Amidst all the mind and body challenges, I decided to attack the 7 hills of Kampala a second time. My first hike of them was during the joint hike with the team of Rwenzori Tutambule in October 2020. We hiked 42.34km for 7hours and 35 minutes, this was my first ever hike in my whole life. I wrote about it in this blog.
You see, it being the first time for me to hike that long, it gave me the confidence that yes, our bodies can cope regardless. If only we focus our minds to it and stay positive.
This 44km hike was no different, the team was…
From the word go, different voices were heard contemplating why we had to hike such a long distance, again. Yes, even in my case. I knew it was a bit challenging for my body and I did feel the pinch this brought. However, I know that for one to summit Mt Rwenzori, the ‘gods of the mountain’ won’t be any lenient on anybody for a single second so prior fitness preparation is key.
Every now and then when I think about it, I remember telling myself that; that training and getting my body into challenging situations like hiking that long, carrying a 10kg backpack on me for 6 hours, cycling 100kms a day and others were certainly the best way to get myself ready. I also put in mind the cause for which I was pursuing this adventure and this energised me more.
Before I knew it, the day for the second hike around Kampala’s seven hills came. I set off for the meeting point. This time round, no backpacks were required but I had come along with one weighing approx 7kgs. However, when we set off, I decided to leave it behind. I was afraid I may not make it back with it simply because the backpack straps weren’t comfortable.
A cool picture of me before we set off.
Anyway, at 7:00am, we set off. About 5 of us as the rest had promised to join along the way while others decided not to come.
I have to tell you this, I have right knee ‘issues’. You see, every moment I starting walking a distance longer than 1 km, my right knee develops pains on the edges. This completely puts me off. During previous hikes, I simply applied a bandage and a small diclofenac spray. I could then bear with the small pains and go along. But for this long a hike, I knew, I couldn’t handle.
So, one Friday morning, I shared with my mum this whole issue. She so happens to be a medical doctor and for some reasons, she had earlier gifted me two adhesive tapes commonly known as kinesiology tapes (KT). This was about 3 or 4 years ago but I had kept one me.
After my long explanation, Mum asked if I still had the tapes with me, I affirmed. She went on to explain the science behind them and how they would help in my knee pain by offering relief and joint support.
Luckily, she shared a video showing how I should fix it on my leg before I set off for the hike and this is what I did, with hopes that I’d make it through with little to no pains this time round.
Boom! There I was, through with the first 22km, resting at our water point. See for yourself in the pictures below.
I was putting on a sweatpant and by the time I got through 22km, the tape was loose and almost completely off but I could feel no pain at all. After the 30 minutes stopover and chat up with hiking buddies, we set off again for the remaining 20 or so kilometres.
Tell you what, after the first stop, you start to question why even you stopped. You feel so lazy to continue. Anyways, I just kept on going this time with one of the strongest ladies in the group, Diana. As we hiked, the body’s performance improved. However, further on, other issues came up.
Wait, did I forget to tell how I exchanged my shoes with a hiking buddy, Mwene (you remember him in the first 42km hike we did) who also happens to be a hard goer. He had shared about being uncomfortable with his shoes and there I went and offered to exchange mine with him.
But, little did I know that I’d set up myself. The sneakers were very comfy however, they didn’t fit me well. Though I didn’t realise this at the time of exchange.
As I continued to go, it became unbearable with no alternative but only to get to the finishing point. On top of that, we got off the map slightly after I jumbled up the route together with my hiking buddy. This was a pain in the *ss but only focused on getting to the route we were very familiar with.
To Read: Why Sportsmen Never Tell The Actual Story
This was between the areas of Mengo to Makerere hill. Getting lost later made me realised that we un intendedly added 2kms on the route. My hike mate mentioned this and I opposed and now I can affirm after seeing track results.
Perhaps you’re like, how come you got lost yet you were a team. In short, when you leave from the starting point, we all hike at different paces and the team leads make it a point to stay at the back to come along with others.
And before you know it, you’re slipt in groups of 2, 3, 4…. So, we simply can’t keep up together as a group when hiking that long. I don’t know yet how it’s done in the mountains, but I promise to write about it this November.
The afternoon downpour, roads under construction and a surge in traffic
This blog will be incomplete if I don’t tell you about all this confusion and how worn out our bodies were after it all.
About 10kms to get to the finishing point, suddenly it starts to pour like the gods of the rain are in a heated up argument. Yes, its good for our training but hey, not for one having done over 30kms with the scorching sun on him, impassable road traffic, road construction works etcetera.
None the less, it hit us hard. We got wet and for some reason it was fun and Diana got pumped, regained strength to even push harder and further.
Since we were among those near to the finished point, we got concerned about our buddies at the back including Hannah the 9yr old who made up her mind to hike over 40kms with us this time after her first and successful summiting of 33kms last week. I wrote about her in this blog.
Well, before we all knew, Hannah, David (her dad) made it to the finishing point. They made the best decision to step aside from the rain though hard goers like Mwene other hikers went rough on it.
To close this up, again nothing is impossible provided you put your mind to it. We did it another time to hike and complete the 7 hills of Kampala amidst challenges and negative energy.
I don’t know if this somehow confirms that we’ll summit Margherita but regardless, I’m happy I did it, for my own good anyway.
There is much I wish to gladly add to this blog but for your reading pleasure, I’ll keep it short.
Next hike and pieces of training are to improve our breath, legs and core muscles. It’s something we should honestly focus on as we gear up for summitting Mt. Rwenzori this November.
If you’re new here, this blog is part of my series in preparation for summitting Mt. Rwenzori to its highest peak called the Margherita peak. This peak of Mt Rwenzori is the highest point in Uganda and DRC and it is 5109 meters above sea level.
You may consider reading on about why I want to summit Margherita this November.
Thanks for reading and remember to follow #HamzaToTheSummit and #ReuseablePads hashtags across all social media platforms for updates.
Okay, Bye
