Kilimanjaro Challenge

Life after Kilimanjaro?

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It feels just like yesterday when I wrote the application to join Kilimanjaro challenge after having almost applied once earlier already. It is though 1,5 years later already now and it’s only…..

So time to panic? Not sure.

I have tried to be as ready as possible both physically and mentally, but there is no way to be prepared for everything. After I had the last injury just before New Year in the form of nerve entrapment causing immense pain I decided to just take it easy now. There nothing more I can do anymore anyway. Just wait.

Testing the sleeping bag

So here I am waiting. Waiting for life after Kilimanjaro. What then? Will I continue writing my blog? Will I continue training? Will I continue climbing and hiking? What about fundraising? And will there be an empty space in my heart and mind?

For sure there is life before and after Kilimanjaro. I can tell that already now. The whole entire preparation to the climb has taught me so much about myself and others, that there certainly is a difference between then and now. You might even say I feel content and calm. There is some sort of understanding between me and the world around. I trust the future more and know that I am so much stronger than I thought.

Will I continue writing my blog?

I created this blog because I wanted to write down my experiences in getting prepared for the climb in more detail. I started the blog possibly more for me not really thinking anyone would read it but hey you guys do read and support me so thank you and yes I will continue writing my blog. I love writing and have many topics on my mind that I would like to write about. For example IV part for ”My Weight loss Journey” (story seems to after all continue) already in my mind. I will type it down in the next few weeks before Kili departure.

Will I continue training?

I started logging my training and created a training plan for myself to analyze my progress. Until then I had just been running aimlessly never really trying to ”get better”. I had no goals. Exercise had to be fun and I was not ready to get out of my comfort zone. At the gym I did what I felt like, without any long term goals.

I was not getting any results with that tactic surprise, surprise

Then I created my first training plan, not too rigorous but at least something written down to follow on a weekly basis with the assistance of my personal trainer brother and owner of sport center ROK in my hometown Kokkola. I followed the plan and realized that it actually made a difference. Ever since that I have had some sort of plan and I have tried to beat myself if nobody else.

So the answer is YES, I will continue training, I will create a new plan, I will have a new goal and new mountain (or fell) to climb.

Any suggestions? Let me know if you have co-operation ideas.

Will I continue climbing and hiking?

I had never climbed anywhere high before a few years ago. In fact I avoided hills when I was running. If I am completely honest I walked the hills up, embarrassing. Thinking back I cannot believe that was me! Then we decided to take a road trip to Europe with hubby and hiked in 2500 meters at France, Chamonix. We totally fell in love with the scenery, but it was a horizontal hike so no real up and down experience yet.

Getting the kit list ready

Then we went to Italy, Riva del Garda and saw this funny little white chapel on the hill (Chapel of Santa Barbara) and decided that we will go and check it out. It was about 620 meters pretty steep uphill. That is where I fell for the endorphin rush of going up and coming down.

After that trip I have been desperately searching for high places and been training going up (I have always been fast at coming down thanks to having done quite a lot of trail running in my life). Best experience was our Lapland and Norway trip after which I feel like I know at least a little bit about hiking/trekking and mountaineering. You can check the blog posts from the ”Finding high places” section. Such amazing views an versatile routes!

So YES I will 100% continue hiking and climbing. And YES I will keep blogging about finding high places and trails.

Good suggestions for next place to visit close by Finland let me know!

Will I continue fundraising?

Duffel bag bought!

I was a bit afraid how it will turn out as it is not that common in Finland to fund raise as an individual person. We don’t have a fundraising culture as such and it is really hard to ”ask for money for a good cause” here. I thought that I got some Aussie friends so maybe I would be able to pull it off. 2000 euros is a lot of money and I probably would not reach my goal, but at least I would do my best.

Well the truth is that without our company extra furniture and IT equipment sales money that they donated to my Kilimanjaro project I would have never reached my goal (and have not yet reached it by the way… so please donate to Unicef UK by sponsoring me throughbelow Just Giving link!).

So fundraising bit was A LOT harder than I thought, but I still I would do it again and would like to do it again. So again if you got co-operation ideas let me know! Happy to help for a good cause. Personally anything to do with nature preservation is close to my heart. Love my forests!

Will there be an empty space in my heart and mind?

I will miss this experience in a way, but I am also happy that it is soon over as funny as it sounds. I am not too excited or too scared just more hoping it will be done soon. So there is life after Kili and I already got some plans… Stay tuned!

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Training

Training – W2/2020 Baby steps and getting things together

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So another week passed by of this year and my arm has started to feel a lot better already. What I did learn is that inflammatory drugs are not my things and I should stick to just Panadol!

Of course it was good that I took them when the pain was at the worst but few days more around 4-5 days and I started getting ticking sound in my ears, had loss of hearing in one ear, my blood pressure sky rocketed every now and then and felt generally unwell. Luckily the arm was already better so there was no need for them anyway anymore and could stop taking them, but it was a bit scary feeling I must admit. Luckily the weird feelings subsided in a few days and in a week I was almost back to normal.

Back to normal means of course exercise. Thought I would not go for a run yet, but would make a nice slow pace hike in the close by National Park. Hiked up down 8,1 kilometers there with a short snack break. It was a really nice start in getting my body used to a bit more exercise after the break.

Once the game was open it was time to get back to running and gym. Started off with running and ”not being able to run for a few weeks” energy boost. I ran 10 kilometers in windy pouring sleet and did my best 10 k time so far, 1 hour and 8 minutes. I should probably go running in bad weather more often! It felt so good and my arm did not hurt too much.

Also did another short run 6,7 kilometers, but no gym yet as I decided that I should probably go and get a massage few times because the muscles in my shoulders and upper back are still hard as a rock. Right arm was also hurting a bit and desk work just seems to makes it worse so booked a time. After the massage I will go to the gym. That is a promise!

Other than training I have started to gather the last pieces needed for the trip together like a duffel bag and a sleeping bag that I was still missing. I feel like I got it all now and will do a post of my kit later when I ”test pack” it.

Total

  • Hiking 8,1 kilometers
  • Running 16,7 kilometers

Training plan

No plan currently other than doing as much uphill training as I can on the ”stair climber” at the gym and just general hiking once a week in the forest. Apart from that just doing what I feel good with and trying not to get hurt, injured or sick

Still missing a few hundred Euros from my fundraising target to Unicef UK so please help me achieve it <3

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Training

Training – W1/2020 No training allowed

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First week of the year did not start all that well. I had to go to the ER with my arm as it was hurting so much. Got inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants.

I have been lucky since there has not been any need for any medicines for a long time (knock, knock) and the ”heaviest” drug I normally use is half a Panadol so was a bit worried about their effect on me. Then again at that stage I was about to faint with the pain so was ready to take anything to make it stop!

Exercices of the week were according to condition so only walking. Better than nothing I’m trying to convince myself…

Total

  • 2 walks. One 7 and one 3 kilometers

I won’t even put my targets here… I will think about them after I’m back to normal 😀

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Training

Training – Year 2019 totals

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Since the year has changed I thought it would be nice to look back and examine what did I do on the exercise front.

Indoor climbing has been a new hobby

I know without looking at any statistics that I exercised more this year than the last, but how much? Well the amount of individual activities year 2019 was 236. Compared to year 2018 and only 140 it’s a massive increase. I have exercised almost twice as much as the year before so approximately every second day. Impressive I think!

One reason for this is of course that I had a plan. Plan that had target amounts of activities and type. I kept to my plan pretty meticulously apart from when I got sick or injured. What this has taught be is to think big, aim for something you never thought you could achieve and you might just get there, BUT keep the target tangible.

I had my targets through out the year. Targets like Best cooper’s test distance, Best 10 k time, Best average speed, One chin up, More than 5 kilos on squat each side, 10 kilos more on leg press and so on. I was competing with myself and it seems I am quite competitive after all. Especially if I am competing with me 😉

So let’s look at the totals first…

Total year 2019

  • Running total 610 kilometers of which trail 307 kilometers and basic 303 kilometers. Year 2018 total 440 k’s total, trail 190 k’s trail and basic 250 k’s.
  • Hiking 179 kilometers, Year 2018 56 k’s.
  • Orienteering 66 kilometers. Year 2018 zero.
  • Walking 63 kilometers. Year 2018 47 k’s.
  • Gym 27 times. Year 2018 18 times.
Gym mirror selfie

I am very happy with the results. There is more running and orienteering as a new one which could sort of be added to trail running. This would make running in the forests for me 373 kilometers which is a long way if we start thinking how far I would get I if I now started running towards Lapland. I would not get near Lapland but to Seinäjoki or Kuopio. If I add all my running together I would actually get to Kuusamo or Kemi. Still not above the Arctic Circle so I might aim to run enough k’s to get past Rovaniemi next year…

Anyway, there is a clear increase in hiking also which is natural having been exercising for Kili and visiting Norway and Lapland. Increase in going to the gym eI am especially happy about and there results can be seen in the form of more muscle mass, strength and toning.

How about my targets? How did they improve?

  • Best cooper’s distance: From 1600 meters to 2000 meters
  • Best 10 k time: From around 1:44 to 1:10
  • Best average speed: From around 6,4 km/h to 9,4 km/h
  • One chin-up: Yep did achieve that on straight legs and with a rubber band I can do 3-5
  • More kilos on all the equipment at the gym in general.

I have learned in year 2019 that I need to measure to be able to reach for something. When I measure I can see the difference. Consistency is the key here 🙂 First I wanted to reach for example 1800 in Coopers test and next time tried to beat my last record so very much competing with myself.

2019 was a good year in exercise front and after Kili I will continue having a training plan and logging what I do. I like to follow the progress and looking back to last year also motivates me. When I can see the numbers I know that all the hard work has not been for nothing since there is clear progress!

So back to it I say!

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My Weight Loss Journey, Well-being

My weight loss journey(s), part III

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If you read My weight loss journey part I and part II you know the history and how I got to where I am now with my body.

Anyway for me I think the reasons for success were the reasons mentioned in the previous part I and II posts (that I have recognized myself). Another thing that helped was seeing that there indeed was progress all the time. I weighed myself on a regular basis in the morning on an empty stomach (after toilet) and measured with tape measure approximately biweekly and later on a monthly basis and yes I put it all to excel!

I like things to be tangible and measurable. Seeing the curve go down helped to make it more real since when you body changes it takes time for your mind to follow. You still see yourself as the ”old me” until your clothes start falling off and you realize there is a ”new me” peaking from the mirror. You don’t really believe the change until you see photos of yourself and put on some new nice clothes that fit better and the change slowly starts to kick in.

Graph of the excel 😀

In the graph above just for curiosity where I got to in 2016, and how it crept up again in a few years until I began my recent and hopefully last weight loss journey. In 2019 I have mainly concentrated on toning so no major changes in measures apart from weight and actually thighs which are not on this graph.

Measuring and other statistics

Window selfie at the Gym a few months back

Altogether according to scale and tape measure I have lost:

  • 14-15 kilos, 10.7 % fat (depending on where you count the start and end from)
  • Hip 11 cm
  • Waist 12 cm
  • Chest 10 cm
  • Bicep 2 cm
  • Thighs up 8 cm
  • Thighs low 4 cm

And my size in clothes has changed from pants 44/42 to 40/38 Shirts from 40/38 to 38/36. Generally from mostly XL sometimes L to mostly M sometimes L.

I am surprised on both how ”easy” it was after I found my balance and then again how much work it has required to tone up after four kids. I have worked hard, don’t get me wrong, very hard and if you follow my blog or my Instagram feeds you would know how hard. Having always exercised at least a bit has probably also helped not to mention being determined and believing that I can do this.

I started this process already before I even knew about Kilimanjaro, but it surely has helped me knowing I have 15 kilos less to carry on top of that mountain!

Physical changes

What about other things how I noticed that there has been a change ? Few examples:

  • Average running speed has increased. Best 9,4 km/h!
  • Length of runs has increased. Best 17 k’s
  • Amount of kilometers accumulated per week has increased. I can do around 35-40 kilometers per week as opposed to 20-25 before
  • I am actually able to do chin-ups, well only a few but was not able to do any before!
  • I have no problem to do squats what so ever. Uphill training has paid off!
  • Walking up and down hills is no problem nowadays. Note I used to hate and avoid hills, now I specifically look for them!
  • I can easily climb the stairs in the subway without catching breath. This is something you notice in every day life.
  • I can jump over a fence just like that 😀 Hmm this I came across one day when I had to jump and was surprised how easy that was. I felt like a gazelle!

I feel so much stronger than before, somehow more alert and confident. I don’t get tired that quickly and can get up in the morning much easier which is probably due to rising iron levels. I am so happy we noticed the low hemoglobin on time and got it fixed!

Most of all I am grateful of the support that I have received (especially from my husband) and so proud of myself for being a bit stubborn and pushing through away from my comfort zone to get the results I wanted.

Happy new me, Happy New Year! <3

Read recap of my journey in My weight loss journey(s), part IV or if you wish to see how it all started check part I and part II.

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Training

Training W52 – Activity full week with a painful end

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Last week was full of training with whopping 9 activities and 7 hours of training in total. No wonder my arm disagreed and I ended up having a nerve entrapment that caused intense pain that just got worse by time. I had to go to the ER in the end as I could not have slept and felt like I was about to faint with the pain.

Well no pain no gain, so what can you do but wait until the pain subsides and continue.

Other than that I was on the roll and loved every minute of it. Got to go indoor climbing without kids so I was able to actually climb as much as I wanted. Hmm..This might have had something to do with the nerve entrapment… Still a good week in all and nice Christmas break.

Looking forward to new coming year and approaching Kilimanjaro challenge. It’s getting very real now with only 5 weeks to go!

Total

  • Two times to gym
  • One indoor climbing
  • One Zumba dance class
  • Two runs. One 3,2 kilometers and one 7,2 kilometers
  • One trail run 13,4 kilometers
  • One walk 1,7 kilometers

Target

Still time to sponsor me

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