Whatever the weather....

Come rain or shine, there are two pieces of advice I have been given about climbing Kilimanjaro. 

1. When you get there, be sure to look after your porters and walk slow...this is a marathon, not a sprint!!

2. Before you get there, there's no substitute, you have to get some hills in your legs!!

So today whilst the rain was doing it's best to put the midlands under water, we headed up the Lickey Hills for a stroll through the woods.  Nope,  definitely not the longest walk in the world, and probably not enough to prepare me for much more than the climb up the steps of the plane before we leave, but it was nice to get out in the fresh air with the kids, and of course Charlie, who enjoyed the extra company.  Plenty of volunteers to keep him entertained, and throw imaginary stones for him to chase.

It's been a pretty good week all in all.  My new coat arrived, the best that North Face can offer thanks to Catalyst Logistics who's help will ensure that I stay warm, and dry, even in the -24 degrees temperatures which I can expect by the time I reach Uhuru Peak at 19,340ft on March 24th 2011.   

That was Tuesday, the same day that the Collingtree Park Golf Club agreed to host my golf day on the 21st October, a raffle gift from Nick Faldo turned up and the Northampton Saints stumped up a promise of some match day tickets for a prize too. 

Of course with less than 6 months to go before I leave, the golf will be fun, as will the quiz night that Liz is planning, but it will be walking and exercise that I will be concentrating on most.  Just a week from now I'm off up to Scotland to take in the view from Britains highest peak, a paltry 4409ft, but another 849 more than Snowdon has to offer, and a good practice walk of about 7-8 hours up & back. Short of replicating the altitude this will be a good test for me of how my fitness is coming on.  

And, I'm looking forward to some new company, as William & Helen come along to lend their support, and to bag their own highest peak.  Charlie, unfortunately has to sit this one out!!  The long drive up to Scotland would be too much for him, so maybe another time when I have more than a weekend for the job!

And finally, it's been a few days of amazing coincedence....you'd think that travelling 4,600 miles from home to climb a mountain would be a fairly safe way of getting away from it all....well, not only this week have I been sharing some experiences across the atlantic, ( http://www.climbing4health.com/ ) but even in our own village there is another group climbing for the Daniel Worrall Memorial Trust.  Good luck to you both.... there will be some fabulous experiences to share on the way I'm sure :-)