Sugar Mountain – by Sheila

Jae and I seem to be getting increasingly neurotic! With such a short time to go before the climb – we fly out on 19th August and start walking upwards on the following day – we are terrified of injuring ourselves and not being able to attempt the three generation challenge after all! Jae took up jogging late last year, and has run regularly at weekends since then, including the occasional fun run with her friends.

Kirsty, Jae, Kerry & Claire after the North London 'Color Me Rad' 5k
Kirsty, Jae, Kerry & Claire after the North London ‘Color Me Rad’ 5k

However, now she is frightened to run for fear of damaging herself, although she is still working every day on the 7-minute work out. She has felt the odd twinge in her Achilles tendon, and doesn’t want to make it worse. I note that the commonest Achilles’ injuries result from running, but the second highest cause on the list is wearing high heels – so she had better get her flatties out, if she wants to stay safe!

I have become afraid to get on my blue bicycle, for fear of falling off. I know so many people who have done serious damage to themselves in this way, that I don’t want to take the risk at this late date – so my bike is languishing in the shed now, until September, after the climb.

Blue bicyle in the shed.png
Blue bicyle in the shed

I got a wasp sting on my arm recently, and was alarmed to see it swell up over the following days, so took myself off to a local Minor Injuries Unit. I wouldn’t normally have bothered – that sort of thing usually sorts itself out – but I started to envisage a serious case of septicaemia developing part way up the mountain. The guy at the Unit said that it was borderline whether he prescribed antibiotics or not, so I whipped out one of the 3GKiliClimb cards Jae had printed for us to hand out, and straight away, he reached for the prescription pad. Problem sorted – the swelling reduced almost immediately I started to take them.

Oscar seems to be the only one of us pressing ahead with his serious physical preparation for Kili now. He is very determined to improve his six pack and is doing serious numbers of push ups every day, and has his brothers doing the same. He allowed me to feel his stomach the other day, and it feels like a board!

Oscar doing push ups with his brothers in the garden
Oscar doing push ups with his brothers in the garden

And of course, Oscar and his brothers are never seen anywhere without a ball. Games of football happen several times a day on the pitch behind their house, and when they are away from home too, as is evidenced by the photo of Oscar and Milo heading off to the park with their little cousin in Sydney at Christmas. Fingers crossed for accident-free football in the next few days!

Oscar with Onnie and Milo in Oz - with a football
Oscar with Onnie and Milo in Oz – with a football

As well as the reduction in risky exercise, there is another change in Jae’s and my behaviour recently. After having been very careful eaters in recent months – I have lost about two stone and Jae has lost one – we are starting to eat more now. The logic for this is that the more one eats and drinks (no – not alcohol!) during the actual climb of Kilimanjaro, the less likely one is to get altitude sickness. But we reckon that it is not possible to suddenly start eating more after months of self denial, so we are gradually increasing our food intake now in readiness. My friends in Canterbury don’t even pass the biscuits to me now, as they know I haven’t eaten anything like that for months – but suddenly it’s all change, and I am reaching for them!

I have got a few sweets to take with us, and some Dutch Stroopwafels for Oscar, which he loves, but was quite taken aback when I heard from Jae that she had weighed her supply of sweets, nuts, flapjacks etc to take up Kili as snacks – and that she had 5kg of them! Given that the total weight of clothes and equipment we are each allowed to take up the mountain is 15kg, this seems quite a lot. Clearly none of us will be without a snack between (the reputedly substantial) meals. One thing is quite certain, though: Jae’s bag will be a lot lighter coming down. I am quite sure the other climbers, as well as the guides and porters will be very happy to help Jae out with her sugar mountain, and will appreciate her generosity in bringing it!