Pole, pole! Slowly, slowly! This advice you will hear many times - you do not have to be a marathon runner to climb Kilimanjaro. Speed is not of essence - but giving your body time to adjust (acclimatise) to the thin air is very important. It is not surprising that sometimes marathon runners are the ones who fail on the ascent - they are used to going too fast!

In the forest on day one there is no problem with breathing but even then go slowly so as not to sweat too much - if you sweat your shirt gets soaked and as you gain height and evening approaches you can suddenly become hypothermic.

See also: http://www.ewpnet.com/oedemas.htm