“Polepole” (po-lay-po-lay) — a Swahili term meaning “slowly, slowly” — is what porters on Kilimanjaro say as you climb the mountain. It’s also how you train for other long-distance mountain treks.

Of the estimated 35,000 people that attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania every year, about half do not make it to the top. There are several reasons for this, but one of the primary blocks is people arriving to the mountain physically unprepared for what their bodies are about to endure. Polepole is a comprehensive long-distance mountain trek training manual for anyone looking to engage in one of the more defining moments of their life.

As you make your way through gradually intensifying workouts designed by fitness trainer Angela deJong to strengthen your body and increase your endurance, Erinne Sevigny Adachi offers her own Kilimanjaro story. Her journey starts not on the day her feet land on African soil but months earlier when they don sneakers and land on Angela’s treadmill for the first time. Her narrative offers insights into what it’s truly like to go from wheezing on a light jog to the best condition of her life in preparation for the most rewarding physical challenge she’s attempted yet.

Erinne Sevigny Adachi has a degree in professional writing from MacEwan University and a postgraduate certificate in book publishing from Humber College. In addition to editing books, Erinne works as a book designer and publishing consultant under the banner of Blue Pencil Consult. An Albertan mix of French-Canadian and Métis heritage, Erinne is a direct descendant of Jasper Haws (of Jasper National Park). Mountains are in her blood. Erinne lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

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Angela deJong is a certified personal trainer, author of Reality Fitness, and owner of Acacia Fitness. She graduated from the University of Alberta with a degree in kinesiology, having majored in sport performance and exercise therapy. She has been training clients since 2001, working with hundreds of people ranging from armchair sports aficionados to national and international high-performance athletes. Angela has travelled solo to every country in Africa that has mountains higher than 3000 metres, and she has summited all of them over the past ten years. She is also the co-author of Polepole: A Training Guide for Kilimanjaro and Other Long-Distance Mountain Treks. Angela lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

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