NY Times Article on Mt. Kilimanjaro

Tom Bissells account of his climb up Mt Kilimanjaro (this is a great interactive video up the mountain - visit http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/10/26/magazine/20071028_KILIMANJARO_GRAPHIC.html#step2

One Step Closer

All shots for travel are now complete - last week I went to Mt. Auburn Hospital to start the process of getting all my shots for the trip. The first thing I learned while there is that trips to Africa and India require the most shots...lucky me! The first day I had shots for Typhoid, Tetanus and Hepatitis. I was also given 6 prescriptions to fill. I went back today (five days later) and had shots for Yellow Fever and a Polio booster. The good news is that I'm now set for life for most of these shots and the others are good for a 10 year period. Mt Auburn did a great job with the lecture I had from Dr. Lowd on everything from altitude sickness to staying properly hydrated - she was great - so too were all my nurses - many thanks to all of you!

Blue Hills: Skyline Trail Hike

 

Had a great hike this morning (Sunday 8 a.m.) up to the top of the Syline Trail at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, MA. This is a photo of the trail about half way up.
At the top, I visited the Blue Hills Meterological Weather Station that just happens to be the oldest facility of it's kind in the U.S. - built in 1885. Talk about a cool looking place. Here is a link if your interested http://www.bluehill.org/

45 Days and Counting!

Hard to believe that after two years of planning for this Kilimanjaro trip it will soon come to fruition. Training has been going well. Had a good workout at Open Doors Yoga (Hanover, MA) last night with Deb (and usually with Steph). I'm getting psyched to hike this weekend in the Blue Hills in Milton. I'm meeting an old childhood friend (my buddy "Butch" Finnegan) who was always one of the strongest individuals I've ever known. He is now on his own personal fitness quest - having exercised, up to this point, 80 straight days. It will be fun to get him "outside" of the gym for a workout. I have also been having some descent cross-training workouts at home, due to the weather, consisting of rower, hiking and treadmill workouts (with loaded backpack). Over the course of the next 30 I need to bring back the nutritional focus - still need to take a few pounds off - knowing that every pound over ideal body weight - will feel like 10 lbs. at altitude. Most importantly, trying to increase sleep levels from 6-7 hrs to a solid 8.

Using Latest Technology on Kili Trip

Polar USA will sponsor me on my quest to get to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Feb. 2008 by supplying me with one of their RS800 G3 Polar Heart Rate Monitor watches. This is not your ordinary watch. The watch is GPS enable, records HR, acts as an altimeter, offers fitness tests, measures speeds and distances and much more (see http://www.polarusa.com for more details). Also check out their site in March - I will be posting comments on a new blog for them.