So much has happened since I blogged last, I hardly know where to begin! I could come up with all sorts of  lies reasons for the big gap between blogs, but I won’t.

I ran a half marathon back in March in one hour, 57 minutes and 48 seconds which I was dead chuffed about (I was aiming for under two hours). Since then though I’ve not been to the gym or for a run once. My midriff is starting to reflect that a little now and I need to do something about it. I haven’t forgone training entirely however; the big Trailwalker challenge in the middle of July is fast approaching and the team and I have been working hard to get prepared to do 100km in one very long day. We’re aiming to complete it in about 26 hours or so, but to be honest I will be very pleased to finish, regardless of how long it takes. This training and the looming event have been great opportunities to wear in my brand-spanking new walking boots (well, they’re far from “brand-spanking new” now, as I’ve already walked about 100 miles in them, which, now that I’ve actually written “100 miles” is a shock even to me!). They’re Asolo Power Matic 200 GTX and cost me £165 and they are bloomin’ marvellous! Quite hard soles, great ankle support, comfortable (now, anyway) and, with the help of zinc oxide tape and some decent socks when I first starting wearing them, they haven’t given me a single blister. I am a little upset with their name which sounds much more impressive than the car I own. It’s almost like you need a cinematic voice-over guy to say “Power Matic 200 GTX: Better than Tim’s car.” Although, come to think of it, it’s probably about right considering they were roughly a third of the price I paid for my little motor (and will probably last longer too)!

I discovered that the primary language for Tanzania is Swahili and English. English is great news because I don’t know much Swahili. In fact, the only words I’ve ever been taught are swear words (juvenile, I know) and I have mentioned before about being conscious of not offending locals, so I think I’ll stick to English and wash out my potty mouth with a bar of soap.

I also discovered that my geography is pretty appalling for someone who works in the travel industry. I blame it on the back-office roles I’ve been in, not having to be in direct contact with our product and all that (ah-hem). I believe I previously mentioned that I hadn’t visited the African continent before, but for reasons that I couldn’t begin to explain didn’t realise that Morocco was in Africa (and I’ve been there, coincidentally with Explore, and it was one of the most wonderful places I have ever visited on our beautiful Earth). I thought Morocco was in Europe, right between Egypt and Cairo, which are both in Europe too, right? Less said about this, the better.

My buddy (who I hope is less geographically impaired than I am), Stitch, and his parents have done a wonderful job of sucking me in to a major charitable campaign for our Kili climb. I went for dinner at a friend of their family’s house one evening to meet their disabled son, Benjamin. He goes to a local school for young people with disabilities where they get all sorts of equipment to help them communicate. Benjamin can’t speak, he uses his eyes and sometimes his hands to show a limited number of responses such as “yes” and “no”, but the school he attends have ingenious technology that allows him to select words, phrases, expressions and the like just by using his eyes to select them from a screen. Stitch and I are going to try and raise enough money for him so that he can have one of these clever little devices at home. As you can imagine, this will enable their family to communicate much more effectively with Ben especially during long school holidays. Nothing like piling on a bit of pressure for us to do our best on Kilimanjaro, but if I didn’t plan to put in 110% before I certainly do now. My friends and family, colleagues, suppliers and Facebook friends (let’s face it: Facebook friends don’t necessarily feature in any of the aforementioned categories) are going to be sick to death of me asking for sponsorship from them, especially as we are still pushing for the Oxfam sponsorship for the Trailwalker challenge (cheekily, please click here to sponsor!).

I must try and motivate myself to get back to the gym, it’s just so darned hot in there in the Summer because their idea of air-conditioning is open windows. That sounds like a rubbish excuse. By the next time I blog I will be back there regularly, will do some more running, will eat more healthily, will have quit smoking and drinking and won the lottery. If any two of those things happen, I will be content (and possibly very rich).

That’s it for now – speak to you again soon

Tim

I’ve had some excellent news: One of my best friends, whom I don’t see all that often because he lives in The City, saw my first blog, funnily enough, and asked jokingly if he could come to Kili with me. I said he could and should and he couldn’t quite believe his ears.

After some um-ing and ah-ing about whether he could justify to his girlfriend about dipping into his savings he decided this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he simply couldn’t miss out on, wrath from a woman scorned be damned. We’ve always said we should do an Explore trip together because we both have inquisitive minds, enjoy active pastimes (when I can be bothered to get off my rump) and, like any sane human being, enjoy a jolly good holiday! I was looking forward to this anyway, of course, and I’ve never had a problem travelling without knowing anyone beforehand because you quite often have more of an opportunity and more motivation to make new friends ([waves at Angela and Greg]), but right from the beginning I wondered who would be able to appreciate my efforts if I simply came back and told people about it. Now I will have someone to reminisce with over a beer in the comfort of a cosy pub and I’m rather pleased about that. My friend, Stitch (don’t ask), is as enthusiastic as a dog with a bone and that just adds to the anticipation of the trip and makes preparations much more enjoyable – his enthusiasm truly is contagious.

Decent new walking boots are still on my wish-list. I’ve been a little tardy with research, so I’m still undecided on what I’d like to get. There are some great review websites with very detailed descriptions which I find a little overwhelming. I’d usually just pop into my local outdoor activities equipment retailer (am I allowed to say “Millets”? It would have been less of a mouthful…) and grab some that fit me well enough. Some authors of the aforementioned websites would probably turn in their graves, were they dead. The research continues…

Talking of research, I have started reading a book about Kili (“A trekking guide to Africa’s highest mountain” – Henry Steadman – find it in our Amazon Bookstore page 6) and it is comprehensive and also a little terrifying. It’s good to be informed, or so I’ve heard, and I do like to know a little about my destination before I get there. It is sensible to know, preferably in advance rather than with hindsight, how to keep clear of offending the locals: Perhaps with a seemingly innocent gesture; eating with the wrong hand; or kissing their wives. It doesn’t matter how crazy that may seem to some of us, I guess it’s just polite to know what not to do. The book has brought to light what I already suspected, but had been in denial about: that climbing Kilimanjaro is tough. It does also say that it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do in your life! Now we’re talking!

I was pleased to find out, and meet, the Tour Leader who will be leading the departure I’m on. I only spoke to her briefly, but it was great to meet a veritable Kili veteran. I do, however, wish I hadn’t mentioned that I used to process Tour Leaders’ expenses when I worked in the Finance department, she may well have multiple opportunities to get her own back on my over-zealous red pen… I also discovered that it is the height of silliness to smoke on the mountain – of course it isn’t against any rules – it can simply incapacitate you. The last thing I want is to say that I couldn’t make it to the top because I was craving a cigarette. How ridiculous would that be? How much would I kick myself for spoiling such a colossal event just because of a smoke? Best pack the nicotine gum, just in case…!

My birthday has come and gone with all that this usually entails for me: Excessive drinking; partying; and generally over-indulging and under-sleeping. Obviously this is all great stuff for the imminent half marathon I’m running. Perhaps I should have considered entering into one that wasn’t in the same month as a stag party, my birthday and two of my close friends’ birthdays. Still, despite my social whirlwind, the training hasn’t been neglected and I’m aiming for around the two hour mark… Fingers crossed! The Trailwalker challenge I mentioned in the previous blog has been confirmed now too. Explore has a team of four to take on the 100KM in 30 hours. (And a cheeky plug, blogmaster willing, click here if you’d like to sponsor us.) I’m also looking at running the London 10KM the weekend before the Trailwalker – I’ve heard it’s quite a scenic and interesting route. I think I should squeeze a couple more events in too, to keep the old training motivation ticking over…

I still haven’t read the dossier for this trip. Perhaps, now that I’ve received all of my official paperwork from Explore, disappointingly handed to me rather than landing on my door mat of a morning (I guess it would be a waste of a stamp to send it to my house though), I’d better swot up somewhat. Maybe I will have read it by the time I write next month’s blog…!

This is the first in Tim’s series of blogs, oh and here is a photo of the cheeky chappy…

Tim Hornby: February, 2010

Wow. Kilimanjaro. Wow.

I don’t like to make a mountain out of a mole hill, so to speak, but Kilimanjaro is a pretty big deal. I still can’t quite believe that in just a little over seven months I’ll be getting a shot at climbing the summit of this monster. Is it the highest mountain in the world? Well, no. But is it the single toughest mental and physical challenge I will have ever faced in my life? Erm, no again actually, it’ll be the second (there was the time I stupidly took on a five kilometre fun-run with a terrible hangover dressed as Santa, but I’m expecting Kili to be somewhat more enjoyable than that). Am I looking forward to it, a little anxious and very excited? Definitely, yes. Oh yes indeed.

What now, though? I’ve got seven months to prepare, but I don’t even know what to prepare for to be honest. I love trekking and I’ve got some pretty worn boots that have accompanied me to some pretty amazing locations around the world, but I’ve got a feeling they may be a little too worn now. New boots will have to go on the list and I’ll have to sort that out soon to give myself the chance to get them properly worn-in. I can’t think of any other equipment that I’d have to acquire this far out from the departure; it’s not like you have to wear-in your sleeping bag or socks (or do you?).

It’s lucky that I work here at Explore: even in the IT department we get influenced by the travel vibe and experience around the office (and there’s a lot of experience here). It’s great when I mention to my work pals, while waiting for the kettle to boil for a cuppa, that I’m setting off to Tanzania – in a continent I’ve never ventured to before – to attempt the summit of Kilimanjaro. I’m not even surprised when my esteemed colleagues just smile because they know I’ll be up for the challenge (I think that’s why they grin), rather than gasp and look at me in awe as I would hope and expect my Grandmother, for example, to do. There are ex-tour leaders working in the office who have done this numerous times before, but that doesn’t detract from the excitement and potential pride I feel about doing this, instead I’ll pick their brains and put their experience (and equipment, perhaps?) to good use. For example, I didn’t know that there seems to be very little correlation between your level of fitness and whether you’ll be struck down by altitude sickness. (Perhaps I can go and get that kebab tonight after all!)

It’s early days yet: I’ve not long known that I would be going on this trip, so I haven’t even read the dossier for it yet – big mistake really as I don’t know the specifics of what I’ve let myself in for! This would be a big “no-no” if I didn’t have sadistic (here’s hoping they don’t read this) managers who think I may be capable of it and know the itineraries inside out. What I do know is that I will need to get some equipment that I don’t currently have (such as the aforementioned non-worn walking boots), I will need to be in pretty good physical shape and that the potential altitude sickness may not allow me to make it to the top, regardless of the quality of equipment or whether I manage to develop a six-pack (unlikely) before the end of September.

The trip appears to have come up at the right time for me. I’m soon to be 28 (so perhaps old enough to be [marginally] wise and young enough to get [mildly] fit) and I was already entered into a half-marathon for the end of March and have been working pretty hard to get my fitness levels up because of that. Unfortunately I usually utilise my gym membership for a few months, then lose interest again and stop going, slowly turning back to my terrible (yet terribly enjoyable) habits of drinking, smoking and eating too much and not doing an ounce of exercise. My “Grand Plan” to battle this is to enter myself into several different events over the coming months to force my hand with keeping fit. Perhaps this is overkill; I don’t think it’s necessary for you to be able to complete a triathlon to climb Kili, but at least this way I know I’ll have one out of three (equipment, fitness and altitude sickness) licked by the time I fly to Africa. With that in mind, there’s an internal email going around Explore at the moment asking if anyone’s interested in a place on the South Downs 100KM walk in 30 hours in July. Sounds like a perfect stepping-stone to me…

More updates to follow as the days and weeks go by, so check back  for updates on how I’m getting on with preparations for my most anticipated trip of my life so far!

Tim