I have been careful to avoid the mistake of over-training!

I've found that at my age, with my particular body and joints, I have had to follow a gentler programme towards mountain fitness than most. There is little science involved, no fixed regimes, but an intuitive approach towards what feels right for me from day to day, or more honestly, week to week! 

Before the previous two attempts, I relied heavily on regular use of a Concept 2 rowing machine, as used by the likes of Sir Steve Redgrave etc, which was excellent for general workouts, and especially for the cardiovascular system. Living in the Lake District, I have no excuses for not getting out on some hills regularly...which doesn't mean to say I don't make plenty of them.

    BAD BACK! TREAT GENTLY...

Over the last 10 years or so, in fact, ever since I started using the rowing machine, I've had increasing problems with my lower back. This has been much more frequent and troublesome in the last 2 years, and has severely limited what I can do for general fitness. I stopped using my trusted rowing machine last year, and there has been some reduction in the frequency of my back pain exacerbations since, but basically it feels pretty fragile. A simple day out on the local hills usually leaves me stiff and sore afterwards in my lower back, indeed I'm often afflicted during the activity itself. The back spasms can be severe,and last for weeks at times, taking all momentum out of my training progress. Going downhill on rough ground is particularly troublesome, but nowadays steep ascent,and especially actual ice-climbing with high steps upwards,is also a problem for me.

It is some consolation to me that in relative terms, the distances covered on Everest itself are relatively small compared with those covered in similar lengths of actual time on the move back at lower levels...hence the physical stresses on my skeleton itself will be much less than experienced on a typical day on the hill here or in the Alps. However, climbing hills is the very best sort of conditioning for climbing hills, and this has been tricky for me lately. I try to get out as often as  I can locally, perhaps 3 times a fortnight on average, for days of 4-6 hours duration typically. I conciously move faster than my natural speed, but rarely carry anything more than a modest backpack, as a heavy load finds the back out pretty quickly. I'm certainly not as speedy as my friends Ray, Greg and Andre, but on the other hand I'm not usually overtaken by anyone else, other than fell runners, which I can live with.

      MRI SCAN HELPFUL??

Last year I had an MRI scan on my fragile back, vaguely hoping that if one intervertebral disc was responsible for my troubles, then maybe, just maybe I'd have to consider some sort of surgical effort at treatment. I was getting desperate.

Unfortunately, it revealed not one significantly damaged disc, but THREE. This was something of a blow....but helped to explained why I'd been having so much trouble for so long.This lead to my adjusting expectations for my future physical capacity. These damaged discs are not going to go away, ever, and I have had to accept that. This hasn't been easy for me, and I fear that the consequent limits for physical training may turn out to be a major factor in any failure to summit this spring...indeed ever.

 Logical analysis of my physical fitness would suggest I'm crazy to try another Everest trip.I take some encouragement from the fact that my back didn't bother me significantly DURING the 2006 expedition itself.

          CROSS-TRAINER

A major part of my training over the last 8 months has been use of a cross-trainer, installed at home, which is  reasonably kind for my back. I use it typically for 60-80 minutes four times a week,pressing pretty hard, and feel that it's been more helpful for leg fitness than my old rower, but less helpful for the cardiovascular fitness. I can't tolerate very much running nowadays, because of the back, so find it hard to compare how I'm doing with past years, when I did some road running.

All I can do is chart my performance on the machine, and see steady progress occurring. It's boring, but I listen to music, or football commentary, and dream of Everest. It's helpful to have such strong memories of the terrain to be covered from last time, and to imagine I'm moving through the icefall or similar, rather than stuck in my spare bedroom on a rainy day in Cumbria! Strangely enough, I seem to cover the ground much quicker in my imagination than is the case in reality.