Finally a new update

Well it's clear I am not a very good blogger, one post in 6 months!
Any way lots has happened.

Sept 09
I made a "test run" in Sep 09: a 15 mile 3000foot accent up Mt. Marcy in the Adirondacks.
Good news, I made the climb in about 7 hours.
Bad news it was tough. My pace was good I passed many folks, including college students.
But physically it was very hard on my knees, by 4 miles they hurt, and from then until the finish they I would get occasional sharp pains. I was worried enough to question climbing Kilimanjaro!
Worse even then the climbing pain was the leg soreness, by the time I finished the hike my entire legs hurt. Later that day I drove over to my Uncles in Keeseville, and when I arrived I literally could not lift my legs out of the car, and I had to "shuffle" rather than walk. For another week they were very stiff. So how could I do a 7 day hike if I couldn’t move on day 2?

Oct 09-Mar 10
I took my leg discomfort as evidence I really need to take training seriously. So I upped my bike riding to 4 days a week for a total of about 50 miles, and started brisk 2.5 mile walks twice a week. As winter came the biking dropped and the walking increased.

Apr 10
While attending a conference in Keystone Colorado, I had a chance to go out cross country skiing above 10,000 ft. This would be a good test of my ability to function at altitude, since in NJ I'm stuck pretty much at sea level. Happily I was able to maintain a good level of exertion over 2 hours and not feel totally exhausted! On the other hand, climbing 2 flights of stairs to my hotel room had be huffing and puffing. Thus, I am getting optimistic that I can do the high altitude climbing, but I will obviously need to set a modest pace when I get to Africa.

May 10. I have gotten most of my vaccinations: polio, Tetanus, diphtheria, HepA, HepB, Typhoid, still need final Hep A and Hep B boosters, plus Yellow fever.

May Jun 10
I've increased my bike riding to about 100 miles a week, and added a weekend circuit through the Watchung Resevation that takes me up and down pretty steep hills (I need to downshift to the lowest gear the first time, but now can make the steepest climbs in the second lowest gear)

Jun 20, 2010
Last weekend I started adding hiking in the Kittinany Mountains (hills really) along the Appalachian Trail. Sunday I did an 8 mile, 4 hr hike. Again I passed other hikers, but none passed me. But best of all, I had no knee pain, no leg soreness, and no stiffness!

So I am optimistic my bike training has helped my knees, and my fitness is improving, and maybe I will be counted among the 90% who succeed each year in climbing Kilimanjaro.

June 23, 2010
Today I locked in my air line reservations, Sept 4 I'll leave form Newark, returning Oct. 3.. Waiting for a letter form Field Guides (my birding tour group, so I can get my Visas.

Hopefully I will be a bit more timely with future posts!