What have I learned while training for the mountain?

So when Adrian and I decided 8 months ago to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, I thought ‘Perfect at least I’ve made sure I have plenty of time to prepare and train!’ (And for someone who dislikes to exercise and had never hiked/camped before I thought this was particularly good planning 🙂 )

I also assumed, like most people, that I would do better with a goal. I thought for sure I would be disciplined enough to train adequately for the trek…

But 8 months is a long time and every day life gets in the way. Motivation waxes and wanes and now I find myself 1 week from departure and every one is asking “So, have you done enough training?”

Now you may ask, what exactly is enough; fortunately our organisers K2 Adventures Foundation were very explicit about how you would know if you were ready – you needed to be able to go for 2hrs on a stair master in your boots with your day pack on.

Did I put myself to that test?

Honestly, no… but at least I had a clear idea of what I was working towards.

Throughout this training period I was reminded of a few things:

• Discipline is easier to say than to do!
• Having an accountability buddy is essential (on the days I didn’t want to go on a practice hike or exercise Adrian got us going and vice versa).
• The time we carved out to spend together training has been invaluable for our relationship as well as our personal and professional growth.
• Being in nature helps me clear my mind.
• Some of the best inspiration comes when immersed in pursuing a worthy goal.
• But the biggest lesson I learned was a goal which really means something to me and is linked to a big enough why keeps me going even when I’d rather not.

So am I ready?

Well we will find out shortly if I am physically ready…but mentally I know getting to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro will show me in a BIG way that I can do whatever I put my mind to (no matter how lofty the goal) as long as I have a big enough why.

As Blair Singer has continually reminded us – it’s what the mountain represents for you and the lessons you learn on the journey that makes it all worthwhile in the end – kind of like life really 🙂