Training
Both John and I are busy people so training for the trip has been a little difficult. We are both relatively active in the mountains and we have been putting in a few long days around Snowdonia, some time not always out of our own volition!
I have concentrated on improving my cardiovascular fitness and stamina. This has involved mainly swimming and cycling whilst I have been studying for my MCSE in South Africa.
The nature of this trip is that we will be pulling a heavy pulk for 10-12 hours a day, potentially in bad weather. The training I considered was building my stamina, especially for the legs, stomach and upper body (the full works really!). Swimming provides a good workout for the upper body and helps to develop good breathing control. I have been putting in 1.5-2.0 km swimming 5 days out of 7 in Capetown. I have then followed that by 40-50 minutes on an exercise bike covering about 20-24km if the readout is to be believed.
I am intending to move to longer cycling trips in the UK, spending 3-4 hours per day in the saddle as well as running for about 1 hour. However, there is always a risk that over training could cause injury so it is a fine balance. In addition dietary arrangements have to be considered, carrying a certain amount of body fat helps to ward of the cold and our previous experience indicates that we will loss a kilo or 5 of our body weight whilst on the trip.