Everest Anticipation

It's 22.30 and I've finally climbed into bed after an afternoon of preparation that dragged on into the evening, and am ready to catch up on my beauty sleep before tomorrow.  I'm sure I've got time for a quick blog update first though...

My alarm is set for 6.30am, ready to jump out of bed, wolf down some breakfast then head over to Froggatt.  Tomorrow I will be trying to Everest Froggatt hill climb (this means riding up a hill multiple times to the height of everest, 8848m in fact!). This is something that I stumbled upon by accident.  After a few reps of Froggatt with a friend, I was chatting away in the staffeoom and mentioned my reps to the men.  Unfortunately one of them replied with a "oh, have you heard about the guys that everestsd it the other weekend?"  The seed was planted and Froggatt was incorporated into my year of suffering.

I did 10 laps in early may before announcing I was definitely doing it; it was better than expected.  That, combined with my recent LEJOG trip means I'm feeling hopeful!  But in the back of my mind I am aware that this is one of the toughest challenges I have ever faced.  How will I keep going for 24+ hours??  I guess I've had long days out in the mountains (such as summit day on mount kenya), and tolerated the 15hrs it took me to do an ironman well also, even managing to work the next day.

Preparation is key.  A planning meeting in the pub helped with ideas.  My food is all cooked and packed, fluids fill the car (coke, isotonic, carb drinks, red bull for when I'm falling asleep, and yorkshire tea too), the bike is ready, posters made.  There's nothing more I can do tonight except try to sleep as well as possible.  Fortunately a lunch time nap followed by a sports massage means my body is feeling suitably rested.

If anyone wants to come and ride with me I'll be riding up Froggatt hill climb on the A625, between Calver and the road junction at the top.  My support team (consisting of my awesome husband Tom, and the extremely lovely Dan) will be based outside the Grouse Inn.  Come out and ride a lap, or swing by for a pint and to cheer me on!  I am starting at 8am Saturday morning, and will finish at some point on Sunday.

A final reminder that I'm raising money for Orchid, a male cancer charity; you can sponsor me at www.virginmoneygiving.com/nikkisommers thanks to everyone who has already sponsored me!