The Original BFG Climbs Mount Kilimanjaro!

In this week's blog, I want to step away from training for Mount Kilimanjaro and talk about something different, mental health and in particular, my own mental health.  As I touched on in one of my previous blogs, one of the reasons why I am climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is because I see the training, the challenge, and the whole process as good for my mental health as well as my physical health. I suffer from anxiety and insecurities and times and this has many different forms. For example, I find it difficult not to overthink and overanalyse situations, find myself believing the most unrealistic option to be correct, or suffering from imposter syndrome where despite all evidence to the contrary, I don't feel good enough or valued enough.  These feelings/emotions came to a head a couple of weekends ago when I sat on the floor in my bedroom suffering from what I felt was a panic attack. I couldn't stop crying, felt sick and my heart rate and breathing was too fast! After about

It's been a couple of weeks since my last blog so I thought it would combine a couple of blogs for a bumper bonus edition! Training Updates One of the first things people ask about this challenge is the training and what level of fitness they will need to be able to attempt the challenge. The good news is that with Aspire Adventures, who is managing this trip for us, we have been given a dedicated training guide to follow so we are in the best possible position to reach the summit.  It goes without saying that this is no ordinary hike and that both fitness and stamina are required to be able to climb up to and back down from the summit. Therefore, I will be following this guide, building my endurance levels, my overall cardio, and my experience of hiking of smaller hikes, breaking in my new hiking boots. Like barrister's wigs, I'm guessing you can tell first-time hikers with their brand-new boots.  As a result, I have been making the most of the somewhat summery weather we