Training for Kilimanjaro

How does a lazy woman whose favorite pastime is sleeping train to hike Mount Kilimanjaro? If it were up to me, the answer would be not to train. I like to think I maintain a mostly healthy lifestyle, and I read first-person accounts about how Kili isn’t too challenging of a hike (I ignore accounts that take a different stance), so if it was up to me, I’d just keep doing what I do—exercising (usually jogging, swimming, Body Pump, yoga, or stair climbing) three or four times a week and eating a vegetarian diet that has a few too many carbs and alcohol servings but is still (I think) better than the average American diet.

But as I said, it’s not up to me. My hiking partner takes training way more seriously than I do, and I’m sure I’ll thank him for it once we’re in Tanzania. The biggest change he’s made to my routine is to add a weekly hike on Saturday mornings. Our favorite is River Place Nature Trail because it has good elevation changes and is long. It takes us about three hours to do the six-mile loop, and I’m ready for a nap by the time we finish. We also mix in the Hike and Bike Trail once a month; we do the full ten miles to build up our endurance, and our pace is hovering around 18-minute miles. Unfortunately there's not much elevation around Austin, so we can't train for what is probably going to be the most crucial part of Kilimanjaro. Nevertheless, they say overall fitness helps combat altitude sickness, so I'm hoping the sea-level hiking helps in a roundabout way.

In addition to the hikes, Andrew is good at making me actually stick to those regular weekly workouts. If left on my own, I might average two or three workouts a week, but we’ve gotten into a gym routine, and now my ideal week looks like this:

• Monday: treadmill sprints or rest (every other week off for art class)
• Tuesday: treadmill sprints or rest (every other Tuesday, when I have art on Monday)
• Wednesday: Body Pump
• Thursday: happy hour!
• Friday: treadmill sprints or swimming
• Saturday: long hike
• Sunday: swimming and yoga class

Ideal means this doesn't happen every week, but I'm doing way better than if I didn't have someone nudging me to go to the gym with him regularly. So if you're like me and more interested in napping than jogging, but you have an active trip coming up, I'd highly recommend you find a good training partner. I can't say enough good things about mine. :-)