Training

It is recommended to start training 8 weeks from the start of the trek but I am running the Lincoln 10K just after Easter, and having had a too indulgent Christmas period, the training regime has already started. This will fit with the recommendation of conducting any aerobic based training consistently building up with several sessions per week for several weeks. The more specific the training to the rigours of climbing the better, such as standing, ascending and descending slopes in boots with some weight on your back for sustained periods. Having to walk the dog every day has already allowed me to start wearing in my boots which are planned to be worn on the mountain, and a day pack with some weight will need to be introduced. As water intake is a mitigation to altitude sickness the day pack will need to include several litres which should take care of the weight requirement. There is a recommendation to conduct hypoxic pool sessions, which is the art of breathing less, building your oxygen threshold by increasing number of strokes between breaths. With little chance of getting to a pool an alternative will have to be sought to hopefully benefit from this kind of training. Finally, diet is very important. You need a balanced diet with a healthy array of foods - meats, vegetables, fruits which luckily my wife, Alison, a superstar, already does. Having failed at dry January which was slightly damp I may need to turn into a dry Summer to properly prepare myself!