IBI Kilimanjaro Challenge

Gráinne Lynott

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Hello, my name is Gráinne Lynott and I am the Marketing Manager for Lloyds List, Lloyd’s List Group.

Trekking in the Himalayas has been an ambition of mine for many years and after attending the presentation and listening to Lindsey Roberts’ Kili experience and Steve Holmes overview of the actual expedition I knew it was a challenge I wanted to be a part of. Our colleague Seigo Maeda, Datamonitor Japan office, further inspired me when he brought the reality of what was happening in Japan after the Tsunami and earthquake to Telephone House, through his emotional and chilling account of events. Fundraising for the Japan Relief fund is a very worthy cause, helping the people whose lives were changed forever without any warning.

I have always enjoyed the great outdoors, growing up in the Galway countryside ensured this! I have done many treks in my past but nothing as long in duration or as challenging as this expedition. To be part of such fantastic experience is hard to put into words, to trek amongst the highest peaks in the world, to be take a route that is completely remote, avoid all normal day to day luxuries and to be eating, sleeping and living amongst such nature gives me chills of excitement!! To accompany Steve and Neil on their own adventure is indeed an additional honour.

To be trekking in this terrain will bring along many personal challenges, will push my boundaries and I want to see how I can cope and remain strong in these conditions. I also want to reach my fundraising target to give a little support to the Japan Disaster relief. I consider myself to be a positive and encouraging person and hope these qualities will help my teammates during the course of the expedition and provide some humour along the extensive  trek through the challenging terrain.

My ambition is to reach base camp with the rest of the team and in doing this we will be faced with many situations from the funny, to the awe-struck, to painful, to hygiene and many more. I will learn many personal insights from these situation and will bring back both the funny, serious and surreal experiences.  I think overcoming challenging situations in both personal and professional life will be viewed a lot easier after this trek and I will be proactive in passing on this knowledge.

Please do sponsor me trekking through the Himalayas for the British Red Cross - Japan Relief Fund. It is a very, very worthy cause http://www.justgiving.com/Grainne-Lynott

What do I want to achieve?

• Reach base camp with all the team
• Raise £3,000 for Japan Relief Fund
• Increase fitness to enjoy the expedition
• Overcome the physical, mental and emotional challenges presented on the journey
• Be a strong team member in the difficult physical environment
• Gain a true understanding of the Nepalese culture and physical environment

What can I do to achieve my goals

• Push through pain barriers
• Get involved in team and personal fundraising
• Strictly follow the training program
• Maintain a correct nutritional diet to align with training program
• Build up core strength
• Carry out research on Nepalese culture
• Acquire the correct kit and equipment

What will I do if I can't achieve your goals

• I would initially be disappointed and upset and need to reflect on the reason for failing, but also value what was achieved
• Focus my energy into supporting the team on their journey
• Continue to aim for our fundraising target

Fitness Goals

• Build up walking to from little to 3/4 hours with comfort
• Train five times a week
• Carry out some weights programmes to increase strength
• Build up core strength
• Eat a healthy balanced diet with high protein and low carbs