By 00:15 am I was standing outside with my day pack, woolly hat and head torch on, along with 2 thermal base layers, a fleece, a down jacket and a windbreaker waterproof jacket. I also had one pair of thermal trousers, my hiking trousers and a pair of waterproofs. A pair of thermal gloves with a woolly pair of mittens on top complete with a snood. We were told it was -2 at this time, and again the cold was not an issue for me and I don’t recall being nervous either. The great thing was that when we arrived at base camp earlier on in the day the mountain was covered in fog, so we couldn’t see the trail we were about to undertake. Several people complained about the night climb, but I think it was the best thing for me mentally, going into the unknown. All I knew was we should summit at Gilman’s Point at sunrise, then it would take anything from 40minutes to 2 hours to reach the final Uhuru peak. We were all made to go in a line, and automatically Heather and I went to the back, however we were moved to the front by all the guides. The reason behind this was to slow everyone else down. We had been told earlier on in the day that some of our team were going to fast through the trek and there was a fear that if they carried on this way that some of them would not summit. The trail up the final climb zig zagged along shale terrain, and several hours into the climb I became aware of some male members of the team behind becoming impatient with the pace and trying to overtake. I can completely feel their frustration, if it had been myself in their place I would probably have felt exactly the same. However, these guides climb this mountain sometimes on a weekly basis and they know their stuff! An hour later, the guides decided to let the faster climbers go ahead of Heather and I. I asked Graham to stay with me so we could summit together, but 5 minutes later he said he couldn’t keep to the slow pace. I was literally in tears for the next half an hour, making my breathing even worse and anxiety starting to sink in. I didn’t want to summit and experience this alone or with someone I hardly knew. I wanted to summit with Graham because we chose to do this together. An hour later the guides realised once again that the team were going far too fast. Some of those people were starting to slow down and become ill, one woman sat down and felt the need to take off layers of her clothing and go to sleep - a sign of altitude sickness. Other started to have back problems, or the cold was starting to set in and they were starting to lose feeling in their hands or feet. Eliah made me overtake Heather, and he said that we would carry on with the same process as we had done together for the past 2 days. Rather than stopping at the usual rest places the team would stop at we would only stop as and when I needed to catch my breath. As we were approaching the specified group spot, Jacob spoke to Eliah and told him to put me at the front again as a pace maker to slow the rest of the team down given some of the issues the others were starting to experience. I am not sure what happened at this point, but overtaking the main group gave me such a mental boost, I actually felt like my breathing was improving for a while and the adrenalin was certainly kicking in along with my competitive nature. For those who know me well, if someone doubts me or says I can’t do anything I love to prove them wrong, and I had a feeling that given I had been at the back for most of the trek that people in our group probably thought I may not summit or would be last to summit. I noticed Graham sitting with the group and he was shouting at me but Eliah forced me to keep moving, the next thing I knew Graham was behind me, and when I looked back the group were still sat where they were. For the remainder part of the trek to Gilman’s point we were a good 10 minutes ahead of the group, who were now only noticeable via their head torches. I started to become over consumed by looking for signs of sunrise, this was the only indication of how far we had left to climb – I never trusted the guides when I asked how long, African minutes are a lot different to standard minutes! Looking for that sunrise was extremely difficult as you had to focus what was in front of you, I was slowing myself down by constantly looking up. Even with a head torch. you can only see around 1 metre in front of you and the terrain on the climb was a combination of rocks and sand. Finally, we saw the first glimpses of sunrise - in Tanzania sunrise occurs very quickly. At the same time, I noticed Eliah and Graham pointing at the sign for Gilman’s Point above us. There was still some serious rock climbing ahead of us to reach Gilman’s, very similar to the final stages of Benachie but a much steeper and longer distance and you literally had to pull yourself up onto each rock. It was this last stage that I started to feel increasingly ill. I was beginning to find it very uncomfortable to stand up, and I was starting to have cramps like trapped wind. The only thing that made me push through it was knowing I was almost there. Graham pulled me over the final rock to reach Gilman’s, as the Danish family who set off before us from base camp were taking their final pictures. For whatever reason, they chose to descend after this and not make the final trek to the summit. It was a fantastic feeling, more so that we could also see the summit from Gilman’s and it didn’t appear that far away. There was no doubt about it that we were going to summit now. Reaching Gilman’s gave me this huge motivational boost, and after our photographs were taken, I just wanted to fire ahead. For the first 10 minutes our pace sped up, but it soon slowed down when I started to experience the cramps again, this time they were back with vengeance. I could literally walk 10 metres and had to stop doubled over in pain and lack of breath. Thinking it was trapped wind I tried my best to do the most un-lady like thing to reduce the pain, but it wasn’t solving anything. The rest of the trek to the summit was spent bent over with regular stops to recover. Day light was now upon us, and we could start to see the rest of our group arrive at Gilman’s Point, this just further motivated me to keep going. As mentioned I am naturally very competitive by nature, and although you shouldn’t care what others think, I couldn’t help think that I was written off because I had spent most of the trip at the back of the group and I was a personal trainer. When we were standing at Gilman’s the summit only looked like a 30-minute walk away, in reality it was over an hour away. Half way to the summit we started passing people on their way back who had chosen different routes to the marangu, each person went out their way to motivate you to keep going and that the end was in sight. I knew I just had to keep walking through the pain and only stop to rest when it was unbearable. Graham pointed ahead to the summit sign it was less than 5 minutes away and there was nobody at the summit – even better! The last group passed us a few minutes earlier. As soon as I reached the summit I sat down on the make shift rocky bench and didn’t move until we were ready to leave! Such a great feeling to know that we had reached the summit, when so many people had doubted us. There is no better motivation in the world than proving people wrong! The view from the top was amazing, covered in cloud, snow and amazing glaciers it was worth every step. We were told it was -15 at the peak, not once on the climb at any stage on summit night or the days leading up to summit night did I ever feel cold, confirmation that I got my packing list and layering of clothes right. Kilimanjaro - a tick off the bucket list – summiting the world’s highest free standing mountain and the highest point in Africa. You spend all that time preparing and then climbing Kilimanjaro to spend less than 10 minutes at the top (it’s a lot like comp prep, you put so much work in for a very small amount of time to shine), then it’s time to make your way back down. However, for these guides they are climbing Kilimanjaro sometimes on a weekly basis! My guide Eliah was amazing, the entire trip he looked after me and made sure I achieved my goal. These guys are incredibly fit, they are not kitted out in the best of gear for the mountain (making do with donations of clothing and footwear), they carry ridiculous weights on their back. At one point Eliah had my walking poles my bag pack, his bag pack and pretty much dragging me up and down that mountain. Then there is all the people behind the scenes who carry our duffel bags, all the equipment and food up that mountain - in all weather conditions. They are so safety conscious and genuinely care about your well being, constantly asking if your okay and if they can do anything for you. If it wasn't for Eliah having so much patience with me and helping me stop and recover I don't think I would have made it to the top. Having Eliah look after me allowed both Graham and I to summit together which is what we wanted. On our way to Gilman’s the cramps were returning with vengeance. This time I had no option but to go round a rock and try to go to the toilet – leaving my mark on Kili. Once again, nothing. The rest of the journey to Gilman’s got worse and worse, I couldn’t stand up straight and I was aware that I seemed out of it and was not really taking in what was going around me. At one-point Graham and another walker told me I almost walked off the edge of the mountain into a crater below and that Eliah pulled me back in time. Once past the rocks round Gilman’s, I was literally pulled and dragged off the mountain by Eliah who chose not to follow the track and pull me through the shale instead to get me down quicker. Our descent was a huge wakeup call how far we had actually climbed during the night, the clouds were now lifting and we could start to see base camp. We arrived back at base camp at 10:30am – 3 hours after we had summited. We were told we could rest and then we had to have some food and start walking again at noon back to Kibo hut – another 11 km. At Kibo I wanted to sleep and went into my sleeping bag, to then be woken half an hour later by guides taking my blood pressure. Turns out you’re not meant to sleep if you’re having altitude sickness because you may never wake up. I was marched out of bed and made to eat hot chocolate and soup. We then started to get dressed and head off from basecamp – just as the snow started. We were so incredibly lucky to get back to basecamp before the snow started, some of our group were stuck at the summit and on their way back and were caught in the blizzards. The thought of walking after only 1-hour rest was the last thing on our minds, but the walk its self wasn’t too bad. We were fully of excitement and disbelief at what we had just achieved, it felt so surreal. Both of us said we never wanted to do anything like that ever again and mutually agreed that Everest Basecamp in April was off the cards! Once we reached Kibo hut we were met with congratulations from all the porters and our hot chocolate and biscuits! We were also told that out of everyone who set off that morning from Marangu Base Camp we were the first to summit! It turned out that the two Dutch girls had fallen behind our group as one had picked up an ankle injury during the climb in the dark. All I wanted to do was feel clean. For the past 4 days all we had was a basin of warm water and I knew at Kibo they had showers – freezing cold mountain water. I didn’t care, I knew I had some fresh clothes left and I decided to brave the shower, pluck my eyebrows, shave my legs then use the hot water in the basin to help warm me up. I felt amazing! Not once did I feel unclean on the trip just washing from the basins, but there is no better feeling in the world than a shower and fresh clean clothes! I fell asleep by 7pm that night, everyone headed to bed early that night and there was a lot of heavy snoring out of exhaustion! The next morning, we set off to do a double trek from Kibo Hut all the way to the start. Once again although the trek was long it was an enjoyable walk because we were all full of excitement, we walked with different members of our group sharing experiences of summit night. Several members confirmed what we thought, that they didn’t think we would summit that night because of how we were on the first few days.
It’s funny how a good night’s sleep and some reflection can change your opinion on things? Almost at the same time we both started speaking about Everest Base Camp again. Although yesterday we said no chance, we were now starting to go back to the idea of tackling the next item on our bucket list. Kilimanjaro is over 500 metres higher than Everest Base Camp. Everest terrain and climb is more challenging but you climb over a period of 14 to 19 days which means acclimatising to altitude is a lot easier because you’re not climbing as high every day – ITS BACK ON! … watch this space. All 12 of our team reached Gilman’s Point, with 10 out of 12 reaching the Uhuru Peak… and guess what? Heather made it to Uhuru Peak. The two tortoises of the group summited Kilimanjaro.
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During the 2nd week of my Africa trip, we were lucky enough to have an African chef on board with us called Sylvia. Sylvia made some great soups, and this was the first time I had tried Zucchini Soup. Although it tasted great it was very watery and I felt it lacked some kick. I noted down the ingredients at the time (we are all made to help Sylvia prepare the evening meals) and upon returning came home and experimented with a couple of different ingredients. Coming from Scotland I live on thick hearty soups in the winter, so I decided to use coconut milk and a potato to increase the thickness of the soup, then of course I used my favourite ingredient of curry powder to give it more flavour.... I then added in some spinach for extra greens. This recipe serves 4 people, or if your greedy, freeze it and use it as lunches across the week. Macros per Serving Protein 5.1g Carbs 23.1g Fat 13.4G Fiber 5g Kcals 232 Ingredients 2.5g of Turmeric Grounded Spice 1 tsp of Curry Powder 20g of Coconut Oil 400ml of Light Coconut Milk 200g of White Potato (skinned and chopped) 1.5 Medium sized Zucchini chopped 100G Chopped Leak 1 Vegetable Knorr Stock 140G of Fresh Spinach 1. In a frying pan melt the coconut oil and add the spices and stir. 2. Add in the chopped vegetables (excluding the spinach) and place the pan lid on top and simmer for 10. 3. Add in the coconut milk, then 150ml of hot water with the stock cube and cook for a further 15 minutes, add the spinach, simmer for another 4 minutes. 4. Transfer into a blender, blend and serve. Tuesday 17th of October 2017 – Day 3 The next morning, we woke to a spectacular view of the peak during sunrise. Our first view of the peak during our climb, nerves were starting to set in for what lead ahead of us - today would be extremely long and difficult. The plan was to set off at 7am, and hike to base camp – also known as the Kibo Hut which is estimated to take around 5 to 6 hours and involves a 9k trek. Once we arrive at base camp, we were to have an evening meal and head to bed around 6pm. The guides would then wake us at 11pm for another meal before starting our final ascent to the peak at around 00:30 in the morning. Once again I decided to pace myself and chose to remain at the back with Eliah the guide who I was teamed up with yesterday. He made sure that I kept a good pace but at the same time stopped regularly and didn’t over exert myself. Similar to yesterday I was starting to find the trek and terrain easier especially with the colder climate. Other members of our group were starting to struggle with the lower temperatures given that they are used to living in a warm climate. This allowed them to adapt to the warmer temperatures in zone 1 and 2 comfortably, whereas Graham and I struggled. It’s funny because after day 1 Graham said to me that he felt we would do much better as the temperature started to drop and the Scots in us would adapt well to the cold and perform better, which was 100% true. What made today extremely difficult was the altitude and trying to catch my breath. I was already taking 250mg of Diamox twice a day to prevent mountain sickness and although I felt that it really helped me, I just wasn’t prepared for the shortness of breath the altitude would cause me. We trekked for so long without any lunch, and when we did stop it was only 1hour before arriving in basecamp. What made it worse was the weather was starting to turn on us. I didn’t feel cold other than my face and nose and this was made worse by the freezing fog. You always read articles in newspapers about people being stranded in the Cairngorms due to adverse changes in weather conditions, and I never really understood how the weather could change so quickly or why climbers didn’t check the weather before setting off. I now realise that it doesn’t matter what the weather forecast says, the weather conditions on a mountain can change in a matter of minutes. One minute we were climbing in sunshine, the next minute it was raining and ten minutes later the freezing fog was rolling in. At the picnic area I started to seriously doubt if I could climb to the summit later that evening based on my breathing and the anxiety it was causing me. I certainly didn’t feel exhausted or unfit but the shortness of breath and the length of time it was taking to recover was constantly increasing. Eliah got me moving and once again decided to carry my bag pack for me for the remainder of the trek. When we reached base camp my breathing had got worse. Unfortunately, Graham and I have no pictures next to the base camp sign and this was purely because of my breathing, the cold and that I just wanted to lie down. The Kibo hut was a dorm, allowing our entire team to spend the night in bunk beds in one room. The toilets were also quite a distance away from the hut, and down a small incline. Accessing the toilets was not a problem, but the chore of the squatting toilets then getting re-dressed and climbing the small incline again back to the hut made me so breathless. I literally had to reduce my pace to a snail, if I tried to go to the toilet too quickly recovery just took longer. We had our evening meal, and Jacob told us we would not be doing an acclimatisation walk that evening and instead we had to go to bed and rest. Throughout the entire trek we were made to carry 3litres of water, but for summit night we were allowed to carry less. Our meal at 11pm would be oats and biscuits, and we were encouraged to pack energy bars to eat during the ascent. They said to us starting the hike with too much food whilst our body was technically in sleep mode would only cause us issues and increase the likelihood of us becoming more fatigued. That night both Graham and I lay in bed and didn’t sleep at all. I literally lay there for 5 hours with my eyes closed. We both found it very difficult to breath lying down at this altitude, I felt that perhaps I could have slept better sleeping upright. Not once during this time did I consider backing out or doubting myself like I had done earlier on in the trek. I guess when you get as far as base camp there is no turning back, you just have to give it your best shot. After what seemed like an eternity, the lights in the cabin were switched on by Jacob and we were told to start getting dressed and make our way through to the canteen for porridge, hot chocolate and biscuits. Our ascent to the summit was about to begin........ Monday 16th of October 2017 – Day 2 Another early start, we were up at 7am for our basin of hot water to freshen up with before heading to the camp kitchen for breakfast. Just like yesterday we were well fed; porridge, toast, sausages and omelettes. After breakfast Jacob the head guide explained the trek ahead, climate and weather conditions, including what to pack in our day bags. One thing that did benefit me in preparation for Kili was the training I put in for carrying a heavy weighted bag pack. Over the past few months I had been walking from Ferryhill, through the old railway line to university, with a bag pack that weighed around 15 kilos. On reflection, my uni. bag pack weighed more than my day pack up Kili! Given how tough I found yesterday hiking in the humid heat of the rainforest along with trying to keep up with the pace of the group I decided to stay at the back with Heather, whereas Graham chose to keep up with the rest of the group as he found our pace too slow. Jacob mentioned that today’s trek would be incredibly hard, however I found it a lot easier than yesterday. It was a long trek (11km in climate zone 2, dry heat), but I wascoping with the climate much better than yesterday and found the terrain was very similar to those in Scottish mountains but obviously very steeper. As the trek progressed I started to notice the altitude was affecting my breathing, particularly after any steep rocky climbs. Once I got to the top of each incline I felt I could hardly breathe and it was starting to take longer to recover and get my breath back. I also found the same with water break stops. As mentioned in the previous blog post, the marangu route has only a 60 to 80% success rate and this is because of the short length of time you have to acclimatise. Initially I thought my lack of breath was due to under estimating the hike, but it was clear by the end of today it was the altitude that was affecting me and not my fitness level. The team made us trek for the majority of the day with a stop for lunch after around 5 hours of trekking. Learning from yesterday what worked best for me, I made sure I had a snack in my pocket whilst climbing and by the time I sat down for lunch I found it a much more manageable volume of food to eat in one sitting. I also noticed that once I started walking again I was no longer getting cramps from over eating. It was at this point I was teamed up with Eliah one of the guides. Reflecting back, he noticed that although I had chosen to stay with Heather, my pace could have been quicker. He decided to carry my bag pack and we set off slightly earlier than Heather stopping only when I needed to catch my breath. I made it into the next camp around 15 minutes quicker and seen Graham waiting on a rock for me, and we walked the remaining 5 minutes to the Horombo hut 3,720m above sea-level. Although you arrive at camp around 4/5pm, there is a set routine. Collect your duffel bag which the porters have carried for you. Catch your breath, prepare yourself for a 45-minute acclimatisation trek, freshen up with a bowl of warm water delivered to your cabin door and then head to the canteen area for hot chocolate and popcorn prior to your evening meal. This happened every evening during the trek. Sometimes we were in bed before 8pm which may seem early, but you are so incredibly exhausted that you fall asleep very quickly or find yourself nodding of whilst eating your evening meal - I could have happily skipped supper and just went to bed. It's that time of year again where everyone starts re evaluating their life and making New Year resolutions. A change of lifestyle is the most popular resolution people make and also the one where so few succeed. When you decide to make changes to your lifestyle its always best to keep things simple. Introducing a few new healthy habits into your daily routine will go a long way. At Nemesis we like to use 'The Clean Up' protocol. These 3 basic starting steps alone will create fantastic foundations to work towards a new healthy lifestyle. 1 - Minimise Intake of C.R.A.P. foods (Carbonated drinks, Refined sugars, Artificial additives/Alcohol and Processed products) 2 - Hydrate well each and everyday 3 - Ensure adequate sleep The next important step is to consider accountability. You are more likely to succeed in a lifestyle change when you are accountable to someone. Online coaching is a great way to achieve your goals especially for those on a budget , require more personal support or who already have a good foundation and knowledge of training and nutrition principals but would like to take their results to the next level. However, before you go rushing off and signing up with the first online personal trainer who appears in a sponsored ad on Facebook or has the best marketing material and photographs we recommend spending your time looking for a coach with the same values as you, has expertise and experience in what you want to achieve including the right knowledge and qualifications. One of the most vita factors to a successful outcome in a lifestyle change is the relationship between the client and the coach. Online coaching in our opinion is different to "training coaching" you will receive in the gym. It is impossible to build up a relationship with a gym-based PT with a 30 or 45 minute time slot. This slot is focused on training and there is little time to ask fundamental questions about what is going on behind the scenes (stress, work, family life, relationships, religion, friendships, nutrition, personal illness, injury etc all play a key role in your success) this may therefore limit your success. We often see ourselves as councillors and spend time getting to know our clients, by doing this it can help us understand the outcome of their results each week. Unlike counselling we don't attempt to solve the problem, but we will listen and help you identify your strengths and build on potential new ones, supporting you through your lifestyle change and prevent relapse from other factors going on in your life. At Nemesis we are really proud of our personal fitness and lifestyle changes. Coach Lainey has went through her own fat and weight loss body transformation, she has competed in many body building competitions winning both the Scottish and British Ladies Figure Finals and Lady of the Show. She has also summited the worlds highest free standing mountain "kilimanjaro" the highest peak in Africa, as well as raising over five and half thousand pounds for the Lily Foundation and Aberdeen Assisted Reproduction Unit from running half marathons. Her next goal for 2019 is a 19-Day trek to Everest Base Camp. Lainey has a keen interest in sports nutrition to maximise performance. Sharon has been in the fitness industry since she was 16 years old, working in a local gym as an instructor whilst studying for her HND in Health, Fitness and Exercise. She is a fully qualified Les Mills Body Pump, Kettlebell, circuits, TRX and pole fitness instructor but her passion is working with clients pre and post natal. Not only can sharon advise expectant mothers on training and nutrition she can also perform pregnancy massage and is a hypno-birthing practitioner. Sharon has 2 small children of her own and ha/ been through her own post natal body transformation twice and can relate to the trials and tribulations of balancing family life and a new baby whilst regaining your pre pregnancy body. The majority of our clients result from recommendations or referrals by existing or past clients. We believe this is down to the integrity and trust that we build with our clients - a significant factors in successful coaching relationships. Once you have contacted several online coaches completed their questionnaires, await their feedback. Upon receipt of their review, comments and proposal you will get a better feel for which coach is best for you both on a personal, academic and experience level in what you are trying to achieve and the person you are.
Ultimately an online coach can give you all the tools,advice and support to help you achieve your goal but the hard work is down to you. If your interested in working with Nemesis in 2018 to help you kick start your new lifestyle then get in contact via our website today. |
AuthorsSharon & Lainey are Online PT & Nutrition Advisors with a combined 18 years experience in the Health & Fitness Industry. Archives
August 2018
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