Three weeks out from Africa. It is in the middle of the migration is my understanding so I will get to see something I have always wanted to see, after the climb.
Thanks to WWE 100% of money goes to kids programs to help youngsters have better options.
Still trying to get under 240 pounds but too many late night dinners. I have discovered that night time meals is the worst thing for weight control and I feel I need to be down to 230 pounds for this mountain.
Doing two-a-days almost every day, walking 5-9 miles every morning while playing golf-I’ve loaded my golf bag to twice the normal rate and can play 18 holes by myself first thing in morning in two hours. At night I am running my 6 miles run around 5:30p.m. which takes about an hour, I’ve been trying to break an hour in time and so far no luck.
Jogging is something new to me, I feel I need the extra cardio but it’s a struggle. I have a broken back and a ton of knee and other surgeries so it’s not easy, but it is getting better. It’s very strange that I can hike all day but jogging adds such an extra dimension, which is great to get into shape.
I have kept up my weight training so as to not lose too much muscle mass.
Kilimanjaro has approximately a 60% success rate each year; there are 30,000 attempts with around 1,000 evacuations and about 10 deaths per year. The main problem with Kilimanjaro is altitude sickness.
Diamox is the drug of choice for mountain climbers, which helps to alleviate sickness. I have Diamox and will take it with me but have no plans of taking it. I didn’t take it on Mt. Elbrus in Russia in June and had not noticeable symptoms of sickness. I have always felt that not taking medication if possible is best.
We are setting our schedule now for our Rugby Program here in Bermuda and are set to start the day I return from Kilimanjaro.
Exactly three weeks out, now is the time I start getting sick of training and want to get onto a mountain and see what kind of shape I am really in. However, the temptation now is to just get ready for trip, when what is really needed is to double the training effort because this is the time to make sure I am ready.
Going to do a couple of long hikes this week around Harrington Sound plus up Knapton Hill – about an 18-mile total trip. Other than that, just getting ready to go.
We hope to have our donation link better set up in a week or two and make a big announcement for it so folks can donate if they would like to help out kids who need it.
