Bear Mt. 2: Huge Improvement!

Bear Mt. Lodge

Last weekend, was very difficult, as detailed in the previous training update, for the first time I had difficulty making an ascent and had to actually stop and rest. On a day I only went 10 miles and climbed about 2800 ft I was so tired I wondered how I ever do 60 miles and 15,000 ft to climb Kilimanjaro? Later I discovered I had clearly been dehydrated as my post Bear Mt. weight was about 6 pounds less than normal, and I quickly "regained" that weight over the next 24 hrs. So I hypothesized my poor performance was driven by becoming dehydrated.

Hudson River South from Bear Mt. Summit

So this Saturday I returned to Bear Mt. to repeat the hike, but this time with a hydration plan: Every 30 min I would stop for 250 ml water, and I would rotate between pure water and water with isotonic salts mix added (sodium, potassium, and glucose). This Saturday I completed the hike feeling much stronger without any of the severe fatigue suffered last week. In fact I extended the hike for a total of 12 miles (2 miles longer than last week) , with about 3500 ft of ascent and descent (about 800 ft more than last time). I completed the longer, harder hike in 6 hrs, less time than last weeks 10. Clearly a good hydration strategy is key! Even so, I should continue to increase my hydration, as I was about 3 pounds lighter after the training hike than before it.

Clouds over Bear Mt., it was a Beautiful day for hiking!

As any reader of this blog knows, from the beginning have been concerned about how my knees would hold up. This Saturday as I was coming down Bear Mt, after the largest total descent of my training, my right knee started to hurt. Day 5 of my Kilimanjaro climb will require me to descend over 9000 ft so hopefully my knee will hold up….. I'll be on vacation at the Jersey shore (Barnegat Light) next week, and plan to do multiple lighthouse climbs to help with climbing and descending training.