During a backpacking trip through
SE Asia in 2005, I decided to set my most challenging climbing goal to date, summit
Mount Kilimanjaro in June of 2006. I have always been a very active individual, I have pursued a healthy living and I worked out an average of four times a week but I knew this time my training would have to be stepped up a notch. It was then that I decided to take my training to a new level and I felt Bob Fixel would be the one to take me there. The motivation was always there but I needed the push, the non-sense hard- core training that would make the difference between summiting or turning back half way to the top.
Our training was primarily focused on resistance and endurance but I was not only able to drop fat percentages but also increase muscle mass. My weight actually increased by the end of our training sessions, yet I was the thinnest I have been in years. Even though
Florida is not exactly suited for climbing training, our goal was to decrease my heart rate by fifteen beats per minute. By the time I set off for my trip, we had accomplished that goal. The odds were on my favor to overcome altitude sickness based on prior high climbs of 16,000 feet above sea level so all that was left to do was to cross my fingers and let my body take me there.
On
June 28th, 2006 at
7:10 am, eight hours after setting off from the last camp prior to summit, I reached the top of Kilimanjaro. This was a very physically demanding experience but one of the most amazing ones I have accomplished in my life. Kilimanjaro seats on Tanzanian territory near the
Kenya border at 19,340 ft above sea level. It is the highest peak in
Africa, the highest free-standing mountain in the world and one of the highest volcanoes in the planet.
Words can not express my gratitude to Bob for having been part of getting me there. To you Bob and the team of Fitness 21, thank you for the training advice and the hard work! Until my next adventure,
Mt.
Aconcagua (22,841 ft asl),
Argentina ? 2008?
Anne L. Reinstein, CPA