Journey To Extraordinary ~ Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

by Ellie Bishop McKenzie

Day THREE, August 30, 2024

Today I awoke to the sounds of the men in our group grumbling at me. Tonight they realized that although they love hiking, they hate camping. They were cold. They were uncomfortable. And they were cranky! Each of us had ventured out to the bathroom in the middle of the night and the sounds of monkeys in the trees made that an extra special adventure. Meanwhile, the collective sounds of the men snoring forged an unexpected bond between the girls. We were all learning to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

When I booked this trip, I deliberately chose a less-luxurious option. I wanted it to be hard. Hard things make us better. However, this morning I was rethinking that decision. We had tiny, two-person tents with barely enough space to change clothes inside. Though most of us had good sleeping bags, a couple of the guys were pretty cold. Lucky for me, I’m in menopause and at night I become the sun, so I didn’t mind the chilly mountain air! Lucky for all of us, William’s delicious breakfast brightened everyone’s mood quickly and we packed up and headed out.

We set out from camp around 6 am watching the monkeys dance through the trees and trading stories of the eerie sounds that had filled the night. Carrying only our backpacks with our day gear, we were in awe of the Tanzanian men lugging massive loads of our gear and theirs. They climbed the mountain with a large backpack on their back and another one balanced on top of their heads. After we left camp, they packed everything up, PASSED us on the trail and had the next camp and dinner set up for us before we arrived.

As a woman who owns a CrossFit gym and spends her days coaching, I’m no stranger to a lot of exercise and physical discomfort. I’m on my feet most of the day moving weights back and forth. The combined total number of pounds I haul back and forth can easily reach 500 pounds in one hour. I also workout at least five days per week and even my computer desk is a standing one.

However, the majority of my routines involve short, intense bursts of effort – moving weights back and forth, lifting heavy for 5-10 reps, resting, and repeating. Even my cardio sessions, known as metcons, rarely exceed 45 minutes due to time restraints. Occasionally, I will go for a longer walk, run, ruck, or bike ride, but two hours is about my limit.

However, this Tanzanian journey is revealing just how narrow my idea of “hard work” really is.

According to Harvard anthropologists, early humans were “essentially professional athletes whose livelihood required (us) to be physically active” It was not uncommon for hunters to run and walk more than 25 miles in a day. Studies of modern tribes show that their men burn about 24 calories per pound of their body weight due to constant activity, in contrast to the average American man who, although weighing much more, only burns 17 calories per pound due to their sedentary lives. The comfort-driven lifestyles we enjoy have dulled our natural physical efficiency. (The Comfort Crisis, by Michael Easter)

The Tanzanian men accompanying us, though not tribal, have managed to maintain a level of physical activity that put us to shame. One porter actually ran down the mountain to get fresh food each morning, only to run it back up to our camp! This was a normal daily activity for them. They highlighted just how sedentary and convenience-addicted we have become – and we are some of the few Americans fit enough to make this trip.

The consequence of our impossible laziness is now leading to dangerously low levels of muscle mass, called sarcopenia. Previously prevalent in only the elderly, it is leading to lower functional ability and creeping into our youth for the first time in history. And for the first time, we are more likely to suffer a prolonged death due to chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Even the majority of our gyms, though better than nothing, encourage people to walk on motorized treadmills in air-conditioned rooms watching TV, only to indulge in a smoothie on a couch afterward.

Our detachment from comfort is costing us our health.

Today’s hike hammered that truth home. It was a LONG day. We hiked up a mountain… and then we hiked back down.

Wait, what? 

Yes. 

This was the mountain that LEADS US to Mt. Kilimanjaro. A “practice” mountain to get us acclimated. 

Oh. My. God.

All in all, we hiked for about nine hours. This would be the longest hike until summit night. We transitioned from the lush jungle to the Heather Moorlands of Kilimanjaro, a landscape of hardy shrubs and unique alpine plants. As we peered for the first time over the top of this mountain we realized how far we still had to go and I heard a few whimpers from my group. A little bit of awe, and a whole lot of, “You mean we still have that far to go???” But all in all, everyone was still pretty excited and cheery.

Tired, cold, and slightly aching, we were met with another deliciously satisfying meal from William. Exhaustion overtook us, and we were asleep in no time. Being uncomfortable was starting to get easier.

For the previous day, click here.

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