The Africa Series - Training for Kilimanjaro
Top Training Tips For Kilimanjaro. If I Can Do It, So Can You!
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Overcoming An Obstacle
Hello Explorers!
Following the first post in The Africa Series, Choosing Africa & Kilimanjaro As Our Destination, training had to be the one event that has determined our pace for the past two years. When we started to do our research on what we needed to bring with us, the realization of the magnitude of this expedition seemed to weigh us down. Although we have participated in many hikes, nature walks, and outdoor activities; nothing had prepared me for what we were about to attempt to accomplish.
Being a Cancer, a water sign, I naturally gravitate towards water. I love the ocean, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, tide pools, you name it! Some of my favorite trips and vacations have always involved an aquatic activity of some kind. Kayaking, snorkeling, diving, or just floating like a starfish could keep me happy for hours. Maybe I was a mermaid in my past life, who knows? I am lucky to have seen some of the most beautiful waters in the world. I love water so much that we actually compiled a detailed list, with categories, rankings, and breakdowns of our top beaches, snorkeling, and diving sites.
However, my husband is an Aries, an earth sign, he naturally gravitates towards the earth. He loves hiking, camping, and doesn’t mind getting dirt under his fingernails. He has incredible stamina, energy, and motivation to hike for hours upon hours. Although Kilimanjaro is still a difficult hike in terms of altitude, weather factors, the length of time, and having a strong mindset; it seems like he was made to summit the mountain. On the other hand, I was not.
(Mt. Tam, California. 15 miles, 3,585 ft. elevation)
The overwhelming anxiety came over me. I do not have a love of hiking the way he does. I have problems with heat, (as many who know me can tell you of my severe problems with heat), a bad knee that makes a cracking sound every time I squat, a small capacity for patience, and a tendency to steer towards instant gratification. My body was not ready to tackle the gargantuan task of climbing a mountain at all.
Knowing What You Are Working With
Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, it is also 19,341 feet above sea level. It is composed of three distinct volcanic cones, and it is also part of the Tanzania National Parks Authority. There are five ecosystems to go through which are:
Bushland / Lower Slope: (2,600 ft - 5,900 ft)
Rainforest Zone: (5,900 ft - 9,200 ft)
Heather / Moorland: (9,200 ft - 13,100 ft)
Alpine Desert Zone: (13,100 ft - 16,400 ft)
Arctic Zone: (16,400 ft - 19,300 ft)
Right behind Everest and K2, comes Kilimanjaro as the third highest peak in the world. We choose to go with ClimbKili as our climbing company due to their excellent reputation, customer service, and summit success rate. Although there are about a dozen climbing companies that are exclusive to the mountain, we found ClimbKili to be the most reasonable in price and resources made available.
The route we decided to go with was the 7-day Machame trail which has an 85% success rate. Since we live in the San Francisco Bay Area, coming to Kilimanjaro from sea level would set us up with a high disadvantage. Therefore, a 7-day route would give us the comfort to acclimate in order to have a better success rate of summiting.
(Quandary Peak, Colorado. 5 miles, 2,575 ft. elevation... this was the hardest hike I have ever done...it was in snow!)
Begin Training
Our training began at the gym, and once we conditioned our bodies we started adding weekend hikes into our schedule.
A year before our trip, our training looked like this:
Gym training: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.
Stairmaster for cardio (at least 30 minutes) beginner level.
Stretching (15 minutes).
Light weights (arms, legs, core).
6 months before our trip, our training became more disciplined:
Gym training: Tuesday and Thursday.
Stairmaster for cardio (at least 45 minutes), intermediate level.
Stretching (20 minutes).
Add 5-7 lbs of weights (arms, legs, core).
Intermediate hikes (8-10 miles minimum).
Introduction of oxygen deprivation masks (optional but helpful)
3 months before our trip, our training became heavy-duty:
Gym training: Tuesday and Thursday.
Consistent use of oxygen deprivation masks while working out or easier hikes.
Stairmaster for cardio (at least 60 minutes), expert level.
Stretching (25 minutes).
Add 10-12 lbs of weights (arms, legs, core).
Hard hikes (12-15 miles minimum).
Altitude hiking (7,000 ft minimum).
Accumulating Your Hiking Gear
REI and Amazon have truly been our go-to one-stop-shop for everything needed on the trip. The packing list for Africa has been the most extensive list we have created from all our travels. Most trips we usually only carry 2 backpacks that are about 30-35 L each. However, in this instance, we had to carry our two backpacks, a roller suitcase, and a duffel bag. Most of the total occupancy for our luggage has been taken up by hiking gear and freeze-dried snacks to aid in our daily vitamin supplements. Because this post is all about our training we will be attaching our links to the products we have used for our training, and will be taking with us to Kili. Below are the links to our favorite recommendations:
(Staunton State Park, Colorado. 12.4 miles, 10,000 ft. elevation)
Prepare For The Worst, Hope For The Best
After all this training, I feel as prepared as I possibly can be. I have accumulated numerous pieces of gear for future hiking and travel that will last me for many years to come. My muscles can handle the arduous task of hiking for 7+ hours a day, for a week. My lungs have adapted to breathing in thin air, or the lack of it at times. Most importantly, my mind has become stronger because I became more confident in my physicality due to my successful training results.
In all honesty, two years ago, I would sigh at the idea of hiking 5 miles; let alone the idea of hiking 10+ miles. But, although training was the most physically difficult challenge for me, I can say that over time it became easier and easier. I can be a testament to the truth of conditioning your body. Trust me when I tell you that training works, it really works. Truthfully, an 8-mile hike is no problem for me, I consider it easy now. All this is evidence for me when I was in denial or unmotivated when it came to training. The fact that hard-level hiking became easy to a non-hiker, like me, is the biggest accomplishment that I can be proud of no matter the end result.
Goodbye Explorers!