MOUNTAIN FITNESS – Are you ready for this?

It gets tough when you’re on your feet all day with no path to smooth your progress over rocks and through challenging bush, and you are carrying around a quarter of your weight on your back. You will have woken up and got ready to go in the wild outdoors, without the comforts and ease of your home. The weather can add another layer of hard. Many days are much easier than this, think soft restios, shady boulders in the heat and perfect mountain streams. And yet you will be stretched, both physically and mentally by the mountains.

At a basic level you should be strengthening your legs and building muscle. One can do this in the gym, but what is best is functional strength. Big muscles are not always a solution. You’re better off training by taking a few hikes with a full backpack on uneven terrain including some steep hills. This trains the muscles you will be needing. As a general rule, if you can do an ascent of 500 to 600 metres in an hour and a half and not be dead on your feet at the top you will be fine.

Look deeper, the Rim of Africa is not just about walking. It is often off-trail, which requires that you clamber up rocks or slide down on your haunches, you can’t always see where you are placing your feet on uneven ground, and so you will be making tens of thousands of micro-adjustments to your balance every day. This requires a lot of core strength. Yoga or pilates can perhaps be a more appropriate preparation than road running.

Even deeper. Because the multi-day wilderness experience is a step out of normal, the Rim of Africa approaches a rite of passage experience, a time of transition for many. The opportunity is there to use your Rim of Africa experience to reflect on your life, let some things go and choose some ways of being that support you. Here are some ideas to blend with your trainings.

We are creatures of habit, and our bodies carry so many of our choices. In the words of one of our guides: “I had flat feet, so would scuff the soles of my shoes when walking. Before I did my through-hike I went to an Alexander Technique practitioner and started learning how to walk properly.” The Alexander Technique and other somatic education methods retrain your nervous system to eliminate poor posture or unnecessary strain and allow your body to move with ease.

Practice digital holidays – practically and ideally we go without connectivity on the Rim of Africa. Partly because of no signal or plug sockets, partly to not interfere with the mountain experience of others. This can be harder than you imagine, and more rewarding too. Replacing screen ‘blue light’ at night with starlight supports melatonin and hormonal production, you will start to feel and sleep better.

Ground yourself by walking barefoot whenever you can at home. Taking off your boots and socks whenever you have a tea or lunch break on Rim of Africa is a great idea, especially for the through-hikers. Wash your feet in streams to reduce inflammation and swelling. Put your boots back on with dry socks and cool feet to prevent blisters.

Align yourself with Nature. Go outside and expose your eyes to half an hour of sun first thing in the morning. Let the wind and the rain of the outdoors replace your weather forecast.

In the words of the late Tibetan Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh – “When we walk like we are rushing, we print anxiety and sorrow on the earth. Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet”.