It’s just 44 Days left for me to go for my hike on Mt. Rwenzori. If you told me a week ago that I could do a 42km hike around Kampala, I would gladly say that it was imposible.
But guess what, with a team of amazingly crazy hikers, we took on the seven hills that Kampala city was originally built on.
To begin …
The longest run I have ever done was 11 years ago during the MTN Kampala Marathon. Those days, I was a junior soccer player in one of the sports clubs in the country and I used to play and train intensively.
I had not planned to take part in the marathon but a relative of mine already purchased the kit and got registered. On the day of the marathon, he decided not to do it. He instead asked me to participate which I glady took on so he gave me his kit.
Banange, running 25 kilometers isn’t something you just wake up to out of the blue! It requires practice. None the less, I ran the marathon and made it to the finishing point. I remember it took me about two hours or there abouts. I remember MTN used to issue digital certificates to those who completed the marathon. Oba bi ekyatukawo?
Anyway, that is the longest I’ve ever ran/walked in a single day.
Back to the seven hills’ hike.
About two weeks ago, someone in our hiking WhatsApp group suggested that we could do a one day hike and cover all the 7 hills of Kampala. According to some experienced hikers, this hike could take about six hours with a 30 minutes break.
Guys, when that suggestion showed up, my heart and mind felt it was something I could do but I wasn’t sure if my body could handle. Remember, the farthest I have ever walked was 25km and that was 11 years ago. Of recent, I’ve hiked 10km and jogged 14km. So going for a 45km hike didn’t add up to me.
Anyways, I was like, let me go for it. If I die, I die.
We set off at 7:00 am from Naalya Motel. We were a group of about 15 experienced and newbie hikers together.
We found our way through Naalya, Kyaliwajjala, Namugongo, Kireka, Kinawattaka, Mbuya, Bugolobi, Namuwongo, Muyenga and the hike continued.
Personally, I wasn’t well conversant with the route so I decided to stick with a person who knew it and I made sure I stay in midrange with them. Not in the lead and not at the back. This made me a bit comfortable knowing that there are some people behind me. But also some people at the front that I look forward to catching up with.
Friends, we walked. I started counting hour to hour. We who set off at 7:00 a.m. hiked all the way to nearly 12 noon at our first stopover and refreshment point in Mengo in the vicinity of Kabaka’s palace. At that point, we had covered a total of 22km.
After a break of nearly 30 minutes, we set off again but this time, I went with another set of hikers who were pretty in the lead. We set our feet through Mengo hill, Lubaga hill, Namirembe hill, Nsambya till we found our way through Kololo hill then ascended to Naguru, Kyambogo and then back to Naalya.
Well, there were two spots for me to remember on the hike, the Naguru stretch from Uganda-China hospital to the Police Headquarters and the other was the stretch from Kyambogo to the NCHE offices. These two stretches milked me down. I felt like giving up but the spirit was in high gear. This was between 35/40km.
My pursuit to push even harder was fueled by seeing the ladies in the group go even harder. Some if not all were mothers and I saw them do what they could to go ahead and farther. I was like; if they’re not giving up, I’m not. A special shout out to them. By the way, almost all ladies made it to the finishing point.
Things to keep in mind for my upcoming Rwenzori hike.
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Focus on your next step. Not the time or the destination.
Realising that hikes this long can nearly tear down your spirit makes it easy for your mind to give up and drop out on the way. However, focusing ONLY on your next step makes you push farther.
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The body may be worn out but if your spirits are high, you can most certainly make it to the finishing point.
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Get a good pace and keep up with it. Don’t go too fast and don’t go too slow.
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Keep within your pace. Just make sure you’re not at the very back.
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Keep going. Just go.
All in all, I couldn’t be any happier after finding myself at the finishing point. That moment was priceless. Never had I thought that a day would come in my life and I hike 42km in a single day! And yes, I did it in a total time of 7:35:02.
For my #HamzaToTheSummit hike, I would say that this seven hills’ hike has contributed so much to getting my body and mind ready for the Margherita summit trek.
Anyway, in one of the comings days I’ll write about why I think hiking is more of a mind game and NOT just about physical fitness.
#HamzaToTheSummit #ReuseablePads
