The Last Blog Post Before We Go

My 4 and 6 year old babies who are being very grown up about us going away!

By Jaime Burton

So we have 2 more sleeps before we fly out to Kilimanjaro on Friday! What have I been doing to prepare? Well I have been using the altitude machine as much as possible. Its been hard to find an hour out of my day to sit down and breathe less air! The children often came with me and they asked many questions about the machine. Jack and Tanya have put up with an army of people coming through their house over the past few weeks to have a go...starting as early as 7am and me often being the last at 7pm! Thank you both for letting us all invade your home.

Jack and I decided we needed to stretch our legs one day so headed over to Maiden Castle for a quick 11k walk. It did decide to totally tip down with rain and we had to stop to get waterproofs on. This was the first time Jack had used his hood and it was very entertaining. It came right down over his eyes and he couldn't see a thing. I laughed the whole way round everytime I looked at him. My boots got totally caked in mud and they are still sat by the door waiting for me to clean them off!

We have all been using the altitude training machine as much as possible 

I have spoken to the children every day about the climb and explained Mummy and Daddy will be gone for 11 sleeps. We are taking them out for a treat after school on Thursday to Toys R Us and a meal out. I am very proud of my 4 and 6 year old babies who are being very grown up about us going away. 

So mentally I'm there and ready to climb. Although a slight set back is that I have not felt very well for a few days now with a cold threatening to take over...I have never taken so many tablets and odd remedies! I have just eaten a spoonful of Manuka Honey. YUK! So hopefully I can fight it off because if it decides to set in my chances of summit are very slim! Its hard enough to breath fit and healthy so having a simple little cold will almost defiantly result in problems. So I have everything crossed and hope I recover quickly.

A slight set back is that I have not felt very well for a few days now

We had our send off at Durnovaria on Monday and it was lovely to see so many people come and wish us well. It was a chance for me to say thank you to my big sponsors Read Woodruff Accountancy and Rhino Fencing. Thanks again for your amazing support over the year.

So this is it! Bags are almost packed and I start on malaria tablets tonight. One more day at work tomorrow and I am finally there. It has been a challenge just to get to the bus in the car park with all the fundraising and events over the year. Thank you by the way to everyone who came to the Christmas Party, it was such a great night. I hope to post a couple of Facebook statuses while I am gone and someone will get a call when I get to the top...so keep your phone on Mum!

Good luck to everyone in the group. See you at the Top of Town car park on Friday at 2.30pm. To anyone who would like to sponsor me, please click here: http://www.justgiving.com/Jaime-Ella-Burton

The Barranco Wall which we will be climbing over next Thursday I think!

Altitude Training

By Jaime Burton

When I research how altitude can affect you, I often read it’s like your worst hangover and you have to climb a mountain. So a few of us thought it would be a good idea to try this out. Tommy, Jack, Tim, Lee and I took part in a night of Wine Tasting at Kingston Country Courtyard - a fantastic and funny night which went on into the early hours. I decided I liked the champagne which is odd as I normally don’t like it at all! There was a Sancerre to try and on first thoughts I was not overly impressed.. I didn’t dislike it but it was nothing special. I think I said…‘I’ve had more exciting things on my palette!’ Anyway after trying everything else I went back to the Sancerre and decided it was actually rather lovely! The port was pretty special too! So as you can imagine after a few hours of these lovely wines and some cheeses, we were definitely set for some altitude training the next day!

8.30 was time for breakfast and I woke at 8.10 which for me is a lovely long lie in. I woke up raring to go. I was actually quite well behaved on the wine tasting and skipped most of the reds so wasn’t feeling very hung over. Lee was also rather spritely! There was a loud knock on the door and there stood Jack looking a bit like death! Our call for Breakfast. Yummy. Lee and I headed over to meet the others but there was no Tommy...apparently he wasn’t feeling very well! Jack struggled with his breakfast although managed it in the end after a lot of complaining about being ill!.Then there he was...Tommy. Oh my I have never seen such a sight. He was very white and not looking very good at all. He attempted breakfast but failed, couldn’t face it. So we got our boots on and set off! 

It was a gorgeous walk and very much needed to blow the cobwebs away. The first hill was almost the last for Tommy! Him and Jack were struggling with 'altitude' sickness and it almost became too much. We supplied Tommy with Lucozade and a banana to try and keep him going. If you know Tommy you will know he is always chipper and full of banter. There was none of this, he was quiet and kept his head down. He used every inch of will power he had to get round the walk. It was tough! 

At one stage we decided to leave Tommy in peace and let him take his own pace while Tim, Lee Jack and I walked on ahead. He needed some time to focus! And focus he did as after about 20 minutes we looked back to see where the others were and were surprised to see Tommy had picked up some pace. When he got to us he said that he had given himself a good talking to and snapped out of it. He was ready to go! So we all picked up pace and ran past the car park to beat all the other walkers back to Kingston to get a shower before lunch. In fact we even decided to run the last bit up the road. After the state they were in first thing Tommy and Jack managed it back. Tim didn’t seem to affected by the altitude training method.

After a quick shower and change we sat down for dinner. Well some of us did...the place was manic and Jack ended up helping out in the kitchen and serving, so he didn’t get to sit down and eat his dinner. We left at 4pm and he then started on the washing up! So thank you Jack for allowing us to sit on our bums and enjoy a lovely meal. 

So all in all a fantastic weekend. Our altitude training method did work and gave us a taste of how hard its going to be. The hills that we normally run up could hardly be walked up! Legs were like jelly and overall feeling very sick. So you see its not a walk in the park this Kilimanjaro stuff and for 7 days we are going to be hurting, but do you know what will get us through it? Knowing that we have raised money for a great charity, helping out families likes Rian's. He will certainly be on my mind and helping me focus to get through it. Now we have a leaving bash at Durnovaria on the 6th January so it would be good to see some people there supporting us and giving us a bit of a send off.

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