Coming apart at the seems

Most of last week’s training was fantastic, I really really enjoyed it.

The guys and I even got some serious man down time, and went and played in Talise’s main gym

Nic soon discovered a heavy bag, and we got to take our cabin fever out on the bag doing three minute rounds. Followed by some hilarious grappling.

That however, seems like a distant memory, after a brilliant training session in Ski Dubai, everyone of us has been hit by a mystery bug.

My body is seriously under attack and losing. I only came into work, because trying to sleep hurts.

Nic, Abz and Ameer have all got it. So with 4 days to go, everyone is on the lowest point they can be.

The only positive is that we were talking about tapering down the training, having not trained for two days this isn’t what I had intended, but the rest will do my legs well.

Writophobia.. The real challenge of Kili!

So this will be my second blog post, and if anyone saw my first one you'll notice it was a cheat as it consisted of just pictures and no words apart from the captions (I tried the "pic is worth a thousand words" excuse but I didn't really get away with that).

The truth is I have been procrastinating to write anything in this blog as in my mind the concept of creative writing seems to be more of a challenge than the Kili climb itself! After much chasing from the team mates and also a couple of threats (namely from Nic) I finally found the courage to give it a real attempt.

Preparing for this trip has made me.. well.. grow up! When we first started off a couple of months back, I literally thought Nasir's message suggesting a training session at 7am on a Friday was a joke. I replied with "lol" but noone acknowledged, and that's when I began to realise it wasn't a joke. Giving into the peer pressure I agreed to it but still wasn't 100% convinced that everyone would be committed to that. I mean really? 7am? Weekend? So as usual I went out that Thursday night with the "let's see how it goes" attitude. Coming back home from that late night, I had convinced myself that others would drop out for sure, so I didn't turn up!

I woke up with messages from the team that they had a great session. They stayed true to their word and cracked on! I felt disappointed in myself. I let them down and let myself down. From then on things were different. If I say yes to a training session, I will do it no matter what it takes, and being awake at 5am on a Friday has become a norm. A late night out would never be an excuse even if it meant I didn't sleep at all, and I have drastically reduced late nights out on weekends because I don't need them. I feel great about it!

I'm still not perfect. Yes I will turn up to the session but I will probably be 20 mins late :) We are 5 days away and everyone is packed and ready to go, yet I didn't buy my kit until today.. and I still don't have a camelback! I am so unorganised that I lost my prescription for the malaria tablets.. I don't even have my passport because I didn't hand it in for the Kenyan visa until last Wednesday.. this is #lastminute.com, #storyofmylife.

But I promise you, I will have all my kit items down to the spare shoe laces, I will have everything packed into my bags and ready, I will have my passport, I will have my tablets, I will respond to Tazmin's email about my choice of lunch, and I will climb Kilimanjaro.. and most of all, I will finally post this blog!!

5 days to go

Our "tapering down" down phase got a little more tapered than expected yesterday.
We all went out and did the snow hike in the morning, then by midday started to feel crap. three of the four of us are now laid up in bed with a fluish sickness
Just what the doctor didnt order!!

Oh well, at least we taking in some rest!!`

Paper over the cracks

This is one of those rare occasions where writing a blog is pretty hard, if I write about the injuries and issues it only makes them seem more real. So for now, I am pushing them to a very dark place in the back of my brain, they will only be let out when Inshallah I make it back down the mountain. Needless to say, training everyday is taking its toll and I cant help but feel my past sins are coming back to haunt me in the form that all the old MMA and BJJ injuries seem to have amassed together and look to be out flanking me.

On the positive side, for inspiration I am watching lots and lots of Bear Grylls,  currently going through the Foreign Legion series.  “don’t think, do” is their mantra, and yesterday through training it worked brilliantly, managed to push through a very hard gym session.

On the bloody brilliantly positive side, we are training in the Altitude Chamber at Talise, the science I am able to put into my training is fantastic. Because of the high tech equipment I can get readings of my blood oxygen level and every machine I go on pairs with my the Heart Rate monitor, so I get constant readings of my heart rate.
Yesterday I broke the session into three parts. The room was at 2800 meters above sea level, I spent 30 minutes on the bike, keeping my heart between 130-140. After the bike, I did the Crossfit Omar Circuit at full speed. Lastly full incline on the running machine, with variable speed, but keeping the HR above 150 for 30 minutes.

We have another 10 days of this, and I am loving being able to have access to the gym.
If anything can help me paper over the cracks, its having access to the best facilities in Dubai, and being able to Ivan Drago my training J  

The countdown has begun

This is it, the start of the adventure is only just around the corner. We are now under two weeks and last night began our oxygen chamber sessions, 12 of them that will lead us right up until the day before the climb.

It was a pretty big weekend all round, some good training, good preparation and a fantastic sense of excitement for the impending trip

Ameer, Nas and I trained together Friday morning, an 11k walk in the sand and then two sets of stairs, about 4.5 hours all in all. It was nice to feel that all of us found it quite easy and could have gone on far longer - but we all had plans.

The following day Nas and I were up at 5am to go cycling. There is a desert cycling track that leads out to a hotel 30k's away. We cycled there, sat for a breakfast coffee and banana and then cycled back........faster!

A few hours rest by the pool and then our first session in the chamber.

We started on a nice easy height last night, with the room set to 2500m, we will then increase this height every day until we leave. We are all very excited to already have trained at 3500m before we even get to Africa

Some pre trip admin got done this morning, our yellow fever vaccinations are now complete. All of course performed with the expected Dubai military precision. Arrived at the clinic at 7.30 sharp (opening time) and left at 10.30. The responsible staff didn't even arrive until 8.35! I literally have no idea how such hopeless organisation is still allowed to exist of such an aspirational city

Panic on the dance floor

I spent a considerable bulk of my last submission discussing my inherent shortcomings as opposed to my team mates. It is beyond contestation that I have always been at a physical disadvantage climbing the mountain being as unfit as I am. However it has now transpired that my disadvantages are IQ related as much as they physical.

This past Wednesday I indulged in what is essentially a night of mayhem fueled by 3 dollar bottles of booze. It did not end well. At some point during the night I slipped down a well cleaned marble stair case (damn Dubai) and sprained my big toe. It’s a whirlwind of pain. I am enraged that something so small could destroy months of work so quickly.

I was wearily okay with it at first until a phone call with Nic put things in perspective. I essentially have two weeks for my toe to heal or else I could miss out on this trip. I could definitely have done without this dosage of drama.

I am currently ticking the RICE (rest, ice, compress, elevate) steps. I will practically lock myself up this weekend in hopes that this proves to be a simple sprain that will heal come Sunday. I am slightly more optimistic now that I am able to step on it. Hopefully this will only be a floating cloud. One thing is for sure now, I’m going into bubble boy mode until this trip comes along.

Tick tock

The months have drawn into weeks now and it will soon be days. When I used to talk about climbing Kili, I was comforted by the fact that I was able to say, its in a few months, I have loads of time to train! Now I can quite literally count the days.

I am delighted to say that we have raised our money, in most part thanks to Nic, his ability in organising fund raising events, getting large organisations to sponsor us has been exceptional.

I think me, harry and Ameer owe in a very big thanks.

On the training side, training has come along incredibly well, everyone is pushing themselves well beyond their limits.
Ameer is pretty much unrecognisable from the overconfident underprepared “yea man” character he was. We actually call him “New Ameer”, because his turn around has been that drastic. He has even called me a few times to lecture me about not training enough.

Harry ,  has no right to be pushing himself this far, the slight fat soft dough boy, has been turned into a machine.  When we were training up Jebal hafeet mountain, he simply left the group when we stopped for a rest, and pushed all the way through.

I still have 2 major fears that are constantly going around in my head. Altitude is still the biggest. Reading the blogs, Ive seen how it has turned grown men into a crying mess. One blog that sticks to my mind, was where a guy actually leaves his wife because she cant make it.

He then spent the next 7 hours crying his way up the mountain....Altitude is no joke, around 5 people a year die on Kili because of it, and there is no doubt, each of us are going to suffer.

Out of every 10 people trying our route up kili, statistically 6 wont make it. I hope that in our group none of us are that 6, but the challenge is such that we have even planned as a group for the very real prospect one of our bodies gives up.
The harsh reality is the rules on the mountain, is if you get too sick from the altitude you have to turn around and go down as the group continues without you.

My next worry is injuries, years of combat sports have meant both my knees have dislocated at some point, and with the extra load ive been pushing through them during training has meant that they constantly hurt.  This is where having great team mates really helps, no matter how much my knee hurts, I think about Nic, who once described the pain in his back as “the devil grabbing your spine and twisting it” When he does 4 hours of stair walks with  body that damaged, I cant really moan about a dull pain in my knee.

Each and every one of us has used this to push ourselves mentally and physically beyond our comfort zones.

There is a proverb about Kili that the same person never walks up and down the mountain, because you are always a different person after completing the challenge, seeing what training has done to me and the team I can really believe it.  

75% there

I had a personal target of being under 100kg by the time we got too the mountain.

When we started the journey, I weighed in at a mighty 118.5KG. So nearly a 20kg target

Last night  i weighed myself for the first time in ages. 106.5kg. 

So, with 3 weeks down done 12kg's and have 6.5kg to go. 2kg's a week, tough. 

Let's see how that works out

:)

3 weeks and counting

In order to make sure that the guys fully understand the test that stands in front of them I've sent round a the excerpts of a few journals I've found from previous climbers
Rather than prepare them, they're all now petrified

Oops

Another new PB!

But this time not for me.
Ameer, Abs and I did two sets of the stairs again last night, and annoyingly for me the fitness of youth shone through.

It typical Ameer fashion, shrugging off any expectancy or doubt, he donned the altitude training mask in he usual 'yeah why not' fashion and shot up the stairs without any perceived effort and finished 90 seconds faster than me! 24.5 Minutes.
I was delighted, now I have a target to aim for!
Not having been pushed enough by using the elevation mask, he then tried to beat my normal time (without the mask) which stands at 19.20 secs from the day before. This time however depleted energy levels got to him and he finished in very respectable time, but 42 seconds slower than that which I had set the day before

I think this inter team competition is going to step up a gear. Nas gets back in a few days and currently holds the slowest time in the mask, I can guarantee he goes all out to change that within 2 days of being back!

New PB

My training isn't going to set anyone's mind alight with interest, but hopefully one day it will provide a good indicator of what I went through to get to the top of Kili.

Last night I wasn't blessed with a great deal of time, so I opted for speed instead, and set myself the challenge of getting to the top of 82 floors as quickly as possible.
Racing up such a long flight of stairs is difficult, go to slow and the result is obvious against the clock, go to fast and risk having to stop or have leg fatigue/lactic acid kick in too soon and too harsh.
So I set myself the target of 20 mins, knowing that we usually take around 25 minutes at an average pace.

I started badly, far too fast, and within 10 floors the burn set in my calves, I took this on board and slowed back down to 5 Minute per 21 floor pace. I soon hit an excellent rhythm and flew up the next 40 flights. All the while I was calculating how long the next ten floors would take and how much time I could save. When should I start running?
Bearing in mind by floor 60 my heart was beating out of my chest, I stepped up a gear, only 30 secs faster per 10 floors but it made such a difference to how I felt, my heart was now audible above the Biffy Clyro songs blaring from my Ipod.
Floor 70, time to jog. Psyching myself up I broke into a jog, it lasted 3 floors before wanting to be sick.
9 Floors left, cant stop, cant go slower, cant be sick, just keep moving.
7 Floors left, why have these stairs got longer? Why are they taking so long? Has this got harder? I need to stop
5 Floors left, Go faster, don't be sick, go faster. don't be sick, don't be sick
3 Floors, run , run , run
1 Floors left, elation.
Heart currently thudding through my chest at 165 Bpm

19 Minutes and 20 seconds

Now onto the gym, much more to do!

A Fat-inating Realization

There has been a lot said on this blog about our training. If there is any distinguishing feature about our group though it is the sheer discrepancy in each of our respective fitness levels. There is a joke which I have shared with anyone willing to hear, much to their dismay. Nas has actual fitness, Nic has mental toughness...I have nothing (the joke predates Amir). There is a sense of bewilderment among some circles at the fact that I climb out of bed every morning, so it is no wonder that I have gotten quite a few quizzical looks whenever I disclosed my plan to climb Kilimanjaro. Even my mother has a lingering belief that this is not really happening. And that's saying something because she is the quintessential supportive Arab woman. This is why it is so important that I write my view of our Kilimanjaro training to represent my people. The few. The proud. THE FAT.

Strict parent (Nic) and fun parent (Nas) have been generous with their description of my feats, on this blog specifically. However it should be said that this mainly stems out of their general preference for constructive criticism. In reality, my greatest achievement so far has been achieving average results. But I'm not going to deny my pride in that.

Growing up I was obese, flat footed, and just outright unathletic. The only sports I ever joined were the basketball in middle school and rugby at university. The first ended upon the immediate realization that's I couldn't dribble the ball for the life of me. For those of you unfamiliar with the game of basketball, dribbling is somewhat extremely important to do almost anything. The second lasted for a full 2 years, where when I was lucky I would get to warm up the bench. My sparkling career ended when I dislocated my shoulder and realized that I'll give sports a 30 year rest until I pick up golf. The prospect of little to no movement has me looking forward to my post retirement sporting career.

This lengthy introduction brings us back to this proud month. This climb has been a revelation. The “average” results I have achieved since the start of our training reflect an exponential increase in my fitness since the start of all this. Running 5Ks in the morning has become a warm up exercise. Climbing 82 stairs, our main form of exercise, has become commonplace. A regular workout is going for around 200 staircases. Granted I do hold the distinct advantage of growing up in Lebanon, where electricity is sparse and stair climbing is the national sport. But fact of the matter 200 staircases is still a lot of stairs. The highlight would have been this week, when I actually beat Nas’s time of climbing with an altitude mask on (sorry NAs :) ). Nic, Ameer and I went on a 5 hour trek of Dubai this weekend the day after doing 200 staircases and while I wouldn't say it was a breeze, I’ll admit I was out again that very same afternoon.

Why am I listing all these? I am definitely not trying to brag here, because anyone with basic fitness would be able to do all the above easy. This is a written monologue of sorts, reflecting my attempt to explain who I have become. This certainly is not the first time I had a crack at an active lifestyle, but it just might be the first time I succeeded at it. The reason, after great reflection, is my light at the end of the tunnel. I want to climb Kilimanjaro. I have tied this hand in hand with our fundraising efforts. I do not want to get there and fail (or die for the matter).  I know what all this is leading to.

Since we made our way out of the cave, hunting is not really a daily activity and the only form of survival you need to practice is professional. We have no goals to aspire to. This will sound extremely basic, but I am sure my fat brethren can use all the reminders they can get. SET GOALS! Find your light at the end of the tunnel. Everything will get progressively easier from there on. You will succeed every time. I already am looking for my post Kili-goal  because this lifestyle is worth keeping.

Author, Model, Athlete

Three words that should never be used to accurately describe me.

Another tough week of training, having seen some form of exercise every day this week, including two grueling stair sessions with the elevation mask on, and another two without, finally culminating today with a 4 hour beach hike ending in 37 degree heat.
Very happily Im told that we are pushing ourselves far harder than most of the trekkers usually do (in this charity's experience), I pray to god that it proves useful.

It wasn't just the training that stepped up a notch this week, so did our sponsorship. We hit our first fundraising target thanks to great support from friends, family and colleagues.
We also progressed our plans with the Talise gym at the Madinat. Talise have very kindly given us some use of their altitude chamber. You should see this thing, its amazing, a full on gym inside the chamber -all of the latest technogym treadmills, bikes, a rower and a trx/weight station. Couldn't ask for more, cant wait to use it!
Before what I do now, I used to run gyms, and that in addition to being a former gym monkey - I've seen the inside of a few. This place is unlike the ones I've seen.
All the latest cardio kit and so many pieces you'd never wait for a machine. Free weights that if combined would outweigh all the elephants in Africa, Studio rooms over spilling with circuit/spinning/boxing equipment and pool facilities that would give Mike Phelps a shiver.
So we turned up to the gym yesterday for a photo shoot with Mens Fitness who are covering our story for the August Issue. Ive never had a proper photo taken before, it felt very weird posing-without posing for a camera whilst on a treadmill!
If anything though, we looked the part. North face have given us some exceptional kit and it looked excellent in the shoot.

The jackets they've given us are amazing, like the old duckdown puffer jackets, but 1/4 the size, so far they feel very warm, but we are going to do a snow hike at Ski Dubai next week, so Ill report back on how good they were in the proper cold.
All in all a very good week. But tiring, so off to the land of nod for me.

Is this the shape of things to come

Over the years, Ive trained pretty hard at different sports, Ive pushed myself to different levels.........today was a whole new level for me.

Nas has an altitude training mask, or elevation mask. It replicates high altitude by cutting the oxygen flow with different filters.

We agreed that we'd try it on the stairs last night, I was late out of work so when i got home Nas was just finishing the first ascent of the stair well.
Bearing in mind the stairwell is 82 floors high, I asked him many flights it took before it made a difference, his reply was 3!!
I understood as soon as i put it on, I DID NOT expect it to be that tough.
Continually and dramatically sucking for air and not getting anywhere.
Slowest 26 minutes of my life!! Great training though :)

A good weeks training

Well Im happy with that weeks training, it increased well from the week previous

At the end of it all, 26000 Steps, 1300 Flights of stairs, 8 hours in the stair well and a nice 15km walk down Jumeriah beach road

At this rate I should be in a lot better shape come the big day................4 weeks time!!!

I dragged Ameer up three flights of the Tower on Friday morning, conscious that none of the others are spending enough time building up their leg strength. He did well, broken by the end of it mind you, Im sure he'll of slept well afterwards!
Right now off to think up the next training challenge