Michael Garry helps Naomi to board the Polar Express

Michael Garry helps Naomi to board the Polar Express!

We are thrilled to welcome back one of Michael Garry’s most dedicated clients Naomi Zimba Davies who last week returned to London after a gruelling 100km trek to the North Pole.  This trek, nicknamed ‘The Last Degree’, took her 5 arduous days, walking for 8 hours a day pulling a 40kg sled. 

Naomi is a fantastically committed individual – she first got the idea of embarking on the trek from another of Michael’s clients, Chris Headley, who completed the trek last year.  Michael and she worked on her fitness plan together; setting out fitness routines, nutritional regimes and generally preparing her psychologically for this trying challenge.  His training plan included walking on the treadmill at an incline of 10 wearing a 9kg weight jacket and dragging 3 tyres in the park for a set period of time; this period began at 15 minutes and, by the time she went, she was doing it for just shy of 4 hours. 

Naomi has been very complimentary of the service she received from Michael at the gym and Sophia at the beauty rooms.  Because of the preparation she undertook she says that she actually found the physical side of the task quite easy! They walked for about 18-20 km per day but, as she’d pulled weights around Hyde Park (without the ice to help her on her way) she found her burden a lot less cumbersome.  Her guides (who were explorers Børge Ousland and Thomas Ulrich) were very complimentary, saying that they’d never seen anyone tackle the challenge as well as she. 

Michael and everyone at the White Room want to congratulate Naomi on completing The Last Degree and on doing it with such grace and such a fabulously positive attitude.  We look forward to hearing all about how she intends to challenge herself next year (we hear she’s intent upon walking 200km to the South Pole!)

Follow Naomi’s blog www.ousland.no or www.dirtypiton.tumblr.com

The expedition is not for the faint hearted and the White Room training programme is tough – sessions in the gym are supplemented by walking for miles with 3 tyres being dragged behind you in preparation. So how come our client did it in 5 days? We would like to think our training played its part, but shifting ice, good weather and our client’s single minded determination were just as important.

. Call Michael Garry on 020 77306255 for further information.