Chapter 2: Getting Fit For Africa

“May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits.”

(Harley King)

After I finally got all my paperwork in order I knew I needed to start training hard for my trip.  As a former cross country runner I decided to start running again.  I had not ran on a regular basis for well over ten years and I knew I would need about six months of hard cardio and strength training to get myself in decent physical condition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. 

I weighed roughly 235 pounds at the beginning of February, 2017.  My goal was to weigh under 200 pounds before I traveled to Africa.  So I knew I had to train like my life depended on it.  I started to jog almost every day.  I knew as a former runner the first month would be rough, but if I ran almost every day I would be able to slowly run a few miles at a time, and therefore, I would start to lose weight.  So I started running almost every day.

Although miserable at first, I felt better as I was able to run further distances and for  longer periods of time.  After a few weeks of running for a half an hour, and fighting through the soreness in my legs, I started to run for forty minutes everyday for a few weeks.  I finally was able to run for sixty to seventy minutes at a time about five to six weeks into my training.  At this point I started to lose weight and I could tell I was getting stronger.  When spring came I started to run outside.  I would run through the same trails I ran  in college.  I started to really enjoy distance running again.

By April I was able to run a steady, but slow pace for about eighty minutes on my long days, sixty minutes on regular running days, and forty-five to fifty minutes on my easy days at about ten to eleven minute mile pace.  In early April, with three full months left of training I knew that if I kept this level of training up that by the end of June I would be well under 200 pounds.  However, in late April my training took a turn for the worst.

On this particular beautiful spring evening I went running on one of my favorite trails.  I decided to go for a longer eight to nine mile run on the River Trail at Barboursville Park.  I felt pretty good on this particular day so I was running a faster pace than usual.  While running on my way back to the park, during the second half of my run I rolled my left ankle.  It hurt like hell.  I stopped running and limped for several minutes while heading back to the park.  As an experienced distance runner, I’ve rolled my ankle on several occasions and during all those occasions my leg would hurt for a few minutes and then my leg would be fine.  I thought this incident was like all of the ones before.  I thought to myself, “I’ll walk it off and I’ll be fine in a bit.”  However, I was wrong.  Fortunately, I was able to jog slowly back to the park.  Although my ankle was hurting I was still pleased with successfully running over eight miles.

I took the following picture a day or so after rolling my ankle.  Trust me when I tell you that the picture does not do it justice.  My ankle was extremely swollen, and it was black and blue for several days.

I told myself that my ankle would be okay in a few days and I would be back to running in no time.  I was wrong.  Several days went by and my ankle still was in bad shape.  The pain was not going away, so I decided to finally have it checked out by a doctor.

I went to the doctor in early May, 2017 because I thought I might have actually broken my ankle. After ex-rays were taken of my ankle I found myself praying over and over again the same prayer: “Please don’t let it be broken! Please don’t let it be broken!” And after several minutes waiting in the small patient room, the doctor came in and informed me that my prayer was answered.  The doctor informed me that my ankle was not broken, but instead I had a major sprain that could take several months to heal.  He advised me to wear an ankle brace and to not run for several weeks.  I was both relieved and concerned with this diagnosis.  I was relieved that my ankle was not broken, but I was concerned that it might take several months for my sprain to heal. I did not have several months for my leg to heal.  And I have to exercise in order to prepare for my trip. I fly to Tanzania, Africa in two months to climb a big mountain.  What am I going to do?

As a result of the doctor’s orders, I wore an ankle brace, and I did not run for several weeks.  Due to not keeping up my training regimen, I got fat and lazy again, even though I tried to improve my diet.  Not being able to burn 1,000 calories during a daily run really hurt my ability to lose weight.  However, after resting my ankle for a few weeks I began to exercise on the stationary bike and then the stair-master because I did not have to put a lot of pressure on my heal during these activities.

After my ankle healed up pretty good I knew I had to start hiking with my hiking pack that I was going to have to hike with for the nine days on my Mount Kilimanjaro climb.  However, I did not buy my hiking pack until the middle of May, just a little less than two months before my trip.  Once I bought my pack I knew I had to hike a major trail to see what kind of shape I was in prior to leaving for Africa.

On June 3, 2017 I decided to hike the Carpenter’s Run Trail (15.6 miles long) in Greenup, Kentucky.  I had hiked this trail before and it was challenging, so I knew it was going to be even more challenging to hike the hilly trail with a twenty-five to thirty pound pack on my back. So I woke up early in the morning and I went by myself into the hills of rural Kentucky and hiked for over six hours.

In short, the hike was long, boring and dull.  I do not think I want to hike the trail again. There was absolutely nothing special about the trail.  I just found myself walking in the woods for six hours.  But the trail was very long, and challenging.  And that is why I chose to hike the trail.  I knew I needed to push myself on a long trail in order to test my mental and physical strength.

I was very happy to finish the 15.6 mile trail, due to the boredom I suffered.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was not as tired as I thought I would be.  I felt like I could have hiked longer.  So, on my way home from my hike I decided to stop at the park in my home town and walk another four miles to make my new one-day distance record of twenty miles.  The picture below reflects how many steps I walked that day.

I must say that I felt relieved knowing that I was capable of hiking/walking twenty miles in one day a month before leaving for Africa.  And I was pleased that my ankle did not cause many problems during those twenty miles.  It was a little sore the next day, but the soreness was only minor.  I really started to think that I might just be in minimum physical shape to get to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.  However, I did not stop training.

I worked out several times a week, running and lifting light weights for the next few weeks.  I finished my final workout about three or four days prior to my trip.  I needed a few days to tie up loose ends at work, and then I had to schedule myself plenty of time to pack for my trip.

Also, prior to my trip I made sure I visited my doctor and my dentist.  My doctor was able to prescribe me an antibiotic to take in case I got sick.  He also gave my a tetanus shot, and other shots he felt I needed.  He also prescribed me anti-malaria medication as well.  I also visited my my dentist, because I did not want to have any dental problems in Africa.  And finally, I went to my county health department a received my immunization for Yellow Fever.  Although people traveling from the United States straight to Tanzania are not required to get a yellow fever immunization I did it just in case.