KILIMANJARO: THE MOUNTAIN BECOMES OUR TEACHER

When I first started to play national tennis tournaments, I trained hard.  I loved interval training (cardio workouts based on sets of explode/recover/explode/recover) with a jump rope.  With two toddlers, life was crazy-busy and often it was midnight when I jumped rope under the street light in front of our house.  I gained endurance, but struggled with injuries.  I ignored the fatigue.       I almost fell into the same trap with our Kilimanjaro training.  The early hikes were fine, but once Dave and I built up to 12 mile/9+hr hikes, my body started to protest with sore knees, hamstrings and shoulders. Plus, I added gym and cycling workouts, with no rest days.  All those sore muscles just got more sore and very tight. 
     People who have climbed Kilimanjaro tell us it's really about endurance and the altitude.  Except on summit day when the path both up/down is pretty steep, the trail is a slow walk uphill.  Twelve mile hikes in the Berkshires and the Adirondacks are hard work--constantly scrambling over rocks and tree roots.  These hikes do not replicate the trail in Tanzania.
     So--we tried a different training tactic today and it turned into one of our most enjoyable days!  Mt. Greylock has become our basecamp.  It's easy to reach, the autumn drives have been splendid and we even drive past 6 wind turbines.  In addition to lots of trails, Greylock boasts several roads to the summit.  Today we hiked 7 miles in only 3 1/2 hours by taking the Mt. Greylock Rd. (off Rt. 7).  It's a beautiful unpaved road for about 3 miles, before it runs into Rockwell Road, which goes to the top from the southern flank.  The workout on our quads and hamstrings was just as strenuous as a trail hike.  However, our eyes were not glued to the ground, and we could enjoy the spectacular orange colors, groves of birch trees and see the ridges we were crossing.
     My other training changes include:  rest days (still hard to commit to:  I'll hope for rainy days at least once a week), more hours of sleep every night and stretches, stretches, stretches.  Plan to check out our local Pilates teacher.  Kilimanjaro:  you are a wonderful teacher!