourist picnic area with benches on which all of the other climbers were
sitting eating their provided boxed lunches.
We arrived and our guides promptly set up a full table, with table
cloth, and proceeded to serve us a fully cooked meal. We got quite a few jealous glances but also a
good hint as to the level of care that we had signed up for!! Once we had all
eaten our 3 course lunch and filled up our 3L camelbaks we got started. <i>OH
WAIT … hint for the ladies if you are ever starting at Rongai’s base … nearest
to the tourist area there are toilets that are only squat … walk down the hill
to the further toilet building and there is an amazingly luxurious (after a few
days in Arusha, my definition of luxurious here is nice and generous) toilet
building with actual toilets. Trust me;
this walk will be worth it as that is the last toilet you are seeing for a
week!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The trek for today was a nice and mild one, traversing first
through plantations, then through a pine forest (yes, that was as weird as it
sounds … apparently the pine trees were imported) and then into bush country
and, amazingly – I expected this to take a few days, above the clouds! The total distance covered was 6.7km and our
camp was at 2626m.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I felt really great finishing day 1. We had great company in our group of 8, the
guides were really fun and Luke and I had already learnt the Kilimanjaro song
in Swahili before leaving so got to sing along with one of the most popular
songs (this later became more of an irritant …but for Day 1 it was cool).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did, however start to notice the dirt and was FILTHY by
the end of the day <span style="color: #b45f06;">(<i>Lesson 1 – I will do
a next blog post on the Lessons of Kilimanjaro that they don’t tell you about
in the pamphlet</i>)</span>. But, as the
temperature was still above zero when we arrived in camp I was able to have a
warmish wash in my bowl and felt good by bedtime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-7493655273951236672013-06-05T11:52:00.003-04:002013-06-05T11:52:43.013-04:00What more do we need? 26 days!<img><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixxmkjzVpJA9rMtpRDq-3KHw2BdZHLvdM85aSSLGybG8-Y9WHDNZjVzgdPTSzWvRAuJ7OrBDaXQcvL3gpq4jAJHoLsA3sX_3lp4rd8wxyhyCe0WRCan3c-EcEzFSnRz2HhoGIc-vexoSo/s1600/pic+bucket.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixxmkjzVpJA9rMtpRDq-3KHw2BdZHLvdM85aSSLGybG8-Y9WHDNZjVzgdPTSzWvRAuJ7OrBDaXQcvL3gpq4jAJHoLsA3sX_3lp4rd8wxyhyCe0WRCan3c-EcEzFSnRz2HhoGIc-vexoSo/s640/pic+bucket.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
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</img></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">17 work days to go ... 26 regular life days!! It is now getting both very exciting and quite overwhelming! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Physically, I think I'm just about there except for that march downhill. For that though I have started crossfit and MY GOODNESS I think the month will have a great impact!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shopping ... hmmm, our shopping list is what is getting somewhat concerning ... there is so much left to get. And/or we can just rent everything we are missing from Team Kilimanjaro - this is probably what will end up happening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Our shopping list looks like this: </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Baggage and Sleeping</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Large Rucksack or Holdall, 70-90 litres capacity (for kit carried by
porter)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Daysack, 25-35 litres (for personal use on mountain; ready-access
items) </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Sleeping Bag (minus 10 degrees Centigrade rating or colder)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Waterproof rucksack liner or heavy duty plastic sack</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Elasticated waterproof rucksack cover</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"> </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Clothing</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Sweat-wicking T-shirts / vests</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Fleece</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Insulated down jacket or similar</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Down mittens or similar</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Thermal long-johns for summit night</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Lightweight walking trousers </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Underwear </span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">(briefs are usually better than boxer shorts which gather and
chafe)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Very good quality hiking socks and thin liner socks (</span></span><i style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">socks should be at
least a size too small otherwise they stretch and bunch causing blisters)</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Breathable lightweight waterproofs </span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">(jacket and trousers).</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Waterproof walking boots, sturdy and worn-in (</span></span><i style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">A Gore-Tex membrane or similar is advised. While Alpine or C3 boots are
not required for Kilimanjaro it is important that your boots have good ankle and arch support and good deep read pattern)</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Calf gaiters</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Balaclava</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Sun hat</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Hygiene</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Toothbrush, toothpaste & deodorant</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Flat packed Wet Ones, travel wipes, or similar for personal hygiene on
the mountain.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Kleenex tissues in plastic travel pouches or toilet paper</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Hairbrush / comb</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Lip salve with UV protection</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Vaseline, to prevent chafing skin and heel friction blisters</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Personal Small First Aid Kit</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Pain killers (</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Ibuprofen</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Diamox </span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">(acetazolamide</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">) if you choose to use this</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Paracetamol</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Zinc oxide tape and small scissors</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Compeed blister pads </span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">(</span></i><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">not </span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">corn pads)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Loperamide / Immodium diahorrea tablets</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Any medication you normally use</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Dioralyte sachets or similar rehydration packs</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Health</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Malaria Tablets (<i>if you choose to
take these</i>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Factor 30+ sun cream</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Sun barrier cream white / blue for nose and ears</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Documents</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Passport (<i>with additional 6 months’ validity after proposed expedition return date</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Tanzanian Tourist Visa</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Air Travel Documents</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Cash in US dollars in denominations of $10 and $20 and $1</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Credit Card </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Travel Insurance Documents </span></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">(</span><i style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Though not essential, most climbers choose to
insure as lost baggage is a frequent occurrence</i><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Vaccination certificates (<i>Yellow Fever, if
visiting a ‘risk zone’ prior to entering Tanzania</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Other stuff</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Camera and film or digital camera and spare memory cards</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Sunglasses with UV-filter lenses</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Optional high energy snacks for trekking (<i>cereal bars, dried
fruit and nuts</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Spare contact lenses and saline fluid, if worn</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Watch</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Head torch with spare batteries and bulb
for summit night & tent admin</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Water bottles & Camelbak (<i>minimum total fluid
carrying capacity should be 3 litres</i>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Water purification tablets / iodine drops (<i>most choose to
supplement purification achieved by boiling</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Ear plugs and blindfold (<i>to aid sleep on
afternoon before summit night</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Plastic bags (<i>for dirty washing, wrappings, etc.</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Telescopic walking poles (<i>optional</i>)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0pt;">Optional evening entertainment (<i>playing cards,
travel chess, book, etc</i>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMT; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-align: center; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-compound: simple; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dash: solid; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-dpiwidth: 0pt; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-join: bevel; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-linecap: round; mso-style-textoutline-outlinestyle-pctmiterlimit: 0%; mso-style-textoutline-type: none;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of which, as I was reading over this, we actually most of. Thanks to running I have all of the clothing I need for the climb. HOWEVER, unfortunately thanks to running, none of my clothes are safari-appropriate. Apparently, one should avoid blue, white, camouflage and bright coloured clothing on safari. That pretty much lets out all of my casual clothing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So ... that is our current focus - safari clothes, figuring out how to keep me warm at night (I am perpetually frozen) and all of the other odds and ends on this list.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Speaking of lists, what is that <img> at the top you ask? Well, that's me finding html elements in the real world. I've got a <div> bucket to hold my pics, DQ <menu>s, a <span> of table settings, a <p>aragraph about exercising trees, a <li>st of lovely faces we met in Sepilok, a nightmare of elevator <nav>igation in Bangkok, the <time>, an ordered list <ol> of our wedding day events and ... last but not least a great <blockquote> from Mr. Hemingway about Kilimanjaro:</span></div>
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<h1 class="quoteText" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summit is called the Masai 'Ngaje Ngai', the House of God. Close to the western summit there is a dried and frozen carcas of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude.”</span></h1>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">― </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1455.Ernest_Hemingway" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">Ernest Hemingway</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">, </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/621924">The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories</a></i></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-23209354624667309142013-05-28T09:51:00.000-04:002013-05-28T09:51:29.099-04:00OUCH!!!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My legs hurt <span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">a lot</span> today! A lot of a lot in fact! The stairs in my house have
become my worst enemy. My second worst enemy is now the stairs to catch the bus
from work. My third worst enemy ... well, you probably get the point! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In all of my years in martial arts I have never felt such a full on toe to
hip discomfort. The strangest part is that I am getting some sort of joy from
the discomfort; like because I hurt so badly, I must have done a GREAT job!!!
Very very strange. I feel that the more I run, the stranger it becomes!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wonder though if I should also take this discomfort as a sign that I might
not be ready yet for the trek back down Kilimanjaro. Most people focus on the
trek up as being the hardest ... will I succumb to altitude sickness, will the
last day up be too challenging etc. etc. etc. In my conversations not many
people think about what happens after you summit. The answer: a long long long
(40+ kms) walk down hill in 1 day. That doesn't really sound fun. In fact, for
today it sounds completely impossible. I think I'd have no choice but to roll
down! So, while I am beginning a new 1/2 marathon clinic immediately (tonight
actually ... could prove interesting), I am also going to focus a lot more on
cross-training in June. I have a new yoga class pass, can always do BodyRock and
am discussing CrossFit with a good friend. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm also continuing with my mission to learn web design and had to pick a
word editor. I've chosen Notepad++ for the sheer simplicity of it. While I did
download Vim and have been playing with it on and off, I will focus for now with
Notepad++ to move forward in my learning; Vim can be a later challenge! </span><br />
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YSHPCH4m6p0/UaS12FC89vI/AAAAAAAAAMI/XlwP383Mg4U/s1600/CodeForToday.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="369" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YSHPCH4m6p0/UaS12FC89vI/AAAAAAAAAMI/XlwP383Mg4U/s640/CodeForToday.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
<i style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
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<i style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Have a wonderful Tuesday and cherish your health! </span></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-54447480357827336482013-05-26T17:40:00.000-04:002013-05-26T17:41:08.487-04:00Complete a half marathon ... check!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWyq4plevid4IxczfwlllCR5ubgHXnMDRQFQDHF-b0R1MTvZRO2Ki0YhhGrEWwIM9kqAb0h9-s-s_GmqHaWgXegfbwEli5zkbwLvwxtPon_2lR1_aBsO56vSW1-KwvVcRvOkK7br0sMCI/s1600/Medal1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWyq4plevid4IxczfwlllCR5ubgHXnMDRQFQDHF-b0R1MTvZRO2Ki0YhhGrEWwIM9kqAb0h9-s-s_GmqHaWgXegfbwEli5zkbwLvwxtPon_2lR1_aBsO56vSW1-KwvVcRvOkK7br0sMCI/s320/Medal1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snazziest medal yet!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The list of Samantha's things to do once is one item shorter now as I checked off 'complete a half marathon' this morning. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not really sure yet what to type about this event ... except that I'm excited for the next 2 that I have already registered for (Army Run and Toronto Waterfront). Running is a strange strange thing. I finished today with a head that felt like it was going to explode (yay dehydration) and yet almost immediately started going through my game plan for the next one. Strange.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although, my next one is going to be very different in that I'm running it with Mum ... we are going to cross the finish line holding hands and share in the awesomeness of voluntarily inflicting harm on ourselves for 21.1kms. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had a few favorite moments today ... 1 being high-fiving a nun - how often can you do that?!?! The second, for some reason, being the insane giggles I suffered after seeing a 'WORST.PARADE.EVER.' sign - genius! And my final collection of favorite moments all involved my brother bellowing at me as though he would murder me if I didn't 'GLUE YOURSELF TO THAT PACE BUNNY'. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh, speaking of the pace bunny ... awesome ...I loved the pink tutu'd 6 ft tall male pace bunny that I ran behind while he casually sauntered. Sigh. One day ... one day.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So,yes, an awesome day with a pretty great accomplishment (2:16:4). I'm going to enjoy the Army Run with Mum and then push hard for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon ... I will get that sub 2:00 one day soon!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">37 days to Kilimanjaro!!!!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-38063861755484658182013-05-13T09:52:00.001-04:002013-05-13T09:59:53.578-04:00I'd rather be running!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9RCFNTIKdGUJB6X9EEuKQhfRZxvU_9RZaOk-ybMxmjzXVbrK7S9xxVEdc061GUbr8td2r9uehqclaqyoZ29nOiUNoh9gzsKNyEmupZXmnMB7AdX9toemPq98B7SOQXe8_YVQ1SHY7cE/s1600/shoes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9RCFNTIKdGUJB6X9EEuKQhfRZxvU_9RZaOk-ybMxmjzXVbrK7S9xxVEdc061GUbr8td2r9uehqclaqyoZ29nOiUNoh9gzsKNyEmupZXmnMB7AdX9toemPq98B7SOQXe8_YVQ1SHY7cE/s200/shoes.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today is one of those days where I want to do just about
anything other than what I am supposed to be doing (aka working). I have had a wonderful realization though in
that, even though I am somewhat uncomfortable from a trial run of the ½ marathon
route yesterday, my first thought was ‘<span style="color: dodgerblue;"><b>I’d rather be running</b></span>’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kilimanjaro is coming sooo close around the corner
(including today, 51 days until we leave and 55 until climb start day), but
even closer is the upcoming <a href="http://www.runottawa.ca/"><span style="color: blue;">Ottawa Race
Weekend</span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started running with my Mum with the Merivale Running Room
Learn To Run program in August 2012 and have LOVED it ever since. We’ve completed the LTR, 5k and 10k programs
together and I’m now finishing off my first ½ marathon clinic in preparation
for the ½ marathon on May 26<sup>th</sup>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This used to seem like an insanely daunting task but now it
just seems like what my training has gotten me ready for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With this being said, I am sooo nervous. More nervous, in fact, than I am for
Kilimanjaro. Although, I suppose that
the more likely probability is that this event is currently stealing my nervous
focus. Or perhaps I figure that if I
can kick tush at a ½ marathon than Kilimanjaro will be a breeze. That sounds stupid though even as it comes off
of my fingertips … probably not a good sign!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The reason why I am nervous is what amuses me though. I know I can do the distance but I am nervous
about letting <u>myself</u> down. I like
to set my bar very high and then get completely wrapped up in nerves about
failing to meet that bar. Isn’t that
silly?!?! <i>Dear self, as long as I try my hardest, don’t be let down by whatever
notions my hyper-competitive version of you has come up with!!!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think I’m normal though (words that don’t often come out
of this one), in this regard. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So anyway, the biggest part of my training for Kili has been
my running and I think its serving many purposes: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">it is
building up my leg strength;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">it is
building up my endurance;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">it is
building up my mental strength to push through discomfort;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and, currently above all, it is distracting me from the nerves that
would otherwise be associated with all of the Kili final payments and details that
are due this month!</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<ul>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is all becoming
very very real!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-66665554895785362102013-05-09T15:32:00.001-04:002013-05-09T15:53:15.842-04:00Tanzania Visa Advice Needed<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today is a quick blog designed to ask a question ... has anyone had any good or bad experience with visas for Tanzania in either a) purchasing them prior to departure from the embassy or b) purchasing them at the airport on arrival?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />I am getting many mixed messages on this one with 50% of people saying to absolutely get them before we go and others saying the airport is the way to go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What thinks you?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Part 2 of this quick blog is my webcraft accomplishment for challenge 2 ... check it out:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HAJ6fQr9Da4/UYv5e-6cvxI/AAAAAAAAAGw/_kv9ncdUm-w/s1600/hand+code.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Contains simple html code for a 'Hello World' paragraph" border="0" height="346" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HAJ6fQr9Da4/UYv5e-6cvxI/AAAAAAAAAGw/_kv9ncdUm-w/s400/hand+code.JPG" title="Handwritten code to make sure we know the basics" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handwritten code to make sure we know the basics!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It took me a few tries to get the indents right for the tags but other than that was quite straight forward. Oh, I also wrote uft-8 a bunch of times!! I did like this exercise as I found that writing it out by hand definitely solidified it more for me than typing. Otherwise though, I've reinforced that I still can not write in a straight line :)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-15426173557741098422013-05-06T09:51:00.002-04:002013-05-06T09:57:41.325-04:00Webcraft Here I Come!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://p2pu.org/en/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="https://p2pu.org/" border="0" height="62" src="https://p2pu.org/static/images/logo.png" title="" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today’s post is a little bit of a different topic … but all
leading towards the same goal: adventures in life before and after Kilimanjaro.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have decided to join the <a href="https://p2pu.org/en/schools/school-of-webcraft/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">School of Webcraft</a>. Yup, that is Webcraft and not Witchcraft …
although, if anyone knows a great School of Witchcraft either online or in the
Ottawa area I would probably be interested in that too!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of my goals for the immediate future is to hone my web
design skills. I use hone in a very
generous manner here as to hone would imply a certain base level of skill that
I am not sure I have. But anyway, it
sounded much better than to just straight up learn!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Challenge #1 is my webizardry (no, that didn’t work … trying
to be too clever too soon). Challenge #1
in Webmaking 101 is to either create a blog or create an intro to Webmaking 101
on an existing blog. Since I am not
doing very well keeping this one as up-to-date as I should, I thought I would
combine and use the fantastic skills I am going to acquire to make this blog
that much more amazing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As part of the challenge I am also supposed to introduce
some interesting facts about myself for my Webmaking 101 peers. I am/was/will be:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
</div>
<ul><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lhm9a1rxKUI/UYezz-Rww9I/AAAAAAAAAGg/PcwBhAVetW8/s1600/penguin+wizard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="https://p2pu.org/en/schools/school-of-webcraft/" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lhm9a1rxKUI/UYezz-Rww9I/AAAAAAAAAGg/PcwBhAVetW8/s1600/penguin+wizard.JPG" title="" /></a>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">A fan of bullet points for things like this</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Born in England and immigrated to Canada in 1989</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Continuously searching for what I should be when
I grow up</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Blogging on here, specifically, about an upcoming
trip to climb/hike/trek of Kilimanjaro</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Always on the hunt for new challenges</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Sharing more facts in upcoming blogs so will
leave this list here.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
So, for today, this is challenge #1 on its way to completion.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
Oh, for regular blog-like information, training-wise I did an 18k
yesterday. It was very hot and I should
have worn sunscreen. Now I have a
brilliant farmer’s tan that will look wonderful at May’s upcoming weddings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also did an amazingly difficult pure core hot yoga class
on Saturday. Thanks to this, yesterday’s
run and the sunshine just about every part of me is uncomfortable today. But it is an amazingly wonderful discomfort
that can only come from actually accomplishing something physical; so well
worth it! Tonight I have a wonderful
pure hips hot yoga class that I am immensely looking forward to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy Monday :)</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-4930784231748061772013-05-03T23:04:00.002-04:002013-05-03T23:12:15.717-04:00And The Winners Are ... The Mamut T Aenergy GTX ®<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifP9m7aO15_b76_Fq5dTzte5vybOqf4dlFbfv4oop7mja6vgfQMWF_klwk0hF7QrL8kLvyrI_LYF7gKBnavE_nCpwa3bP6lGFdwb6BJbHTZBqSGQjYRiWe5AZ3I4ffvK2rFD3BAlaZyGE/s1600/My+boots!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifP9m7aO15_b76_Fq5dTzte5vybOqf4dlFbfv4oop7mja6vgfQMWF_klwk0hF7QrL8kLvyrI_LYF7gKBnavE_nCpwa3bP6lGFdwb6BJbHTZBqSGQjYRiWe5AZ3I4ffvK2rFD3BAlaZyGE/s320/My+boots!.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Wow, okay so this is well overdue! I have been mighty distracted, but am going to continue the effort of making this a routine event.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a long deliberation process, I have finally chosen and started wearing in my Kilimanjaro hiking boots. The third time was a charm and I am now the proud new owner of some bright, albeit muddy, new blue<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0066ff;"> Mamut T Aenergy GTX<b style="line-height: 19.1875px;">®</b></span></span><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"> </b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">(as seen in the photograph or here: </span><a href="http://www.mammut.ch/en/productDetail/302003830_v_5136_75/T-Aenergy-GTX%C2%AE-Women.html">http://www.mammut.ch/en/productDetail/302003830_v_5136_75/T-Aenergy-GTX%C2%AE-Women.html</a>).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I thought I would write today's blog to put down a few of the tips and tricks I learnt during the selection process ... so ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: #073763; color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) Know your booty needs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For us the decision was a day hiker. This was based on the fact that we will have packs that are less than 50lbs (thanks to our team of porters) and do not have any ankle problems. Waterproof is also a definite must for Kilimanjaro as we will have everything from rain forest to snow to trek through. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: #073763; color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) Set aside plenty of time for the hunting process and get used to the returns process!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To select my boots required 3 attempts; each attempt costing at least a few hours in the shop. Don't expect this to be a quick shop! Apparently even seasoned hikers require a lot of time as models and technologies change and you are really cheating yourself if you don't try on a few different brands/models. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Also, a great lesson learnt is to not hit up the outdoors shops expecting great (or any for that matter) service on the first nice day of spring. This is guaranteed to result in crankiness (well, if shopping with persons of like personalities to myself).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And of course, keep those receipts!<br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: #073763; color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) A thumb's width is what you need</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My first fail was buying boots that were snug. This seemed like a great idea but upon research and the helpful advice of friends and coworkers this is a foolish plan. Going up the mountain is one thing, but when coming down you want room for your toes so that they are not slamming into the front of the boot. While I will not learn this lesson the hard way, apparently snug boots can equate to blackened toenails and pain.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did, however, get a bit of an idea of this lesson this past week in San Francisco. Even my running shoes became uncomfortable on the downhill portions of walks because I was too far into the front of them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I feel like the downhill portion just may end up being one of our most challenging days! At least my toes will be happy :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: #073763; color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) Invest in a good quality technical sock</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #073763; color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Invest in them and take them along for the boot shopping. Outdoors shops (and running shops for that matter) have a wide array of cute smart wool and other technical fabrics designed to keep your feet dry and comfortable!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For Kilimanjaro we were aimed towards a mid-weight technical sock. I can't comment on how correct this is ... but will hopefully be praising this guidance in July!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #073763; color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #073763; color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #073763;"><span style="color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5) Take band-aids with you to the shop</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For some reason, that I am not aware of, hiking boots have mean laces!!! After doing up and undoing a few pairs you will start to get discomfort on the thumb side of your pointer fingers and thumbs. After 6 or more pairs, bring on the blisters! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once this happens, once again, crankiness ensues.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #073763; color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6) Regardless of style points (or lack thereof) wear them indoors a few times before heading into the great outdoors!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I put up with friendly teasing and also received some great pointers by wearing each of the boots I tested in the office with my professional apparel. This was a priceless plan as I eliminated 2 pairs of boots that I was completely in love with in the shop. The best part of the office day was the stairs. Nothing will tell you that the heel in the boot isn't right better than taking the stairs all day! Also, in the office you can cover a lot more ground than you possibly can at home.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Plus, you get bragging rights that you are doing something cool in the near future!<br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-57238185652628475472013-04-03T20:56:00.001-04:002013-04-04T09:25:12.679-04:00Stress and Platonic Love for Strangers<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">Today I fell in platonic love with a stranger. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">It was one of THOSE mornings at work where, if it wasn’t for our upcoming Tanzania trip I would have decided to be unemployed by this afternoon. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">One of those days where the stress just builds up to the point that tears, snapping and walkouts seem like a completely viable solution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">It cannot be emphasized enough as to how bad stress is for us. Our bodies have a natural stress-response system which prompts our adrenal glands to dump a load of hormones into our system including epinephrine and cortisol. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Epinephrine, otherwise known as adrenaline, causes increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure and a variety of other adrenergic responses (I recommend</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epinephrine" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epinephrine</a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">for more info ... and, btw, you can also support Wikipedia for its awesomeness here: </span><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">https://donate.wikimedia.org</a><span style="font-size: 10pt;">). For a slightly less scientific, more awesome view of the effects of adrenaline on our system, I recommend a movie night with</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSHtp717AZ0" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">Crank</a><span style="font-size: 10pt;">! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Increased cortisol release prepares the body for a fight or flight response by increasing the availability of glucose to increase available energy for those cells required to either get the heck outta there or stay and fight. At the same time, in acute stress situations, cortisol also creates heightened memory and immunity. In chronic stress situations though, when the body does not have a chance to return to a relaxed state before the next stress experience, heightened cortisol levels can inhibit the immune system, impair cognitive function, lead to glucose-related diseases and increase blood pressure (among other things).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">In these routine stressful situations, when we are constantly under pressure and either do not allow ourselves or are not able to physically relax, the stress-response system stays on contributing to an onslaught of health problems including, but by no means limited to: heart disease, hypertension, sleep & digestive problems (& consequently, in an evil loop of fate, weight gain), depression, memory impairment, skin conditions (just like weight gain, this one is a looper for those of us with certain vanity issues), headaches, gingivitis, loss of concentration and, another looper, varicose veins. UGGG.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Even though I know all of this, I tend to be a person who embraces my stress-response and not so much my relaxation-response … sometimes I am not even sure if that response was correctly programmed in me at conception.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Back to my work day … I very conveniently booked myself into lunchtime yoga Wednesdays and Fridays and it started today. Phew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">I arrived at the Wellness Center just about ready to, as they say, blow a gasket. I sat by myself sulking against the wall waiting for the instructor. Where on earth was that instructor anyway?!?! Five minutes of awkward silence passed (apparently I am not the only one with stressful days at work) when in bounced (literally, like Tigger) our yoga teacher completely and utterly full of life, happiness and relaxation. As the hour class passed, I just absorbed her energy and it was AMAZING. So positive and free-spirited and wonderful. So very very different from the majority of others who claim my work day hours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">I had two realizations in that hour today:</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-myReMUlktjw/UVzQ7WMBxBI/AAAAAAAAAFc/vmHuHorHPjg/s1600/meditating-buddhist-woman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-myReMUlktjw/UVzQ7WMBxBI/AAAAAAAAAFc/vmHuHorHPjg/s1600/meditating-buddhist-woman.png" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px;">1) I’d fallen in platonic love with a stranger with toe rings and braided bracelets and a peace sign t-shirt</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">2) I need to find what I love in life and make that my career so that I can be a permanent source of life and energy and positivity for those around me. I definitely have it in me, I just need to find my outlet!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">So, with all of this being said, I’m going to go to my yoga class 2x/week (possibly 3 depending on what is offered on Monday at lunch) until July and then climb my mountain and hopefully somewhere between here and there, learn what it is that would make me an inspiration to the stressed work horses around me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><u>Training today</u>: 1 hour Hatha Yoga & 8k run with </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">6 400m+ hills, </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">no walk breaks</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-70186952994527610292013-04-01T11:01:00.002-04:002013-04-01T11:05:16.139-04:00Hiking Boots and Why Team Kilimanjaro<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We attempted to get our hiking boots on Saturday, which turned out to be a very bad idea. Apparently on Easter Saturday the world and his or her wife also needed hiking boots, tents, backpacks and all of the other outdoor paraphernalia that the shops on our list provide. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="http://openclipart.org/image/250px/svg_to_png/24580/Anonymous_Hiking_boot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="Hiking boot by Anonymous - " border="0" height="176" src="http://openclipart.org/image/250px/svg_to_png/24580/Anonymous_Hiking_boot.png" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We did, however, learn that we require a day hiker for Kilimanjaro. Apparently hiking boots are broken out in light hikers, day hikers and hikers. As we are not going to be carrying 50+ lbs and do not have any ankle problems, it is the MEC guru's belief that a day hiker will fit our stability requirements without adding the extra weight of a hiker. Reduced weight sounds great to me! However, he used all of his available time to tell us all of this and then didn't have time to follow through with any fitting. So, after trying Bushtaka and Expedition and having much the same luck, we have decided to postpone this shopping to Tuesday PM. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A lot of people have been asking how I picked <a href="http://teamkilimanjaro.com/"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Team Kilimanjaro</b></span></a>, so I thought I might as well add in a few posts detailing the planning and decisions I/we have made to this point. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the first things I did was lock down Team Kilimanjaro. A lot of the people I chatted with who have previously climbed Kili recommend just arriving and sorting out a climb group when you get there; this can apparently be cheaper. However, as we are travelling with Mum, there are certain levels of standard that I wanted to ensure that would be met and decided to book from here. My key search criteria were: </span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Registered with Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (<a href="http://www.kiliporters.org/">http://www.kiliporters.org/</a>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">GPS/social media tracking for people at home to folllow</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Routes/service that involved high quality tenting and not using the huts on the mountain (ask me about this if you have any questions)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vegetarian meal options</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Full service company providing safari options</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Individualized routes so as to avoid traffic jams as much as possible (this can actually be a thing!!!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Friendly customer service!</span></li>
</ul>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I contacted quite a few companies and Team Kilimanjaro really stood out amongst the others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We will be climbing their own variation on the Rongai Route (<a href="http://www.teamkilimanjaro.com/rongai.html">http://www.teamkilimanjaro.com/rongai.html</a>). This is a 7 day climb on a quiet TK variation of the standard Rongai route which allows for a better climb high/sleep low differential than any of the existing Rongai routes.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 14.9375px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is great as the reason the standard Rongai route is so quiet is because it </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">has the second worst likelihood of summitting (failure rate of approximately 50%) of all 6 conventional routes. With their route variation, which they own exclusively, TK have great success on the Rongai route and we will hopefully have a more serene experience!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Feel free to ask any further questions you may have as to how/why I selected Team Kilimanjaro!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In terms of our training this week ... we are making progress ...</span><br />
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<u style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Training since Wednesday</u><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thursday - 6km tempo run. I did this with an overall pace of 6:18 though, so below where I want my 'tempo' to be</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Friday - 7.4 km walk</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday - 14km LSD run</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday - 3km run. Today is supposed to be my off day, but hubby has decided to start running so we are going to work through one of the intro 5k programs with him. I also skipped Saturday, so this is not not resting, just diverted resting!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I need to add in some strength training somewhere and will likely add in some Bodyrock on my running rest days ... I love love love Bodyrock (<a href="http://www.bodyrock.tv/">http://www.bodyrock.tv/</a>) and find their videos one of the most amazing ways to kick my own butt in around 20 minutes!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-55338967844503693162013-03-28T10:49:00.004-04:002013-03-28T10:53:05.257-04:00Accomplishments for a simple Wednesday<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ddQ4vKQKiWc/UVRXU5UQXUI/AAAAAAAAAFM/zb-hIDgUaK0/s1600/Hill+runner.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="87" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ddQ4vKQKiWc/UVRXU5UQXUI/AAAAAAAAAFM/zb-hIDgUaK0/s400/Hill+runner.bmp" width="400" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Last
night we had hills training; 5 of them for a wonderful total of 6k of both mental
and physical challenge.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I find it
incredibly motivating as our group has a wide range of runners; from first-time
half marathoners (like me!!) to seasoned marathoners and everyone in between. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So, when I am slogging up the hill at what
feels like a barely moving pace, fighting my brain’s desire to sit on the side
walk, it is wonderful when an older runner springs by! </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I definitely don’t think I would push myself
as hard without those super fit calves and glutes sprinting away from me!</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The group is also wonderful in that those
super fit members wait at the top of the hill when they have finished their repeats and actually clap and cheer for
everyone as we complete the last one. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It
makes you feel like you have accomplished something wonderful on a simple
Wednesday evening (which, considering what we did and how fast we have progressed
to this level, is actually pretty wonderful)!</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">This makes me look forward, even
more, to the HUGE feeling of accomplishment that we are going to have as we
summit Kilimanjaro! </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I can’t even begin
to imagine how amazing that will feel and am sooo looking forward to it :)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I do
wonder though, after Kili, what adventures we will have to take on to get that
feeling back! </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3434716603956037634.post-39037986269297344982013-03-27T10:16:00.001-04:002013-03-27T20:46:22.247-04:0096 days to Kilimanjaro ... <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have been talking about starting this blog for a while now and have decided that today is the day! There are many interesting things that I would like to blog about and have been overwhelmed by all of the possibility ... but I have decided to take it day by day and blog about what is interesting me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With this being said, my main initial focus is going to be preparing to climb <span style="color: #073763;">Kilimanjaro </span>and life's adventures before and after this milestone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YZ6ANl860_Y/UVL8yP3tuVI/AAAAAAAAAEk/lgb56UY3s3A/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YZ6ANl860_Y/UVL8yP3tuVI/AAAAAAAAAEk/lgb56UY3s3A/s320/images.jpg" height="176" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://www.wallhunt.com/">www.wallhunt.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I feel like, as with most other things, the Kili deadline is looming up on us faster than we are preparing for. On July 2nd we leave for Kili and begin our trek on July 6th. This is not far away ... <b><span style="color: blue;">96 days</span></b> to be precise. Eek!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">People ask what we are doing for training ... ummm, well ... Mum and I run with the Running Room (love them!! check out their training programs here: <a href="http://www.runningroom.com/">www.runningroom.com</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">) and I am currently participating in the 1/2 marathon training program for the Ottawa Race Weekend (I'm sure I'll blog about this in later posts). Other than that though, we haven't even bought our hiking boots yet!! This is our Easter Wknd goal though ... that and to find somewhere in Ottawa to start our weekend hikes. This weekend we may need wellington boots instead of hikers, but it will all be part of the training! My hubby has not yet started any training; I'm not too sure what his plan is. But dragging him out for weekend hikes is now on our to do list!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wonder who the least prepared person to ever summit Kilimanjaro was? I have heard many tales from all ends of the spectrum, from triathletes who get altitude sickness and don't make it to inactive smokers who do ... it seems almost like a flip of a coin and mostly dependent on one's reaction to the altitude more so than the exercise. With that being said I read a great post a while ago (I unfortunately can't remember the location) where the author worded it along the lines of: if you don't make it, you want to know that you did everything you could to get there and not have regrets about sitting on the couch in the months leading up to your climb. I'm thinking that right now I would have some regrets ...so I'm taking this as my new mantra and taking this seriously. I will make it to the top and if I don't I won't have any regrets!</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eCbjDZ4WYnc/UVL95EnMGII/AAAAAAAAAEs/zvN-WyQ9pnA/s1600/IceWall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eCbjDZ4WYnc/UVL95EnMGII/AAAAAAAAAEs/zvN-WyQ9pnA/s320/IceWall.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Source:<br /><a href="http://www.ewpnet.com/eaimg/kilimanjaro.htm">www.ewpnet.com/eaimg/kilimanjaro.htm</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another perspective is that great training will make the climb an enjoyable experience versus a grueling physical torture. I really want it to be enjoyable and I want to be able to take in everything I am seeing instead of focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. I am sooo looking forward to just day after day of WOW factor. They have plants that go from freezing at night to +30 temperatures during the day ... WOW. We get to walk through areas that people refer to as other worldly because of the diverse vegetation ... WOW. We get to see 100 foot ice cliffs while they still exist ... WOW. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, here it begins. Today, with Running Room, we conveniently have hill training. I despise and yet love hill training ... the torment of going up the hill is only overshadowed by the sheer joy of completing the torment!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm looking forward to publicizing this as it will motivate me to train harder and more consistently. After all, you will all know what I have or have not done on the road to Kili!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2