Okay, so one month on and the training is going suprisingly well.

At least I thought it was until I popped into see the Fund Raising Manager at the Pickering Centre, the lovely Polly, and the walk up the three flights of stairs to her office half killed me. Hmmm, I'm guessing Kilimanjaro is a little higher.

5,895 metres to be precise.

I met a bloke a couple of weeks ago who had just returned from his own summit of Kili, and he described the last couple of days as "brutal", with only half of his group making it to the highest point, Uhuru Peak. He described heavy vomiting, tears, panic attacks and people being taken down on stretchers.

Wish I hadn't asked him now, to be honest.

The fundraising has started in earnest, up to £600 raised so far, a HUGE thank you to all those who have donated, every penny is greatly appreciated.

A year to prepare

So, a year until I have to walk for 7 consecutive days up a great big hill, and back down again.


My starting position probably isn't the greatest. Apart from the extra pounds that seem to have grown from nowhere around my middle over the last few years without me even noticing (Do men suffer from water retention?) I had major knee surgery at the back end of 2008 and am still only about 80% recovered.

I have taken the first big step in my preparation though, by joining a gym. This was a huge step for me as a self confessed loather of gyms and "gym types"...... you know the ones I mean, those who bang on constantly about what their gym visit consisted of and think it perfectly normal to use words such as "reps" and "presses" in every day parlance.

Anyway, I have joined and I've even been..... twice.... so the preparation has started.



Oh and I've also got a hat......