Made it!

D-day!

Peruvian Weather and Altitude

May-September is the Andean Winter so going in October means it will still be quite chilly, especially with the high altitude. From what I've read it seems October days have an average of 12.4 hours of daylight and of those 7 are usually sunny with temperatures in the early 20s. However nights will be cold and we have been advised to be prepared for temperatures of minus 10 degrees celsius! I have just bought my thermals and trying them out at home I have come to the conclusion I resemble a bandaged mummy but at least I will be cosy! I got myself a bargain too as M&S were selling them as buy one get one half price and at a much more reasonable price than the outdoor shops! Felt a little embarrassed buying them for the young and attractive guy on the till but what could I do! I am also borrowing my sister's sleeping bag which is designed for freezing temperatures and much better than mine! It'll save me a fortune not having to buy one, so thank you Ruth!

One of the biggest challenges I am going to face in the Andees is the altitude! The higher you get above sea level the more implication this has for the body and the less oxygen is available. At 0m, the standard barometric pressure is 101.325kPa (760 mmHg). This means that there is 100% of the oxygen available at sea level. However, at 4600m, (the highest height I will be trekking to) the standard barometric pressure is 59kPa (441 mmHg). This means that there is only 58% of the oxygen available at sea level!!

I have read a lot about altitude sickness to prepare myself and the good news is that healthy people should be able to travel to altitudes up and above the height of Kilimanjaro (5,895m) as long as they are properly acclimatised. The human body is very adaptive and has the ability to adjust to the changing environment around it and so sufficient acclimatisation will be of great benefit to reduce the possibility of altitude sickness.

That said it is impossible to tell in advance who will be seriously affected by Altitude. The ability to adapt successfully is determined by your genetic-make-up and has little to do with health or fitness. We will all experience some effects of altitude because as we climb we will notice an increase in pulse rate and breathing rate as our bodies work harder to get available oxygen to the muscles but with sufficient acclimatisation, drinking plenty of water and taking our time when trekking we should hopefully all be ok. We will also have a Doctor with us I believe, who will take a reading of our oxygen every morning. Apparently anything under 75 is of concern, not sure what a typical reading is I'm afraid but I will find out.

The common symptoms of Altitude Sickness or AMS as it's otherwise know (Acute Mountain Sickness) are as follows:

• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting  
• Fatigue
• Poor appetite  
• Dizziness 
• Sleep disturbance

According to statistics 60% off trekkers ascending heights of 4,500 metres, as we will be, will develop some of these symptoms but they are generally manageable. The effects can definitely be minimised by acclimatising before the main trek and by slow ascents. The occurrence of AMS does not necessarily spell the end of a climb; it does however mean that certain measures should be taken in order to prevent the development of AMS into more serious conditions.

Recommended measures are as follows:

• Sufficient fluid replacement
• The use of Paracetamol/Ibuprofen in order to combat headaches
• The cessation of any further ascent for at least 1 day (or until symptoms are reduced)
• The use of acetazolamide (Diamox)
• If symptoms persist to descend, descend, descend.
• Administration of supplemental oxygen in severe cases 

If AMS is not properly treated and is allowed to develop, more serious conditions may arise. Two such conditions are High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema (HAPE) and High Altitude Cerebral Oedema (HACE), both of which can be life threatening

We will all need to look out for each other on our trip and be honest about how we are feeling and not let pride get in the way. I am going to the Travel Nurse on Thursday to get my booster vaccinations and also Diamox as it is known to reduce the effects of AMS. Charity Challenge advise Diamox is a matter of personal choice and not mandatory as there are also side-effects such as tingling of the fingers and toes but I would rather have it with me in case I feel the need. I plan to take a trial at sea level for a couple of days before we go just to monitor any potential side effects. Best be on the safe side!

I have been ski-ing on a Glacier in Switzerland at 3000m and travelled to the top of the Aguille Du Midi, 3,842m in the French Alps so I feel comfortable I have had some exposure to high altitude before and without ill-effects. Although this cannot guarantee I will not be affected this time, it does calm the nerves a little!

 Sx

Thank you to The Altitude Centre, TM in London for their notes.

D-day looms ever closer!

No pain, no gain!

Over the past six months I have been trying to improve my fitness by going to the gym, going cycling and going hill walking as previous posts have shown. However two weeks ago I decided I had to up the ante and focus more on the training aspect of my Challenge. It is vital to prepare and to build the strength, cardiovascular stamina and muscle endurance necessary to complete the challenge and get the most out of it! I had recently won a voucher for an hour’s Personal Training session at my Gym and arranged to meet with one of the PTs at Virgin Active Omni on Saturday 7^th September. Immediately Sharon put me at ease and talked me through specific types of exercises most appropriate to my training needs and gave me nutrition and diet hints and tips. We then went on the gym floor and I showed her the various machines I have been working on and she made great suggestions to increase the intensity and reduce the duration of each programme. In particular I am trying to work at levels of between 75% and 85% of my maximum heart rate for extended periods three times a week. Since meeting her I have implemented her suggestions and really feeling the benefits, although my legs were aching the first four days or so! I have also increased my gym visits and started swimming and Spin class more regularly. Where possible I have also started to incorporate wee gym visit on my lunch break as it’s just round the corner from my office and it feels great to have done something productive on my break and wakens me up for the afternoon ahead!  

 

Granted it can at times be an effort to go to the gym but when working out the endorphins kick in and I begin to enjoy it! I even get a sense of satisfaction from the pain in my muscles the next day as it proves to me I have worked hard! J Last weekend was supposed to be my last SBC hill walk before my Challenge but due to the high winds and torrential wind the plan for Ben Lawers and Beinn Ghlas was postponed until next month. Unfortunately this means I will miss it as I will actually be in Peru then! I am heading out of town tomorrow though to see my parents and as they live in the Ochil Hills I plan to get a hike in before our meal ;-) I will also exploit Arthur’s Seat and Blackford Hill as much as possible before I go. My only concern is I don’t have enough time due to work commitments to fit in two hill walks back to back but otherwise I feel confident that I have a good chance of completing my challenge. I certainly will do my best to make all my sponsors proud, just £95 to go to reach my £4000 target!

Sx

Car Boot Sale & Bargain Hunters Galore!

With recent sponsorship from my fabulous friends I am even closer to reaching my target but I don't want to fall at the last hurdle so in an effort to keep up momentum I set my alarm for a painful 6:30 this morning and set off early to pitch at the Omni Car Boot Sale here in Edinburgh. 

I had spent last Sunday gutting my parent's attic for items I could sell and had a vast array of stuff, ranging from cuddly toys & childhood games to kitchen items, from sports equipment to cushions and jewellery to books. It was quite cathartic sorting it all out but certain items brought back memories of saving my pocket money for weeks on-end to buy a treasured item! Mum kindly agreed to help me and also dug out some bits & pieces I could sell, not only that she kindly gave up her time to help me sell as much as I could today! I did at least treat her to breakfast at Frankie & Benny's as a thank you! 

Having never done a car boot sale before I wasn't quite sure what to expect and both Mum and I were surprised by the number of cars, the level we were on in the multi-story could hold 300 cars and it was full, unbelievable! There were plenty of regular sellers and those in the know, seeking out desired items even before we had opened up. I lost count of the number of traders tapping me on the shoulder for gold or silver or any antiques before we had even finished setting up! Sadly I had nothing they fancied but I did manage to sell a remote-control car before the doors were even open to the public!

When the crowds descended they were all after a bargain, not willing to part with more than a couple of quid a time. I was lucky to get 50p sometimes, even with my WaterAid banner and balloons shouting out it's for charity! With a £15 entrance fee and £3 per table and rail hire I was fearful of even meeting my outgoings so Mum and I got stuck right into it and sold as hard as we could for the next 4 hours! 

My Body Shop products were well received, certainly a lot of interest was shown in them but I basically I had to drop to 75% off RRP to get rid of anything. Disappointing as my stock cost more than that in the first place but then again I had pretty much written that money off when I gave up being a consultant. The low point of the day was when a woman determined to get herself a bargain helped herself to some BS make-up brushes without paying, sadly I wouldn't even recognise her again so no-point in reporting her to the organisers. On the upside a gentleman gave me £1 when he saw we were doing it for Charity, even though he didn't want anything, I really appreciated that! Some items I had a little reserve on such as my Scanner, Mini-disc player and child carrier and as it was clear no-one was going to offer decent for these items I decided to put them on Gumtree instead. I was pleased to sell my old Sony Walkman for £1 though as it's rare for anyone to use cassettes these days! My old netball stand also went for £1.50 and Dad will be delighted to have that out his garage! lol 

All-all-in it was a successful morning as we raised £73 profit after costs and I am one-step closer to my goal. A big shout out to my best friend Laura for donating a few bits & pieces too, everything but the hat was sold! Another shout out to my dear Mum, I appreciate your help so much and was glad of your company, just a shame we got such a dark corner of the parking lot! Having added today's proceeds to my current total, I have so far raised £3845, just £155 to go. Remember you can sponsor me securely through Just Giving at: www.justgiving.com/trekforwater2013. I know we are all finding it tough these days but anything you can spare will make a difference. Help if you can, karma will repay you :-)

I am exhausted now so will close here, it's been a long day and my muscles are aching from yesterday's gym sesh! This fundraising/training malarkey can really take it out of you! From experience baking cakes is an easier way to make money than car boot sales so I am glad I tried it but I think once in a lifetime is enough!!

Sx

WaterAid Supper & Last of the Summer Wine

Those of you who are up and about early these days will realise that Summer is fading and by meteorological reckoning Autumn is officially with us from today, the 1st September. With this in mind my lovely Mum thought it would be appropriate to host a "Last of the Summer Wine Supper" at our family home in support of my WaterAid challenge. 

It was a very congenial evening with neighbours, friends and family all coming together to support a great cause. I started the evening with a little introduction to the water crisis and my aims to make a difference. We served everyone with a glass of fresh spring water to highlight how lucky we all are in the developed world to have that 'on tap' but reassured our guests that their glasses would soon be replenished with wine, as long as they later turned their wine back into 'water' with donations to WaterAid! We then watched a short film from WaterAid which outlined their aims and objectives, before moving on to the supper. 

Mum outdid herself with home-cooked lasagne, chilli con carne, quiches, chicken, cold meats, a variety of salads, breads & cheeses. Followed by several delicious desserts, tiramisu, trifle, hazelnut gateux, tarte tartin and meringues. My Aunt Lesley also made a wonderful lemon cheese-cake for the occasion. The food went down a treat with many of the guests going back for seconds (and even thirds... Simon <g>)!  Our meal was washed down with glasses of wine - some bottles left from last weekend's wine-tasting and many more my Dad had kindly purchased to help me out. Thanks again to Henderson's Wine and Raeburn Fine Wines in Edinburgh for your contribution, helping to make this such a successful night! 

The evening progressed with much chat and hilarity and just to keep everyone on their toes I threw in a short WaterAid quiz based on the film clip we had watched earlier with two teams tying for the winning score. Well done to Anne & Dave Nicol and to Linda Colebourn & Elspeth Caldow for their supreme efforts and I hope you enjoy the wine! I also held a small raffle with 2 bottles of wine, 3 Body Shop gifts and a star prize of the Keihl's skincare gift set on offer. 

At the end of our soiree guests were encouraged to pop a donation in an envelope anonymously and I later counted it all up, adding it together with the proceeds from my raffle. I couldn't believe my eyes when I realised I had raised £471 from the event!! It certainly seems everyone enjoyed themselves and thought my Mum's cooking was worth so much! I think the harsh statistics of the Water Crisis even in this day and age was also hard hitting and encouraged people to dig deep! 

Thank you so much to all who came, it was lovely to see you all again and I truly appreciate your support! Most of all a huge thanks to my Mum & Dad for hosting such a wonderful evening and for all their hard work, I couldn't have done it without them! Thanks to all of you I have now raised an amazing £3647 (including recent dress-down day) and am well on my way to hitting my £4000 target! 

Sx 

Dress Down raises £101

At my work - BNY Mellon - we have a Charity Dress Down Day once a month. Employees are encouraged on this particular Friday to come to work in the jeans or casual clothes and pay £1 for the privilege, this money raised that day is then given to a charity nominated by an employee and vetted by our Community Partnership Committee. It is so popular that there is now a waiting list extending to next Spring to get your chosen charity on board. Having been on the waiting list for some time it was WaterAid's turn this month, along with 2 charities nominated by my colleagues Katrina and Fiona. Fiona was raising money for Action Medical Research by completing a challenge known as "Race the Sun" down in the Lake District and Katrina has recently completed a half marathon for a charity close to her heart - The Histiocytosis Research Trust. Both girls were keen to raise additional funds for the charities and so we arranged to work together and split the proceeds equally. Fiona got to work making posters for our day to raise awareness of our charities and remind people to participate on the day. 

On the day Katrina and I donned our charity T-shirts and set about the office rattling our buckets! I asked Katrina to cover our floor as after my sponsorship form doing the rounds and my cake sales I was rather embarrassed to be asking for more money even when it's for such a good cause! While she was doing that I covered the 2nd floor and we then covered the remaining floors together. We also asked some colleagues at our other office on Lothian Road to help us out and were delighted when they agreed. In total £303 was raised from the two offices, resulting in £101 each, we were delighted! Thanks to Craig on the CPP committee for taking responsibility for counting it all up for us and thanks to each and every colleague who supported us with this event! 

Sx

Why am I trekking for Water?

Imagine life without water flowing freely from a tap. Imagine waking up at dawn and spending up to six hours fetching water for your family’s needs. One in eight people worldwide do not have to imagine this life – it is their reality.

 

In rural Africa women often walk for up to ten miles to fetch water. The tragedy is that, having spent so much effort reaching a water source, the water itself is often dirty, polluted and unsafe to drink.

The daily burden of collecting water prevents women from working and children from going to school. Worse still, diseases like diarrhoea and dysentery caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation result in the deaths of 4,000 children every day.

WaterAid believes that access to safe water and sanitation underpins health, education and livelihoods, and forms the first, essential step in overcoming poverty.

 

Sponsor me today, your money will make a big difference to those in need:

 

 

£12 could pay for 2 taps for a village water point

 

£18 could pay for pipes for a gravity-flow scheme

£19 could pay for water Point Mapping for four water points

£20 could train a pump attendant

 

£25 could buy tools to dig a well

£100 could buy a tapstand for a gravity-flow scheme

 

Help me to help WaterAid transform lives through sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene projects.

Sponsor me today at: www.justgiving.com/trekforwater2013 

 

Huge thanks to all who have already supported me and to those who promised, well there's no time like the present! :-)

 

Sx

Info taken from WaterAid's Fundraising toolkit

@ www.wateraid.org/uk/get-involved/start-fundraising#/fundraising-ideas

Not just a donation, a M&S donation...

With my charity challenge looming ever closer I have been writing to some of our best known and well-loved retailers in the hope that someone will sponsor me to complete my daunting challenge for WaterAid.... I was in luck with Marks and Spencer!

 

M&S have a strong tradition of Corporate Social Responsibility and this can be seen in their commitment to environmental sustainability and charitable giving, e.g. Breakthrough Breast Cancer clothing and Oxfam's clothes recycling initiative. Moreover individual stores are keen to support local charities and local fundraising endeavours, particularly those which they believe will make a lasting contribution. In support of my own fundraising for WaterAid M&S on Princes Street, here in Edinburgh, have very kindly made a one-off donation of £25 in the form of a giftcard. Although I had the options to raffle this off as a prize or use it to buy produce for my next event I have decided to transfer the amount of £25 from my bank account onto my Just Giving site for WaterAid and spend the £25 instead. This way WaterAid will benefit from the £25 and I get to do what I do best... shop! <g> With M&S' contribution I have now raised a fantastic £3060!!!

 

I would like to thank Eddie, Caroline and all the staff on the Edinburgh Store Committee for their support, kind donation and words of encouragement in their recent letter. I really appreciate it and look forward to my next visit to your store.

 

Marks and Spencer - "Quality worth every penny!"

 

Sx