My first concern when I joined this challenge was if I was going to be fit enough to climb Kilimanjaro. They told us that 3-4 months of training is enough to get a solid fitness level, so we had plenty of time. Then I realized that I had a good level of health but I had no experience at all on hiking or trekking.

The first step was buying a pair of walking boots and start using them as soon as possible. Sometimes it was difficult to find time to go the mountains and train, but I was motivated by my teammates and a bit intimidated, because they posted so many pictures on MS Teams about all the training they were doing and all the mountains they were climbing.

During the summer I did a full week of hiking training in Asturias and I felt great. Until the last day, when I joined a group of friends and we climbed a small mountain (1420m) with an elevation gain of 1000m. They are used to trail running so we climb it quite fast and I reach the summit really exhausted. We also descend it fast and the next morning my legs were so stiff! Leason learned: Climb at your own pace, at the speed that is comfortable for you. As they say in Tanzania, Pole Pole.

Let’s see how we respond to the 3 Peaks 3 Days challenge and we’ll see how prepared we are to Kilimanjaro climb.