My objective for this year, had been to take on a monthly challenge before turning 50 in December. I thought I had the first 4 months planned out:

• January – 90 Mile Walk round the White Horses of Wiltshire raising funds for the Trussell Trust
• February – Learn how to make posh chocolates
• March – Reading 1/2 Marathon, raising funds for the Children’s Cancer Charity CLIC Sargent
• April – Learn how to Snow Shoe in Meribel

But it is now nearly March, and alas I have yet to achieve one of these challenges! The dump of snow we had in January meant I had to re-schedule my 90 mile hike. The chocolate course was booked up, so also rescheduled. March & April are now looking very busy! The downside of this is I now have two fundraising events in two weeks! If you could support one of them, I will try not to organise any further challenges involving raising charity funds until the end of the year.

On the upside, it meant I could fully support my daughter, Annie in the final few weeks before her driving test – we put in lots of miles round Winchester, and I can proudly say she passed! Hurrah …. this has many upsides. Annie now has more independence, she can help picking up her siblings, and in theory I have one less child to chauffeur around! The major down side is cost. The new European legislation that came into force in December, means that the insurance companies have to charge the same insurance rates for girls & boys (even though it is a well know fact that boys have more accidents!). And it’s NOT cheap!

So the new schedule is:

• March 2nd / 3rd  – 90 Mile Walk round the White Horses of Wiltshire raising funds for the Trussell Trust. If you would like to support this little trek click HERE.
• March 17th – Reading 1/2 Marathon, raising funds for the Children’s Cancer Charity CLIC Sargent (the last time I ran a half marathon was 25 years ago …) Please donate HERE
• April 1st – 4th Snow Shoeing
• April 27th – Posh Chocolate making

If you could support one of my chosen charities, It would be much appreciated. It does help motivation, knowing that my physical pain (and there will be some during both events) will be providing real benefit for others. x

News from the Support Team: Race Restarts

Anxious to be on their way and make sure they make the Pole the teams have opted for a 15.00 hours start (local time) today from Checkpoint 2 just south of Cator Harbour on their way to Checkpoing 3 just North of King Christian Island.

They are over the “crest of the hill and on the downward slope” to the Final Finish. Navigationally this is the most difficult leg as there are no landmarks to take direction from.

Leg Two Statistics

Here are the standing after leg two. Note that the distances are different, they are the straight line distances between each time the teams check in so whilst not precisely how far each team has walked, they do provide a good approximation.

Sunday 6th June dawned a beautiful sunny day – great. I had 26 miles to walk along the Clarendon Way for Naomi House and I didn’t fancy doing it in the rain. I had a busy schedule. Up at 5am to get son no. 2 to school for 6.00am; he had an exciting week in France on a PGL outward bound course with various opportunities to practise his French. My schedule allowed me 30 mins on my return to have breakie, and sort my stuff out before a 7.10am pick up. It did not allow for Jenny my ginger Queen to go into labour …. arghh. This was her third litter, so I was reasonably relaxed to leave her with daughter and son no.1 as proxy midwives! I got regular updates via text and phone. She did really well producing 5 beautiful kittens.

It was a beautiful walk, from Winchester Cathedral, along rolling countryside. I walked with a group of friends for the first 7 miles, but despite trying to use the event to get time under my belt, got itchy feet, so Paula and I picked up the pace and left a merry band of 5 to potter along. We got to the lunch point in Broughton at about 1.00pm. This was the 1/2 way point for people wanting to start or finish the half marathon event. It was a busy venue with people signing in and out, groups picnicking on the lawns, and folk having limbs massaged! Paula and I had a quick loo stop, then pushed on; we climbed the only real hill of the walk, up through lovely shaded woodland up to Farley Mount.

At 16 miles, I got the urge to pick up the pace again. Paula, was quite happy for me to push on. I didn’t worry about leaving Paula, she is much more sociable than me, and will talk to everyone. We were well supported on the way with local fruit juice, energy bars and fruit, as well as regular water stops. As I strode out I bumped into other friends, who had started at Broughton at mid-day. It was a well attended event, with over 1000 walkers.

It was lovely to walk out of Beechy Dean Copse and see Salisbury Cathedral spire beckoning in the distance. From here it was a steady walk through the outskirts of Salisbury to the finish in the Cathedral grounds. I enjoyed sitting in the sunshine with a hot cup of tea waiting for Paula and John (our taxi home) to arrive. The atmosphere was great, with people being clapped in, and champagne corks being popped.  Twenty Six miles is a great achievement. It was my most comfortable walk; but I am still rather daunted by the thought of the Nijimegen Marches in a month. Four days of 50km will be very challenging!

What a great weekend! I managed my 50 miles (51 actually!) and feel surprisingly good. Although I am a little worried about having to do four days of similar distances for the Nijmegen Marches in July.

On Saturday, in glorious sunshine, Lucy, Rosie and I strolled in shorts and t-shirts through the lovely Hampshire countryside from Goodworth Clatford up through Harewood Forest to the Test Way. St Mary Bourne was the 10 mile marker and a quick pub stop, before heading off to Hurstbourne Tarrant, Ibthorpe, Upton, and up onto the Chute Causeway. We had a few dodgy moments in and around Collingbourne Woods where Rosie and I had been lost for a number of hours on a previous excursion, but the I – Phone came to the rescue and navigated us directly to Collingbourne Ducis and our finishing post – The Shears. The very kind landlady served us much need drinks, even though it was 30 mins until opening time! We were probably 7 – 10 days too early for the best of the blue bells, but as you can see they are emerging in their masses and already very fragrant.

Sunday was predicted to be the hottest day of the year …. wrong! When John and I left Andover at 6.00am to drive to Chichester (our rendezvous point with Paula) it started tipping it down, I was very worried as I had not packed a waterproof – lesson learnt!

The South Downs Marathon was organised by the Sussex branch of the LDWA (Long Distance Walkers Association) and cost £5.00 to enter! It was well worth every penny; we were provided with drinks and biscuits at the start and two check points, lunch at the half way checkpoint and a light warm meal (beans on toast & rice pudding) at the end, what fabulous value!

Paula and I left the village hall in East Dean at 9.00am and within 5 minuets we were walking uphill, this was an early warning of things to come. A quick read through the walk notes would have confirmed this. Ten times the written directions said “proceed up hill!” and that didn’t take into account 4 of the seven sisters we had to walk or 2 other uphills that weren’t mentioned (not that I was counting!). Needless to say I can feel all those climbs and descents in my thighs this week. The other part of my body that suffered a little were my feet. For the first time in the last 12 months of walking I got blisters on my feet. These were from the Saturday walk, and although they were protected with plasters, by the 9 mile checkpoint on Sunday, they were quite uncomfortable. Paula introduced me to Compeed blister plasters, which were fantastic; they applied like a second skin, didn’t move and provided almost instant relief. I have now purchased a supply of my own – they were brilliant. The weather was very kind to us, we had a very short shower as we started, but the rest of the day was dry, although very windy on top of the Downs. Unfortunately this overcast and misty weather meant we missed most of the views which the walk is famous for…. I will just have to come back and tackle the hills again another year!

I had my first radio interview last week with Andover Sound. I came out thinking, I should have said this … and I rambled a bit there, but it was great to get some local media exposure for the Polar Race and my fundraising challenge. I was well looked after by Faye – Thank You!

This morning we skied back from our base camp in a semi white out. It was sloe going and very disorientating! The rest of the morning was spent getting ready for our 3 day 2 night final trip out. I also had some extrs gun training, as I am in charge of the gun, and polar bear protection!

Setting off into the sun

Jusr after noon, we left for our first camp 7 miles away. The route took us out on the sea ice and into a very challenging rubble field. There were some huge bits of rubble, and some great blue colours. But it was extremely hard work, I feel like I have down three hours in the gym with Tommy. My shoulders and legs are killing me now that we are holed up in our tent!

It also got very cold this afternoon, and by the time we were making camp Lucy and I were struggling. It has taken 2 hours and a three course dinner with 4 drinks to warm up.

Tomorrow we have 11 miles and some more rubble before we get to camp 2!

Luckily, we spend the last night at Sout Camp Inn before the start of the race!

Happy Mothers Day! 🙂

Photo Gallery

Sunday 3rd April

Jo - The Arctic Mummy

Well I thought yesterday was hard, and physically it was, but that is what I spent a year and a half training for! I am still stiff and sore today, but at my age I would expect nothing else; I suffered for at least 3 days after every session with Tommy in the gym!

Last night and this morning was mentally very tough. It was our coldest night yet (-24 Deg in the tent!) I was the wrong side of uncomfortably cold all night, especially my feet. Consequently I did not sleep that well, which meant for a tough day, after a very physical one yesterday.

It takes a minimum of 2 hours from wake up to do breakfast, get dressed and pack up the tent. When we set of I was very cold, and there was an extremely cold westerly wind. The actually walking was pretty straight forward and quite flat, but it took me until lunch time to feel even slightly warm. I spent most the morning walking in my down gloves, which are like duvets, great for providing warmth, but not greatly practical for skiing in. But needs must!

I wore a thick face mask which covered most of my face, and goggles, which froze up by the minute. By noon, I had gone through both pairs of goggles, and luckily by this stage I was warm enough to wear my sunglasses.

We have now been in our tent a few hours, with at least one burner on, all our kit is hung up in the roof of the tent to dry, and I am just warming through. I struggled today. It was SO cold, and I was physically very tired.
I know there will be other days like this; I hope I have learnt from today and cope better, even just slightly!

This rugged pc (supplied by Pure Technology) is amazing. It comes into the tent, with ice on the outside, from a hard day in a very cold pulk, gets itself ready, then just performs (better than me)!

Amazing!

More pictures in the Gallery

Left CP2 yesterday afternoon. Time is getting tight to reach the Pole in time! Jo.

News from the Support Team….

In the rubble

Published: Thursday 22th April 2011 16:30

The Racers are making their way through the rough old ice that always forms just North of Bathurst Island.

The photo was taken on the mini-expedition and only shows some rubble close to Resolute. Up north of Bathurst the rubble fields are seemingly endless and contain chunks the size of houses!

Racers on the Ice Rubble

Arctic Exploring

A Christmas present from a dear friend was a subscription to Red Magazine for a year. The thought I think, was that I might make myself a little quiet time, escape from the realities of  daily life – organising the kids, running a house (I am not the tidiest and housework is low on my priority list!), running a business and walking the dog! One of the articles was about taking risks, making life changes and stop stagnating!

At the end of 2009, I decided that I would enter the Polar Race 2011 (do you think this was what the magazine meant when it said “throw caution to the wind and inject some oomph into your life”?). I have achieved lots over the last 4 and half decades, but never pushed myself to the limits either physically or mentally (apart from childbirth). Having focused on the family and Simply Stuck  for the last 10 years, I thought this would stretch me in every way possible. From the challenges of raising sponsorship, fundraising for charity, getting race fit, working with people I have never met before, and leaving behind my family for over a month.

Over the next 15 months there is a lot to learn and do. We had a training session last weekend. The event was called “Fitness Wake up Call!” It started with commando circuits in a cold school gym, run by a former Met Police PT Instructor! I now ache in places I didn’t know I could ache and I have been provided with a suggested schedule of activity which I need to fit into my already very busy daily life.

In-case you are interested this includes:

• Endurance training (once a week)  – long walks (the notes say don’t push yourself too hard – start of with 10 miles!!)
• Strength training (twice a week) – We ladies particularly need to strengthen our upper bodies, we all have to pull our own sledges (pulks in polar speak), which are at least equivalent to my own body weight.
• Aerobic training (two/ three times a week) – running, swimming, cycling, fast walking (my favourite option), to build up stamina.

I am very excited about learning completely new skills, working with new people, and finding new muscles ……. I love a challenge!

Tent Inner

Last weekend we spent a lot of time putting the tent up and taking it down. It was all reasonably straight forward until you tried to do it with gloves on, then things became a bit trickier, and that was in a warm conference room with no wind, on a good nights sleep!

The tent has a square inner, which is the main living compartment. This has to be held onto at all times when the tent is being put up; if you accidentally let go of it, it will fly off like a kite in the lightest of winds …. not very clever to be homeless in the arctic!

Complete Tent

The inner is covered by a protective outer, which also provides essential cooking and logistical space.The outer is attached to the inner at the corners and in the middle. The whole tent is then ‘pegged’ into the snow with our skis.

We are given all our equipment in October. This in theory gives us enough time, as teams, to get efficient at putting the tents up and down, using the stoves and refilling the fuel bottles.

Good tent management is essential!

The ‘cook’ is responsible for providing all meals and filling the flasks. As soon as the tent is erected, they start getting the tent organised and the stoves lit. The rest of the team, secure the tent by piling snow on the black tent flaps and fastening down the pulks (sledges). A trench is dug out in the entrance to ease boot usage. Once inside the tent the wind suit and middle layers are removed and hung up to dry. I am assured that once both stoves have been lit it doesn’t take long to make the tent all warm, it is certainly very cosy! Each trekker is allocated a storage net to keep all their belongings organised, and within easy reach. It will be good to bring these organisational and regimental skills back into the office; I am sure I have more clutter and filing places than I really need to run the business as efficiently as I could!

I have upped the training this week. The blue skies and sunshine have been a big motivator! I walked 12 miles on Thursday, had a very intense Pilate’s class on Friday and walked 26 miles on Saturday. The long walk with Lucy and Rosie was part of our training for the Moonwalk in May. We found the walk much easier than the 18 miles we did in January, which is good news, but we were all very tired and took things relatively easy today. I am a little worried about completing the Nijmegen Marches in July, which is 4 days of 26 miles…..

Four of us have signed up to do the MoonWalk in May 2010 (This was before any thoughts of the Polar Race!); as part of our training we have agreed to try and fit one long walk (18 – 22 miles) a month into our very busy family schedules. The boys whilst being very supportive of our little venture, are not so happy when we disappear of for the day, leaving them to juggle all the various activities (we have 14 kids between us!)

Stonehenge Stomp 31st Jan 2010 (31k)

On Sunday we donned many layers (it was -6ᵒ C), hats and gloves and squished sandwiches and thermos flasks of hot drinks into our rucksacks. We met bright and early at Amesbury Sports Centre. The event was hosted by The Amesbury Walkers, and it was fantastically well organised. There were 5 check points on our walk (you could opt for 10, 20, 30 or 40k). At each point you were signed in, and there were sweets, biscuits and cold drinks to keep you going. All this for an entry fee of £2.00! Our route took us South of Amesbury towards Wilsford Cum Lake and down to Great Durnford, before looping us back round Stonehenge to Amesbury. We all knew we had walked 18 miles, but were pleasantly surprised with how good we felt on Monday morning. 

Having walked 6 miles on Thursday and 10 miles on Saturday it was a good week!

This photo is of team Polar Slugs - Rob, Lucy and I on our first day in Resolute Bay!

Finally arrived in Resolute Bay, three days after leaving Heathrow! We had a good flight over to Ottawa, where we stayed in the Elgin Hotel. We divied up the food into our second check-in bags … these bags weighed a massive 30KG each!

We had an early start on Monday 28th March, flying out of Ottawa at 8.30am into Iqaluit. There was three hours inbetween flights, so did a quick tour of this very grim and grey town! We left Iqaluit on time, and set of for Resolute Bay. It was a tiny twin prop plane with 16 passengers, and lots of cargo. The plane had a refuel in Hall Beach, which was meant to take 15 mins … we were still there 2 hours later! There was an oil leak on the left engine, and no oil registering on the gauge. After much debate, a plane was re-directed to us, and we were flown back to Iqaluit, arriving just before midnight!

The next morning after a great cooked breakfast, we tried again! This time all went to plan, The plane refuelled in Hall Beach and Arctic Bay, arriving at Resolute Bay at 3.00pm. The weather has been amazing today, with clear blue skies, and lots of sunshine … a cool -25 deg!

Steve, who is in charge of us during this acclimitisation week, has already got us fixing bindings on our skis, and sorting out much of our stuff! Anna, the team doctor took us through  the medical dangers, from frost bite to snow blindness – all very scary!

It has been a long three days, and tomorrow the training starts in earnest, so I am away to my bed. Yes I have the luxuary of a bed tonight, but tomorrow we are camping out.

Because we have been delayed by a day, the race is now due to start on Tuesday 5th April.

Polar Race Gallery

Photos from the start line this morning

Smile for the camera

Click to see full Gallery below

Yesterday was an amazing day, snow shoeing in the mountains. Mark & I started from the village of Pralognan where we took 2 chair lifts up the mountain to Pont de la Gliere. It was a cold overcast day with winds blowing up to 40km/hr. We started at just over 2000m and climbed steadily upwards towards Le Grande Casse. Despite the weather we had quite good views back down the valley and over to Courcheval.  Climbing at these altitudes is hard work. We took it very slowly, getting a bit of respite as we crossed over Lac de Vache, before heading upwards again. Just as we reached the lip of the col, a bearded vulture flew low over our heads. It was very close and we could clearly see its striking markings and rusty pink plumage on its chest; it has an impressive wing span of 2-3m!

Once over the lip of the col it was a steady walk past the Glazier des Grands Couloirs on our left, to the refuge on the Col de la Vanoise. We had a very simple but warming lunch of soup and bread. The refuges are very sociable places, with walkers & mountain skiers dropping in all the time.

Mark does some great summer walks in the mountains staying at the refuges; The scenery in the Vanoise National Park is stunning, and it would be great to walk in the summer and get another perspective of this amazing countryside – one to add to the list!

After lunch it was down! The weather came in a bit as we left the refuge making the slopes very flat, but still on a high I had a huge smile on my face all the way! In snow shoes you just walk straight down the slope, there is a bit of slip on the softer snow, but they are much easier to control than skies!!

Just past the Lac de Vache we stopped and were lucky enough to see to see a small group of chamois crossing the slopes, they are smaller than Ibex, and have much less impressive horns. It was good to see some more of the native wild life, I think the only thing missing from the list was wild boar!

Once we got back to the Pont de la Gliere, we stopped for a beer! It was great to chill out and enjoy the mountains. We had walked 500m over 4km (up and down). I found it hugely exhilarating.

This is definitely one of my favorite places; I have really enjoyed exploring the mountains, the peace & quiet away from the crowds and the simplicity of the refuges. Snow Shoeing on the slopes is not an easy option to skiing. It can be very physical – there are no lift breaks, but it has ticked all the boxes for me, and I think it is now my winter sport of choice!

This had been a mixed week!

Support:

 I continue to be surprised by the generosity and help from people with very busy lives. Many of whom have never met me, and don’t know me from Adam. (Hopefully one of them will know Kevin …… see last weeks update!). I am making steady progress on my approach for sponsorship and fundraising. I have my first contact for a feature in a National magazine and I am learning rapidly about the social skills of tweeting; Annie, my 14 year old daughter says “I am too old for a Twitter account!”; Dave (www.keymultimedia.co.uk), who makes this site look fantastic, and more importantly work, has given me a link for a beginners guide to Twitter. I will keep you informed of my progress!

There was a very interesting article in the Saturday Telegraph Magazine about Alice Walpole, HM Consul-General in southern Iraq. A single mother of 6, who seems to have sorted a great home / work routine, (although she obviously needs some Simply Stuck name labels, to free her up from sewing on name tapes). I loved her perspective on life “It’s not always about striving to get to the top. It’s just about getting to a place where the view is good”

Fitness:

Having thought I had escaped from the gym session quite lightly, I realised how sore my stomach muscles were when I picked up a tennis racket for the first time in 2010. Hitting any balls which required me reaching out to the side or overhead (backhands, smashes and most volleys) resulted in me doubling up in pain, It was a very slow session! By Friday’s Pilate’s I felt slightly better, although I didn’t manage to roll down very far in the ‘Roll Down & Shake’ manoeuvre, before my stomach muscles went into complete spasm!

I started Nordic walking last summer and can highly recommend it. Nordic walking  involves walking with poles. The poles ‘push’ you along, making you work harder than normal walking, but they provide support. You work the whole body more efficiently and effectively. It can be done anywhere and does not require any special clothing. On Saturday evening we walked a brisk 10k from Tidworh to Lugershall and back via Perham Down. Contact www.nordicwalking.co.uk  for instructors local to you. Most will offer an introductory session for £5.00. Although I seem to have spent most of this weekend in a car ferrying children to various sporting activities, John, Charlie dog & I did manage a 10k walk today in the late evening sunshine, which allowed us some quality time to catch up with each other.

… and that is just the dog!

Charlie Dog

Charlie Dog had his annual check-up at the vets this weekend. Our regular walking round Hampshire is obviously as beneficial for Charlie as it is for me! The vet commented on his toned muscular physique (I am still working on mine) and his long slow healthy heart beat. Charlie is my training partner on most of my walks (up to 15 miles), sometimes we let other people join us! I bought a new pedometer in January; since the end of January 2010 we have walked 270 miles, that is further than from London to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne! At the moment our monthly average is circa 120 miles; that will increase by about 50% from next month with the lighter mornings and evenings.

I have also got to start fitting in some gym work to build up strength in my shoulders. The harness for the pulk (Sledge) is a shoulder harness fitted on the waist or hips (depending on personal preference!) “Friends” keep asking when I will start training with tyres … if that happens, I am sure you will see the pictures here first.

There are a number of long walks (26 miles) pencilled into the diary over the next few months:

• South Downs
• Sarsen Trail
• MoonWalk
• Clarendon Way

If you know of any other ‘organised’ walks through our beautiful countryside (or cities), please do let me know. Have a good week!

We were very lucky with the weather on w/e 2/3 March. It was dry & there was little wind! Heather, Janine & I met in Pewsey Co-op car park at 6.15am. It was already beginning to get light, so luckily we did not have to mess about with head torches. The first leg was rather a long slog, climbing up out of Pewsey & onto the Imber Range Perimeter Path, along the edge of the danger zone on the Salisbury Plain. The going was generally quite easy, but the ‘metalled’ road was quite hard going on the legs. We were due to meet Christoph, who was standing in for Mark at the first check point at around 10.00am. But as always when you start a long walk, there is quite a bit of faffing around, taking clothes on & off, taping feet etc etc. We eventually got to Urchfont at 11.30am, and were greeted with welcome smiles & hot coffee. What a star Christoph! After a quick break we left Heather with the minibus & Janine & I headed back up to the Salisbury Plain.The second leg was another big hike continuing on Salisbury Plain. We had a great view of Dauntsy’s school as we walked up above Market Lavington & West Lavington. Most of the afternoon we were bombarded by Chinooks and helicopter gunships, at times they appeared over the hill almost on top of you. Janine had been suffering with an SI injury all the previous week, and despite the best efforts of the chiropractor, and her dogged determination, she made the sensible decision to call it a day when we reached the second check point at Bratton, where we were met by Trevor & Mark, who had given up his whole w/e to man the minibus between checkpoints. Having spent most the week driving up & down to London, Trevor was keen to walk, at 6’2″ I had no option but to pick up the pace – no time for weary legs. This was rather a frustrating leg, we seem to spend a lot of time criss-crossing in front of the hill at Bratton & only got to see the White Horse by standing above it!

Once down off the ridge we started to head northwards. there were lots of styles, which zap the energy in your legs at the best of times, but even more so when your lanky partner just pops over them with barely lifting his legs! Trev did get his come-uppance though when he leapt nimbly over one such style, and landed nearly up to his knees in murky stuff. I was not very supportive & could barely stand for laughing! Most of this leg was completed in the dark, and despite running low on energy, we did have further humorous moments, the most notable when we were chased by some rather frisky cows. We only just made it out of the field before they caught up with us! At 8pm we met up with Mark & the mini bus. Heather & Neil joined us for the final leg of the day. This was meant to be a short walk of just over 3 miles from Poulshot to the B&B in Devizes! Two hours and 5+ miles later, despite good local knowledge, we managed take the long route to Roundway & the B&B, arriving at 10pm, having walked for 16 hours and 38 miles!

I was extremely well looked after by my hosts Robert & Ann at BYDE-A-WHYLE B&B . They waited up for me on the Saturday, and were up before 6.00am to cook me porridge & poached eggs the next day, providing much needed energy for another long day. Heather, Neil & I walked away from Devizes, past our first white horse of the day. We made good time, and despite loosing Neil (who wan’t feeling too good) before the first checkpoint, made it to Cherhill on-time. We were accompanied for part of the way by a beautiful Barn Owl. From Cherhill Heather & I walked up-to Broad Hinton. This was the most disappointing of all the white horses, as it was barely visible. At Broad Hinton Heather joined the minibus, and I was partnered by the lanky Trev again. Luckily the previous day had taken its toll on his long legs, and the pace was a bit more civilised! From Broad Hinton we trekked across to Hack Pen, where we got a great view of this horse, as we approached it across the valley. It was then a straight forward walk up onto the Ridge-way and down into Marlborough. We met with Mark in yet another pub car-park before walking through  the grounds of Marlborough College, where we met Steve & his flat coated retriever Lily. Steve, whom we had never met before, kindly donated when he got home! From the College we walked by the gallops & training grounds of Manton Stables. Then as the light fell we entered Westfield Woods. We spent quite a long time trying to locate the path in the woods, being attacked regularly by the brambles, who did there best to drag us down! We had arranged with Mark to put in an extra checkpoint on the A345 above Pewsey, as both Trevor & I were struggling a little. And at 7.30pm we decided to call it a day, having walked for near on 14 hours and 32 miles! I had walked this section of the trail in a reccie walk before Christmas & knew the remaining 7 miles would take at least another 2.5 hours. Over the w/e I walked for 27 hours, and completed 70 miles, including the reccie walk, this totalled 85 miles. You can see the full route HERE. People have been extremely generous supporting my fundraising for the Trussell Trust. I set myself the target of £500, and to date we have raised just over £800! Thank you so much.

As ever, these events don’t just happen. I had huge support from Neil, Heather & Trevor from Wessex Outdoor Training. We were meant to have a number of other walkers, supporting me for different legs over the two days, but typically at this time of year, quite a few people suffered from the flu. Without Heather & Trevor who each walked about 50% of the walk with me, we could not have completed it. Janine, who has always supported me lots, and was up for walking the whole event. She kept me company for most of day one & provided me with extra rations! Christoph & Mark, who gave up their w/e to spend long hours driving a minibus round Wiltshire – they always greeted us with a smile & offered much needed encouragement. And finally John, who kept family life on track back home, ferrying the kids to school, matches etc.

My next challenge this year is the Reading half marathon on Sunday. I don’t think I will be setting any PB’s, as my training has been limited & I have not run this distance for over 25 years!

News from the main Polar Race website

Leg 2 of the Polar Race 2011 started today at 09.40. with all the teams setting out together on their way to CP2, North of Bathurst Island some 130 miles away:- the longest and hardest leg of the Race. The start was in light winds and perfect visibility.

Click to see Pictures on the Full Post

Despite the wind chill, (it was clocked at -44°C at Resolute Airport at 7am) all were keen to get on with the Race. They were all warned to keep a close eye open for polar bears as they passed the entrance to Polar Bear Pass which is a migratory route.

Here in Resolute Tony is about to leave and travel on skidoo to pick up Checkpoint assistant Danny Munden. The forecast for travelling to Cator Harbour is not good despite the current good weather at Polaris and having once had a flight turn back from there only 20 miles out due to fog (A VERY expensive mistake) I do not want to take that risk again as we have 4/5 days to get the Checkpoint team there before racers arrive. Hence Tony is going on a skidoo ride to pick him up.

Leg One Statistics

Here are the standing after leg one. Note that the distances are different, they are the straight line distances between each time the teams check in so whilst not precisely how far each team has walked, they do provide a good approximation.

Team Time (Difference) Distance

• The Internationals 91 hours, 41 minutes (First) 57.64 Nm
• The Polar Slugs 92 hours, 41 minutes (+1 hour) 58.17 Nm

More Photos from the start of Leg 2

Ewe Looking At Me

On Saturday, I decided to make the most of the snow and did an 18 mile Recce walk from Home to Salisbury. The is the Tyre-Pull Walk  scheduled for Late January / early February and will probably start in Andover town centre and finish in Salisbury City Centre.

The purpose of the recce walk, was to have a look at the proposed route and get some idea on timings. The route can be seen here . This is not quite complete, as I had to turn my phone off because it was running out of battery!

Neil, who takes Nordic walking on Salisbury Plain at the weekends, put the route together, and gave me the grid references. I eventually managed to put these into my GPS, including finding the deliberate mistake! That in itself was a worthwhile exercise!

On the whole I had a successful walk, only taking one wrong turn, in Porton. I realised my mistake, and got myself back on track quite quickly. So I achieved at least three objectives with this walk. 1) I now know how to enter data into the GPS for a planned route. 2) I can use this data, with a map to navigate myself along said planned route (VERY important as I am responsible for Navigation in the Arctic!) 3) It’s a long way to pull a Tyre!

Last week I visited Abbots Ann Primary School to talk to the children about Challenge, Olympic Values and in particular my challenge in the Arctic. I did a short presentation, asking them about challenge, what challenges they had done, or were doing; and gave them some information about my trip and preparation. We then had a quick practical session. One of the daily challenges in the Arctic is tent management – putting up and taking down the tent with gloves, goggles, big coats, hats etc. So three children and one teacher got togged up for the Arctic and helped me put up a tent. It is always a bit of a laugh for the helpers and the audience; it also gets home the message of how hard it it can be to do straight forward tasks when you change the parameters a little. Imagine how much harder it will be in the Arctic with temperatures down to minus forty and strong winds…

We then had question time. And the children from Abbotts Anne school were fantastic. The questions were non stop for 20 minutes, and even then we had to call time; there was school work to be done after all!

Some of my favourite questions:

Building an Igloo

• Why don’t you build an igloo every night!
• How do you keep clean and wash (we don’t …)
• How do you go to the toilet (very quickly … this one worries me a little!)
• How do you find your way ( with a GPS, the sun, snow patterns etc etc)
• How long will it take you (around 4 weeks)
• How long will you be walking each day (10 – 12 hours)
• How do you keep drinks warm (thermos flasks)
• How do you make hot drinks (using melted snow)
• How do you carry all your stuff (In a sledge which we pull)
• How heavy is the sledge (50kg – about my body weight)
• What kind of animals do you get in the Arctic? (Polar Bears, Caribou, Wolves, Seals, Owls …) 
  

  Visit from a Polar Bear

• Polar Bears …. what if they attack you. (we frighten them away with a gun)
• What if they steel you food (we keep all our food in big plastic storage containers)
• What if they come into your tent …….
• Can we follow your progress (yes www.arctic-mummy.co.uk)
• Can we follow you during you race in the Arctic? (yes …..hopefully I will be able to blog on this site, sharing with you all the many daily challenges. and on the Race Site http://polarrace.com/site/)
• Will you come back and talk to us when you get back from the Arctic and share all your adventures (Definitely ….I am already looking forward to a whole new range of questions, and being able to share photos)

I have three children of my own, but never ceased to be amazed about how inquisitive a child is. We lose so much of this as we get older, accepting life and all our own rules, barriers and limitations. Why not think about yours this weekend? ….. have fun!

It was a 5.00am start on Sunday morning. Up, dressed, quick peanut butter & jam toast before heading out of the door to Reading, to run my first half marathon for 25 years!! Having not been involved with one of these events for such a long time, I was rather unorganised. I had not thought to pre-book parking, I forgot to wear my CLIC Sargent running vest, and my race number had not arrived in the post! With 16,500 people entered to run the race, I had to get to Reading good and early to ensure I could get parked & arrive at the venue (The Madejski Stadium) in good time.

I was parked & bussed into the Stadium by 7.30am! And there was 3 hours before the race started! Luckily being a big venue, there was a hotel on-site, so I was able to hole up for a few hours, keep warm & drink hot coffee.

I entered the 1/2 marathon as one of my 12 monthly challenges to complete during my 50th year. The weather was atrocious, and with limited training, I knew there were going to be no PB’s (the fastest time I ran a half marathon in my youth was 1.45hrs) Today I was aiming for around 3 hours! The hotel quickly filled up with runners; my nerves escalated at about the same pace! About 30 mins before the race I braved the elements, dropped my ruck sack in the bag zone & donned my sexy bin liner! Which did keep me reasonably dry in the 10 minute walk to the start line, and during the 30mins it took me to cross the start line! I managed to find Janine, who had supported me on the WHW , she was dressed in her usual duck outfit! We started out at a very gentle jog, and the first couple of miles were tortuous …. my calf muscles were still very tight from the 70 mile walk 2 weeks prior! I was quite concerned that I was going to suffer a major strain, but they did settle down. The local people were amazingly supportive, it rained heavily most of the 13 miles, but they were out on every street corner shouting encouragement. The music and bands were particularly uplifting! By about mile 7 Janine (aka the Rambling Duck) and I had got into a good pace, me doing a brisk walk, and Janine, who was still suffering from an SI injury doing a slow jog! We were evenly matched and kept a pretty constant 4.5 mph!

We needed to keep up a reasonable pace, to keep warm, We ran in pouring rain, sleet and hail. I had 3 layers on and a light showerproof wind jacket, and I never got remotely hot. my hands felt cold most the way round, and I got through 2 pairs of gloves! The Reading half marathon does have an impressive stadium finish, and Janine & I crossed the line at bang on 3 hours for 13.1 miles. You can see the route HERE. We collected our medals & goody bags. It was too cold & I was very bedraggled, so made a quick exit, collecting my belongings from the drop zone! It took me the best part of an hour to get the bus back into Reading, and get to my car, where I was very pleased to be able to change into some dry clothes! I have been saying for years that running is bad for you …. Now I know I am right! All future running will be off road, and it will be at least another 25 years before I enter a 1/2 marathon again!!

Once again people have been amazingly supportive & generous. I set myself the target of raising £175 for CLIC Sargent. The total is now £200 and Simply Stuck  have matched that funding – giving a great total of £400. Thanks so much. X

Very Wet … but still smiling!

I have now completed 2 of my challenges! The next 3 are:

• Snow Shoeing in Meribel
• Chocolate Making
• 50KM Bike Ride round Stonehenge

Having written my blog from the start of this adventure 14 months ago I was keen to be able to post whilst I was actually out in the Arctic! I wanted to be able to tell the school children following me  just how well the clothing was working, how cold it got, and what adventures we were having!

As you can imagine I have spent hours on the pc trying to find help with sponsorship, fundraising, researching equipment … and looking for IT support. On the whole, I have to say,  it has been my experience in this tough climate, that it is the smaller companies rather than the PLC’s  that have shone through!

One brilliant example of this is Pure Technology. One of many companies I found on the web, and emailed to see if they could provide remote IT support. Most companies don’t even bother to respond … Pure Technology emailed by return!

Rugged Laptop

Pure Technology has been impressively professional, helpful and interested. They are kindly providing me with a rugged laptop and data phone, so that I can continue to update this blog (with the very kind help of David Lakins from Key Multimedia) I will also be given a solar roll, which will be collecting the suns rays whilst strapped to the top of my pulk, to enable me to recharge these devices. I am hoping for lots of bright blue skies and not many white outs!

In the short time that I have known Danny Long and his team at Pure Technology, I have been bowled over by their level of support, their mantra has been “How else can we help you?” A few months ago I hadn’t even heard of Pure Technology. When I emailed them for possible help, I didn’t really know what they did; I had found an article which talked about Pure Technology providing the communications and IT support for Bear Grylls’ expedition to the North West Passage, and thought,  “maybe they can help me!”

I have to say I got lucky! Here is a small bit of information on Pure Technology, and what they actually do for a living, when they are not helping wanna be explorers like me!

Pure Technology is an independent technology support company with offices in the UK and Australia.  Operating 24/7 support services for a variety of organisations across a broad range of platforms, its core focus is on the delivery of high calibre solutions tailored to meet the individual requirements of an organisation, regardless of environment or location.  Services focus on provision of traditional IT support, critical systems monitoring, integration of disaster recovery platforms, as well as a comprehensive range of offsite data management services.

If your company needs any of this kind of support, I can highly recommend Pure Technology as a professional, personable company passionate about what they do.

When we arrived at our holiday home in Hungary I made John drive round the block. We were given some very sketchy directions from the tourist office, where we collected the keys, and this house did not look like the one we had booked through the Internet! Our house had looked white & not green, definitely did not have signs outside advertising beauty treatments & massages! On the second time round the block, John asked a chappy in the drive, who confirmed it was our accommodation! First appearances can often be deceptive! Despite the ‘funny windows’ and green colouring, the house has been fantastic for us, accommodating 15 of us very easily, providing plenty of living space inside and out & comfortable bedrooms. The only disappointment has been the pool; which we had to confirm sole usage of. prior to booking!  It is a small pool which is rather grubby (to be generous), and with one push you could reach the other side!

The Lake has more than made up for the lack of pool. Lake Balaton is beautiful and has provided a great play ground. All the kids have had a go at windsurfing, which they seem to be mastering much quicker than I did when I had my first lesson in my twenties! We must be the best customers for the hire of pedalos & kayaks, with prices starting from £2/hour are great value. Inspired by the kids great performance on the windsurfer, a few of us larger kids had a go today. It must be nearly 20 years since I got on a surf board, but I was pleased to say that I could remember the basics, managed to get the sail up, sailed, tacked and sailed in the opposite direction. The winds were frustratingly light, so my limited skills were not overly tested…. perhaps another day? All the grown-ups have now committed to have ago before we leave at the end of the week!

I have managed to keep up a limited schedule of training. We have done a few walks; there are lots of castles here, at the top of pinnacles (hills or small mountains), which have provided at least 3 outings; and on one of our cloudy days Annie & Niall challenged each other to a walk to the local Tesco to invest in some new DVDs! Fifteen miles and two DVDs later we got to watch a ‘new’ film. It was a very un-inspirational walk, along road, but most of the kids joined in the challenge, and got some miles in!

Press Ups on the beach!

The whole family has taken on-board parts of my schedule! Sam talks non stop whilst I concentrate on finishing my third 60 second plank. And everybody is having a go at press-ups. I am very pleased with my progress. When I started my training with Tommy I could barely do two! Now I can do about twenty two!

Enjoy the video of family press-ups on the beach!!

A Small Incline

The training has stepped up a gear! I have been out with the tyre twice in the last week; on Sunday I pulled it for 3.5 miles and felt it for the rest of the day. This tyre is only 10Kg in weight. I will be pulling 50Kg in The Arctic, so I have a way to go. Mel has generously offered to keep an old 4 wheel drive tyre for me, which I hope to be pulling by the end of September.

I am quite keen to organise a sponsored pull before the end of the year, but will have to up the distance, as any event is likely to be 15 – 20 miles, and that would kill me (or my lower back) at the moment.

I also have a new schedule in the gym which revolves around doing pull -ups. I can’t do any yet! The boys can both do around 20 and Annie can do 3, so I have got some work to do! At the moment I am concentrating on eccentric pull-ups (or controlled downs) I can only manage about 6 of these before gravity takes over …. Still I could only manage 2 press ups in May, I can now do over 20 and at least 30 controlled eccentric press-ups so there is hope for me yet!

Charlie & Alfie (the dogs) really enjoyed the tyre walk, and were quite bemused by the bouncing object I was pulling along. They took every opportunity they could to shake as close as possible after they had been into the river.

Here is a short video clip of the tyre in action! Have a good week! We are flat out at work, so it’s going to be long days fitting in training, family, and getting ready for the new term!

By The River

Alfie determined to soak me .. again!

I have had 2 sessions in the gym with Tommy in the last four days …. and I can feel it! But I am making progress, albeit small!

I can now hang from the pull-up bar and pull myself up a couple of inches! You may laugh, but this is progress. Initially I could not lift myself at all. I practice at home (I’m sure it is all down to technique). Either Sam or Simon lift me off the ground and hold me. I then put all my effort and concentration into pulling myself up. I think I did one complete pull up yesterday (Sam said he did not lift me, just held me ….). 

Helping Hand

 Tommy is away for a couple of weeks; I am determined to be able to do at least one when next back in the gym! My shoulders are very sore today, so I feel like I must have managed one.

In my current 6 week gym programme I have been using a 15kg kettlebell in an exercise which involved 20 double arm swings followed by 20 squats, repeated three times. When I first did this little routine I was nearly sick. I’ve kinda got a love hate relationship with kettlebells. In the second session I had this week Tommy gave me a new routine. The good news is that I use a lighter kettlebell – only 8kg. The bad news is that I have to do five reps of the whole exercise. I have to do 8 single arm swings with each arm, followed by 8 snatches with each arm, followed by 8 press-ups! The secret is all in the hips, get that right and the movements flow … lol. There is a Ladies Challenge on the board in the gym. You have to do the five sets as quickly as possible. After my first attempt I am 4th on the leader board (out of 9). My mistake was losing a bit of hip technique, and trying to get full tidy press-ups. I think I can knock at least 30 seconds of my time by going for outright speed, rather than style – not that I am competitive (much!)

I have a Greg Whyte fitness day tomorrow, hosted by Glacéau vitamin water, at Bisham Abbey. We have been told to take warm coats and gloves as we will be going into the altitude chamber, which may be a little cold (zero deg Celsius). Not as cold as the Arctic then …. but least a start with some kind of cold training. Then on Saturday I have the Sussex Stride, a quick 50 mile walk on the Hilly South Downs. You have to agree this is certainly more effort …

On The Beach

A week after the Nijmegen Marches I am in sunny Hungary enjoying a complete change of scenery! There are 15 of us; 5 adults and 10 children ranging from 9 – 15! We are in a large house, which surprisingly, as advertised has loads of room, 2 kitchens, 2 living areas, a fire pit and it is only 700m from the shore of Lake Balaton! As you can see life is taking a slightly different pace from last week.

My foot is almost 100% recovered and we are out exploring the local area. We trekked up the local hill (which at over 1000ft high I am told qualifies as a mountain!) The only downside is the mosquitoes, these were very active in the woodland, despite the heat. The climb provided great views over the Lake (Hungarian Sea). At 77km long, it is the largest freshwater lake in Europe.

Local Vineyards

Our return route bought us down through the vineyards. We stopped for a coffee, and John thought he would sample some of the local grapes (it was after 10.30am) His glass was ladled out of the cask and cost the vast sum of 60p! It was a light fruity number that served slightly more chilled would make a good aperitif. Niall, encouraged by John, decided to splash out on a 90p glass. This was a slightly more intense wine that tasted better after the second and third sip! There are lots of attractive looking wine establishments that we thought we would visit later in the week, whilst the kinda had a quiet night in with take away pizza (£3 each!), popcorn and a dvd!

As well as a bit of walking most days (the local hills are quite steep) I am being good about doing my homework. Tommy has kindly given me a short routine to keep me on track. Oh I do love lunges… My eccentric press ups have improved beyond all recognition, and I can hold the plank for over a minute. Sarah will be chuffed when Pilate’s starts up again in September!!

The Plank...

Scrambled Eggs and Bacon ......

I drove down to Yatton, near Bristol for a team training session yesterday. It was the first time we had all been together since early summer, and there was lots of admin to be done.

We tasted a selection of the food rations. The breakfasts will take some getting used to. I ordered mostly porridge, with a few packs of cheese omelets to break up the monotony. In this picture I am sampling the eggs and bacon ….. I think my face says it all. The evening meals were a lot better, although they were a little on the salty and bland side – nothing that a bottle of Tabasco wont sort out! There are about 7 different options of main meal, from chicken stew, chili con carne, to beef strogonoff; enough choice not to get bored! We didn’t taste any of the puds, but we were told that they are all nice! Through the day we graze on a 600g of dried fruit, chocolate, nuts, sweets, Peperami – all high energy, high fat foods – yum!

We were given most of our kit; all the time we are being fed bits of important and useful information:

• Put coloured tags on all your clothing to make the zips easier to use with gloves on & identify your kit from your team mates
• We have given you 2 pairs of goggles, so when one freezes, swap them over with the warm pair in your pocket
• We wrap all thermos flasks in duct tape, so you can hold them in the cold!
• Take powdered Orange juice, you will get bored of tea and coffee (there is also hot chocolate but I don’t like that!!)

We were also given our GPS’s (one each), and the Maps, so that we have got a bit of time to learn how to use them.

My team is now confirmed, if you want to see who they are check out Rob MacAlister and Lucy Maizels on the Polar Race web site and select 2011 Racers page! I am the oldest and the smallest on our team! We have had a first divvy up of team responsibilities.

 I am the lead on:

• Fitness, Charts (Maps), Navigation, Sponsorship / PR, and Protection (responsible for the gun!)                                

And Back up on:

• Media (Press & TV), Communications (Daily radio communications), Films (video & stills)

• Dehydration
• Frost Bite
• Hypothermia
• Snow Blindness
• Sunburn
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Polar Bears

It’s suddenly all becoming very real and very close. I am getting really excited, but also apprehensive about leaving all my family for so long. I know once we are past Christmas and New Year, our projected leaving date – 27th March 2011 will arrive in no time. I still have so much to do! ……

Polar Slugs in Stockbridge

Rob and Lucy came down to Hampshire for a Polar Slugs team training session today. Whilst it was not sunny … it didn’t rain! We did a great 14.6 mile circular walk from Clatford, over to Wherwell, across Chilbolton Common, Over the West Downs to the Test Way by the Mayfly Inn, Along the Test Way to Stockbridge. Out towards Danebury, and back down to Clatford.

I was out dancing at a Burns Night on Saturday and paid the price with a tweaked calf muscle! The walk helped loosen everything up and it is much better! It was great to spend a good five hours together, but with only 9 weeks to go we realised just how much stuff we still had left to sort.

This was my second long walk of the week; having dragged The Tyre 13 miles on Thursday. My next fundraising event is a sponsored tyre pull from Andover to Salisbury on Sunday 6thFebruary. The walk will be marked with a balloon release In Andover at the start of the walk, and in Salisbury to celebrate the end! There is a prize for the balloons going furthest from each release. If you would like to purchase a balloon for the princely sum of £1.00 or sponsor me for this event, please email me – jo@arctic-mummy.co.uk.

One of the key learning’sI have made this week, is that I really need to look after my body, with at least two extensive stretching sessions a day. My muscles and ligaments are just not as flexible as they were 20 years ago! Have a good week! xx

News from the Polar Race Organisers….

Communications Restored

Published: Monday 25th April 2011 14:30

All came through “loud and clear” last night as the teams moved out of the “communications dead pocket” and have been making some serious inroads into the distance between them and the Pole. They have all been doing some 20 mile plus days showing that if you really “want to” the mind tells the body what to do!

They came through at very different times yesterday but we make Slugs at 14 miles and Internationals at 20 miles from Checkpoint 3 respectively and both will arrive by Monday evening local time.

The issue now is the weather where they are which is not good. We have deliberately not moved our checkpoint team as we had wanted to give ourselves the option of being able to pick up the teams en route and move them forward if they had not “risen to the challenge” and got the miles done. This would have given them the chance of at least finishing on foot. Now that they have shown what they are “made off” and made the mileage themselves we need the weather to relent so we can catch up with them.

Lots of brain cells are working away in Resolute to solve the problem but we wait for the weather to change.

Here we go…. off on the 2nd leg of the race.

Slugs crawl first into CP3

Published: Tuesday 26th April 2011 14:30

The Slugs conquered the weather and were first into CP3 located just north of King Christen Island at 17.20 local time. As team member Lucy Maizels said:

“It is blowing a hooley here and it is freezing but it is Brilliant”

Her other team members Rob MacAllister and Jo Winchcombe could not be heard in the wind but we were told were equally ecstatic.

We await now the arrival of the Internationals some time later this evening.

In Resolute we are now contemplating dropping a food barrel to the teams if we can not land tomorrow!

Hey – we made it in first to checkpoint 2!!!!

News from the Race Organisers….

Reversing the result of the first leg. Team Slugs (Jo Winchcombe, Lucy Maizels and Rob MacAllister) were first into Checkpoint 2 at the end of the second leg which started from Polaris.

They finished at 18.53 local time Tuesday 19th. We now await the arrival of the Internationals to see if there is a change in the overall order.

Jo has been a bit lapse with her updates, so I thought I better help her out a little!

I am Charlie-Dog, I do most of the training with Jo, so I am probably in the best position to update you on her progress …! I am the one sniffing the poppies – don’t smell of much do they?

Jo has been getting lots of miles under her belt, building up good stamina (I should know, I’ve done most of them with her!) I thought you might like a few stats (Feb-June 2010):

• Mileage: 1000
• Steps: 2,325,018
• Minuets continuous walking: 13,790 – that is equivalent to 19, twelve hour days of walking!!
• Fat burned: 3,810g – no wonder she can eat all those maltesers.

That is the straight forward training which Jo is now quite good at, a 26 mile walk is a relative stroll in the park!  …. But she recently started her strength work and isn’t a patch on her two young boys! When asked to do some press ups, she barely managed two! The boys can do about 50, with claps in between and other advanced stuff! She also has a lot of work to do building up the strength in her knees, particularly the dodgy one that she had reconstructed 2 years ago. She is busy doing squats, trying to get the weight through her heels, and not tipping forward. After her first session (75% of which was taken up doing paper work!) Jo could barely lift her arms above her head for 3 days!

Jo has also started pulling a tyre! I promise to try and get photographic evidence, although at the moment she is sneaking out very early. It has certainly slowed down her walking, which is a good thing, as it gives me lots more time to sniff around and chase deer. I know that Jo is finding it quite challenging, I haven’t dared tell her she is only pulling 10kg. Out in the arctic, she will be pulling around 50kg. Hope to ‘chat’ again soon. C-D x

Family Walk on Kimpton Down Boxing Day 2010

I have been making the most of the snow over the last couple of weeks, doing some kind of walk most days. It is quite hard going on the uphill when your feet are sinking into the snow … just a small taste of how things will be out in The Arctic. We are given skis and Baffin boots. It is very much a personal choice as to what you use when. Some people have done it all in boots, most people use a mixture of skis on the flatter ground and just boots on the harder going rubble!

We have had some pretty low temperatures over the Christmas break. In sunny Hampshire it has been down as low as -10.5˚C . Not quite the -40˚C  we will be experiencing!

I have tested my Arctic Sleeping Bag! John put the tent up on boxing day, and after an evening out at friends, we crawled into the tent. The temperatures were only -2˚C / -3˚C! I did get a little chilly in the early hours of the morning, but I think this was a) mainly because I had not zipped my bag right up, and b) because I had moved of the airbed (luxury I know!) and onto the floor, so I had NO insulation from the frozen ground. The cold was not my problem …. It was the Bl**dy cats who seemed to spend all night, on the hour every hour running up and over the tent. They got between the inner lining and the outer shell, clawed their way up and slid down the other side – what great fun. NOT! If I had my gun, we would no longer have any pet cats. I had a serious sense of humour failure.

We have had a very happy family Christmas, spending  Christmas day at Philip & Gill’s; then a few days with the Hutchinson clan down at Millfield School in Somerset. It is never a quiet time, but this did not stop John and The Hound catching a little bit of shut eye!

Hutchinson Clan - All 14!

It is the New Year tonight (and Mine and John’s 16th Wedding Anniversary!) After a year of training, raising sponsorship and fund raising for my charities, The Arctic Challenge is very nearly here. It is only 13 weeks until I leave for Canada and 14 weeks until the Polar Race. Thank you for ALL your friendship, Love and Support, I would not have made it this far without you. I wish you all a very healthy and happy 2011.

Now the hard work really starts!

Sleeping Beauties

I couldn’t resist telling you about an article in the ‘weekend’ section of the Saturday Telegraph by Pete Wedderburn.

“Golden Retrievers are far from thick (take note Dizzy & Lindy!), and are actually among the cleverest of dogs”

The article says that much research has been carried out on the brain power of dogs by a chap called Stanley Coren. He has even written a book about it – The Intelligence of Dogs (so it must be true!) In this great bible, dogs have been ranked by their intelligence, and us ‘blonde’ golden retrievers are ranked in the top five of smart / clever / intelligent / beautiful breeds. (OK it didn’t say beautiful!) But I was a very cute puppy!

We are on the home run – and hopefully by Friday will reach the North Pole.

Here’s a few more images of the journey so far…..

Click here to see full article

It was a 3.30am start … having only got to bed at 12.30am it was a very short night; on the plus our journey went like clock work, and we are now now nicely settled in the centre of Nijmegen. We are staying with Vanessa,  in her lovely flat right in the city centre (the accommodation was booked through the event organisers). The flat is particularly handy as it is only 5 minutes walk from the start. This took on an even greater significance when we discovered that the rumours we had heard about early starts are true. John and I are walking 50km/day, (I know we should have selected a more achievable target of 30km or 40km). The 50km walk starts at 3.00am each day… by the end of the week we won’t know if we should be walking or sleeping!

Flower Stall

The atmosphere in Nijmegen was absolutely buzzing today. Over 40,000 people are taking part in this event. It is the largest organised walking event in the world. This is the 94th International Fours Days Marching and the organisers are pretty slick at it now! Today was admin day, and so far so good.

I’ve had a play with my newly acquired flip camera (more about that on another blog!), to try and record some of the atmosphere! I hope you can access it.   Arctic-Mummy in Nijmegen – Day 1

It’s 9.00pm here. I am up in 5.30 hours. Hope to update you tomorrow. Night x

We made it! I will write a proper blog about it tomorrow when I get home. Now it is party time!

The Finish!

We had a lie in today! The start time which had been moved forward for the heat yesterday reverted to the normal time for the 50km of 4.00am, so it was only a 3.30am get up! At the start we met a nice PC from Cornwall and South Devon Constabulary, in full uniform. He had either bought four lots of uniform, or had been up late pressing his shirt and trousers! John asked if it was hot walking in his bobby’s helmet. The reply was “horrendously so, but at least he could fill it with water and tip it over himself at regular intervals!” The PC mentioned he had met a 67 yr old the day before doing the walk in cloggs. We had yet to see anybody walking the Marches in the native shoe … but not long after the start we heard clip clop clip clop, and saw our first and only cloggy so far!

I found day 2 really hard going. My hips, knees and thighs were really sore. The ibuprofen, seemed to have no effect. I am hoping things will be a bit easier tomorrow… this may be a little naive as it is the day of hills. We have seven hills to climb…. but hills in flat Holland can’t be that hard – can they? John by contrast was on fine form, and was out of the starting blocks almost at a run, it was a consant effort to keep up with him (and take photos / video!) I got my own back when he ran out of steam at 8 miles from home and I maintained my steady even pace. All my training is obviously paying off!!

John Blister repair

We learnt from last nights experiences (where we had to queue 4 hours to have blisters sorted by the red cross). Today we went straight to the tent when we finished walking and was seen in an hour … I was sorted in about 40 mins. John however took 1.45 hours to get fixed up.

A few things that made me smile today:

• Hounden Toiletten – patch of fenced in grass for a dog toilet
• Umbrella in walkers back pack with a bell on it
• Walkers wearing a t-shirt with the text Nijemegen Marches. Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. Day 4. .. Day 1 was ticked as completed
• Two soldiers walking along supporting a third soldier in the middle – helping her to keep going.
• Hose pipes fixed to a stand with a sign – Water
• Supporting couple dressed as HRH Queen Elizabeth & HRH Prince Philip
• Soldiers singing as they march
• Ladies band – players all dressed up in smart frocks and hats.

I have some more video to share with you. I have been a bit more selective today, but it is hard to video as you are walking: Arctic-Mummy Nijmegen Marches – Day of Wijchen

Today was a day of 2 halves! Having got an early night and done lots of stretches I felt really good and the first 15 miles seemed to whizz past; then the dreaded joint pain set in and we slowed down hugely. John really struggled with about 10 miles to go; and that was when the hills started. We had thought they might be a rumour when we hadn’t seen one in the first 20 miles! We walked the 7 hills which were not overly steep, but were continuous, up, down, up down. Luckily we walked with soldiers for most the hills, and their marching songs kept us going…. “push a  little harder …”

We have put Johns ‘burn outs’ down to a lack of food, so tomorrow we will stop a few times and enjoy the local food en route. For the last three days, the only stops we have taken have been loo stops!

The temperatures were much better today. Tuesday and Wednesday it was 28 deg. Today is was a cloudy 24 deg! They had forecast rain today which never happened! It is meant to be similar tomorrow. Apparently it is one continuous party tomorrow, I am sure it will be very emotional. The support from the locals has been fantastic, today we had our first brass band playing before 5.00am!

Blister repair took over two hours for John this afternoon (I think I was done in just under an hour). How many red cross workers does it take to drain a blister on your heel? Three, with the first one who had tried, holding your hand saying this will be a little mean!!

Have you ever wondered what Father Christmas does in the summer?? The Nijmegen Marches!

Father Christmas - keeping fit!

2.30am came round far too fast. It was still very dark, and I wasn’t sure where I was let alone what I was meant to be doing. Nijmegen hadn’t gone to bed, the 1.4 million party goers were still partying – our city centre flat had rocked with the noise all night!

John - sunrise

The sun rose about 7.00am, when most of the UK would still have been in bed. By 8.00am we had been walking 6 hours and completed over half of our distance.

It was good to get a few miles under our belt before the sun rose, once it was up it got very hot, very quickly! We soon left Nijmegen and walked out into the provinces of the Gelderland. We were well looked after with regular water, food and toilet stops; young children were out in their pjs handing out baskets of sweets (lots of liquorice, which is one of my favourites!). We were entertained by brass bands, DJ’s and blaring disco music. It helped keep the tempo of the walk! I think most of the locals were up because with all the noise, it would be impossible tyo sleep.

It was great to see the marching military groups from all over the world. They often kept us going with their marching songs. We finished the 32 odd miles in less than 9.30 hours. On the whole we are are on good form. John has a few blisters, and he ran out of energy just before the end, but nothing that a few compeeds a good supper and an early night won’t fix. Me I am still bouncing … but only day one! I have uploaded a bit more video, sorry if it’s a bit long, but I don’t have the time or energy to edit it. But it does show the atmosphere and support we got!  Jo x

Arctic-Mummy in Nijmegen Day of Elst

I can’t believe it is a week since we completed the final day. It was straight back into work on Monday … the print pc had crashed and burned, so that set us up for a good week, starting of a day behind! Anyway I digress.

On the last day the atmosphere was buzzing, we were all on a mission, and so nearly there. I was shocked to read later that over 800 people had given up on day three… why? so close? Most of the hard work was done! The first 8 miles seemed easy, it was cool and misty and we walked most of this part with the soldiers. As planned we stopped for food, the mid morning broth was tasty and renewed our energies. I had developed a nasty blister on the side of my foot, the pressure on this was increasing as the day progressed. After lunch we had to make an emergency stop at the Red Cross tent to get it drained and dressed. It took 2 red cross workers and a nurse to remove the compeed. The Red Cross don’t like compeeds, I was informed “they were for city walking, not heavy trekking”. With my foot sorted and a sandwich stop, we managed to pick up the pace. The welcome into Cuijk was very lively, and the giving of Gladioli began! We walked through the town and across the river on the temporary bridge built by the soldiers.

From Cuijk we walked to Mook and the long stretch to the finish. Mook is my Mothers maiden name and must be where her family originate from. The support grew through Mook, Molenhoek and Malden until the last 6km it was just continuous. The crowds were fantastic, nobody was left out, everybody was given gladioli and cheered on. By the time we got to the outskirts of Nijmegen the pace slowed right down due to the sheer numbers. It was painfully slow, all I wanted to do was stride out a little and stretch my very tired legs, but that was not an option. Luckliy the crowds, and the marching bands were a welcome distraction and caried is through to the finish. We marched past the dignitries to the finish line. We handed in our check cards, had our wristbands scanned for the last time and collected our very special medals.

Some facts from the walk:

• 45,000 people registered
• 39,933 started the Four Day Marches
• 38,788 finished the first day
• 37,545 finished the second day
• 36,702 finished the third day
• 36,504 completed the Four Day Marches!

Bobbies

Nearly Home

We retired to Vanessa’s flat for a sit down, a shower and a much needed cup of tea, and then onto the beers! Simmone and Judith also completed their 160km Four Day March, so there was big celebratory hugs. Last year only one of Vanessa’s four guests had completed the event and collected their medals We were all very chuffed. The Atmosphere in the town that evening was so open. Everyone was wearing their medals and swapping tales of their ups and downs. It was a huge achievement and all the competitors were rightly proud. I have to say it was physically the hardest thing I have done to date! Will we do it again next year … We would both like to go back and get our crowns (The medal for completing two walks has a crown!). I think we ‘have done’  200km and would happily settle for the 160km march – only 40km/day! Luckily John turns 50 next year, so can walk this distance and still get his medal! Being a mere woman, I automatically qualify for a medal at this distance regardless of age! It was commented on that I must be a very loyal wife to support my husband doing the 200km walk … lol.

We have many memories from the Four Day Marches:

• Wilma the cat, who certainly came to support on 2 days. Perched on her table next to her owners
• The outstanding support from 3.00am on the first day
• Wijchen with at least four brass bands playing us through the town
• The marching songs which kept us going through the toughest stretches
• The seven hills in the last 10 miles of day three
• The traffic warden who conducted us in with Gladioli
• The competitors wearing costumes, that looked like they were being given piggybacks on little guys
• The T-Shirts marking down the days of the 94th March, and the years to the 100th March
• The Red Cross tent with 50 beds full of people having their blisters sorted
• The marching bands, with the tiny music clipped onto their arms
• The children handing out sweets and putting up their hands for high 5’s
• The openness of the Dutch people.

I have just signed up for my next challenge. 50 miles in 20 hours over the South Downs Way in Sept. I am sure that will be equally tough! Thanks to everybody who sponsored me during the Nijmegen Marches. I have raise about 3% of my total for The Jamie G  Sporting Trust Fund, which is a great start. Have a good weekend. X

Nijmegen Marches – Day 3

It was an early start today. At the beginning of the week Day 3 was meant to be very wet, but with the exception of a very heavy down pour as we approached the finished, it was a hot sticky day!

Having not seen much of the Military Marchers yesterday we saw lots today & they walked with us for all but the last 5km. They are very motivational with all their marching songs – but my favourite today was a unit from Denmark which played the pipe and drums. It was lovely to listen to and ensured you kept a good pace!

We stopped for coffee and lunch, with an additional unplanned stop at the Military Red Cross, where I had my ‘mean”blister from day one re-dressed. A nice young Dutch soldier looked after me very well! This one blister is causing me huge discomfort (mainly when I stop walking!) It really needs a few days rest from heavy pounding of the streets to let the bruising and swelling go done …. still only one more day.

Day Three is the Day of Groesbeek, and we walked the seven hills (probably the only seven hills in Holland!) They were steady inclines, which were quite hot work in the heat of the day, but do not compare to the likes of Offa’s Dyke!

Ten minutes before we reached the finished the heavens opened and the rain poured down. By the time we had checked-in and got back to Vanessa & Dirk’s house we were soaked! Luckily I have some dry boots for tomorrow; I am not sure how long they will remain dry as we have rain forecast for the morning!

Tomorrow is our final day – Our last 40km! 3

The bags are packed, the children are down in Somerset, the dog’s at his brothers …. it is very quiet in our house. Too quiet!

I am rather apprehensive, this will be the biggest test of my training to date. I have loads of miles under my belt; I have started strength training with Tommy (that has been hard, and I have discovered many new muscles), but I have not walked this far (31 miles / day), and the most I have done is 2 consecutive days of 20+ miles. And this is all on road, which will be a killer for the legs……

I will try and report in daily – depending on how much energy I have! If I only have one wish, it is for dry weather! Any support would be particularly welcome this week. As the dutch say Heb een goede week!

Camping at -33 Deg

Up at 6.00am, for our last proper cooked meal before heading out into the unknown!

My pulk is packed – it weighs a 70KG. We will shortly be heading up to the start line for the off. We are hoping to cover at least 10 miles today …. but the plan is to take it steady for the first few days to get some miles under our belt, and enjoy the experience.

[ More photos on the Polar Race Gallery Page ]

It was a tough few days out on the ice last week, so I am under no illusion as to how hard this going to be, and I know I will have to dig deep (on many occasions!) My mantra will be the Lance Armstrong quote

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”

(I saw this up on the wall in a friends gym, and thought it suited my needs on this challenge!)

I will try and blog a few lines tonight, and update you on my location!

Thanks for all your love and support, it means so much. X

Rob with Snosticles 01042011

After lunch, Polar Slugs spent some time doing tasks for the actual race, which starts next Tues. Sorting out food for each of the legs, toilet roll, clean pants (LOL), treats etc.

We then packed up our pulks ready for another night out, further away from base camp. Jock issued us with our phones and contact details for our nightly call. before we could make tracks for our new base, we had to take down our tent from base camp, by South Camp Inn. This takes at least an hour, cleaning out all the ice, from both layers, clearing the snow from the valences, taking down and rolling up the two sections, with semi broken poles. Two pulks have the tent section on top, and mine has the gun, and the two spades.

The weather deteriorated quite quickly this afternoon, and by the time we were skiing to our new base, it was a semi white out and much colder. Our goggles steamed up quite quickly, so we removed them, and as you can from this picture of Rob we were soon covered in icicles. My eyes looked like Katie Waisels from one of her X-Factor performances!

More Pictures in the Gallery below – click here for full post

We successfully put up our tents (this took another hour!) dug our poo hole, with snow wedges, and escaped to the warmth of the tent, where Chef Rob had got the stoves going, made us all hot drinks, and started making the supper.It took us a while to get set up inside, but we are getting much more organised!

Supper for me tonight was chicken and rice which was quite yummy, followed by rice pudding. Yum.

I have bought the rugged laptop and iridium phone out for this trip, kindly provided by Pure Technology, to check that I can get it all working!

We are now 3 degrees further North than Gavin Henson, when they completed the final of 71 Degress North!

Polar Gallery

As I have been told, I am bit behind the curve with my training for the 50km Stonehenge bike ride – but I think that this has been consistent for all my challenges (except chocolate making) which is the result of doing 12 challenges in 12 months …… it is all part of the experience! Last w/e I managed to get out on the bike Saturday & Sunday – both were rather wet events! I was cycling with the experts from Wessex Outdoor Training. On Saturday it rained consistently …. we cycled from Perham Down up onto Salisbury Plain. It took me a few hills to get to grips with all the gears, and learn to get the bike into the lowest gear early, then just gently plod up the slope. Gently plodding is not in my nature, but I soon learnt that this was far better than trying to keep the bike in a higher gear, overwork the legs & feel physically sick by the top of the hill! It was a very wet & muddy ride, but I have to admit it was great fun, and it felt good to blow away the cobwebs. We completed 9km, which was a steady start!

On Sunday the weather was much kinder. The sun was out and the temperatures were above 10 degrees. This time we approached the Plain from Tidworth, starting with a steady climb. I was rather wary of the graveled tracks, but they are quite compacted (tank traffic!), and again to my surprise I found I was really enjoying myself – there was a keen wind blowing, and it felt good to be outside & getting some strenuous physical exercise. I did a short off road run recently, and strained a calf muscle; the cycling provides a good workout whilst giving my leg chance to recover!

With all the recent heavy rains, the winter springs on Salisbury Plain have become quite wide & deep with a reasonable current. We had taken a diversion to try & avoid such river crossings, but due to navigator error, we ended up having to cross one! Despite a valiant attempt at cycling on water, the bikes had to be carried & Lanky Trev, being gallant provided a piggy back! I only got wet up to my ankles, as you can see others were not so lucky! The mileage for day 2 was 13km – still a way to go! The good news – I did not suffer on Monday, so I think I can push the mileage up quite considerably this week …. I don’t really have an option with 2 weeks to go!

I have been given a few ideas for future challenges – some of which I will definitely try and include, other suggestions like sitting my advanced driving test, and abseiling, I am still mulling over!

This w/e, as well as more time on the bike, I have my chocolate making challenge – which I think is more of a treat than a challenge, but I am sure I will learn some new skills!

The kids are back to school, work as calmed down a little, so we can get back into some kind of routine. We have an  Arctic team meeting scheduled in the diary with Jock on 10th Oct. His message was “The hard work starts now – the focus is getting to the pole!” Not sure how I am going to fit in more training, especially with the nights and the mornings drawing in. I am already doing my morning walk in the dark! One solution is to start  some pool training …. I did pick up a timetable today!

My last gym session with Tommy was rubbish (not the training – my performance!) In a fit of enthusiasm the day before my training I tried to do pull ups on the door bar as soon as I jumped out of bed … big mistake, I pulled / tore the muscles under my arm. This meant that I couldn’t control any pull downs either with my body weight or on the weight machine. Very frustrating. The boys now do pull ups at home with a ruck sack on their back with weights in … I am sure we women aren’t designed to lift our own body-weight, well not once we get into our forties!

We had a lovely end of summer catching up with the Ridley’s in Plymouth; we got the full local experience! Surfing at Watergate beach in Cornwall, walking up the Tors in Devon (well one of them!), sailing in Plymouth Sound, and walking along the cliffs at Membury

On Top of A Tor

So this week the focus is more effort. I pulled the tyre last night, Pilate’s starts again tomorrow morning, and I have the chance to do better in gym tomorrow afternoon. I have a looong walk next weekend. Fifty miles in 20 hours  – The Sussex Stride on the very hilly South Downs. I did a marathon on the South Downs earlier this year, and that was very tough…. walking through the night is another challenge altogether!

Sailing in Plymouth Sound

Lucy and Jo having pre-dinner drinks

It feels like we have been here weeks not days! Our acclimitisation training is very intense!

Yesterday we spent most the morning stripping down the stoves, learning how to mend them  for when we are out in the field. They are multifuel stoves, we are using white parafin. It was another glorious day, so in the afternoon, we put the skis on, attached the lightly weighted pulks (about a third of the weight we will be pulling!) and went out for 3 hours. I am definitely improving, and finding better technique … I managed not to fall over, but it was a bit hairy going down the small inclines – luckily we don’t get many of these until the last leg!

We camped out again, cooking our supper and breakfasts in the tent. No cooking for 5 weeks – what a treat! Rob is our tent chef. The stoves are very noisey, so you have to shout a little. We have been told, that with both stoves going, the tent temperature gets up to +20 deg?? we did not manage to get it above about -5 deg last night. But actually it did not feel chilly! The outside temperature was -33 deg!

Lucy and I had a go at using the sheewees in the tent before bunkering down, but failed miserably!

I slept quite well, although I did have an extra layre on. When we woke up, there was lots of ice on the inside of the tents … we tried scarping this off with the pab lids, but put more over the sleeping bags than out through the door – I think we will try a different technique tomorrow morning!

The re-hydrated food is ok, but I am struggling with the volume. I am sure once we are out in the race and walking all day, I will be wolfing it all down! At the moment, Lucy is enjoying finishing mine!

Gun handling & navigation today – then moving base camp three miles away, for our next night out!

The nice thing about 1/2 term is that you don’t have to do the school run, so in theory you get a bit more time in you day. Time, I thought, to up the training and get some more miles under my belt.

Nice theory! My three children are aged between 11 and 14, and they had other plans. It was eldest son’s birthday, and he celebrated becoming a teenager, by organising two sleep overs with equally smelly, hormonal, teenage friends. I am not sure why they call it a sleep over, they stayed up most of the night eating pop corn, watching movies and chatting!

Daughter and eldest child organised to sleep over at a friends house (that was the sensible option with so many boys around!). But rang at 11.00am the next day to see when Mother would be picking her up; unfortunately she had to rearrange her schedule to fit with mine, as pick up was much later that afternoon after I had finished work.

Not to be left out youngest son, organised for his mate to come and stay. This was a much more civilised; but probably not for much longer.

In-between sleep overs and work I seem to spend all my time in the car, driving children from A to B and back again. I did manage to up the miles during half term, but unfortunately they were mostly in the car and not so many for my training. I must do better this week!

Dear All,

Thanks for the comments; I can’t log onto the website – as takes too much phone time. It was really nice to read all the messages & know so many people are thinking of me. Will keep me going through the tough bits (& there are lots of them!)

Best regards

Jo

I managed an open water training swim in The Quays at Camberley about 10 days ago! It was very early (7.30am) on a grey Sunday morning. I met with Basil, my brother-in-law for a bit of training & expert advice (Basil completed his first double iron man the week before, only a 4.8mile swim, 224 mile bike ride & 52.4 mile run ….. and people think I am mad!!). The water temperature was about 15 Deg C. It was definitely warmer in the water than out, and with a keen cold wind blowing the water was quite choppy; good practice for my sea swim.

The two major differences from swimming in the pool were, (i) the lack of a wall to push off from every 25m! The circuits (lengths) we were swimming were 1000m round, and (ii) the cold. My body was quite warm in the wetsuit, but the cold on my face literally took my breath away every-time I was face down, so instead of doing 4 strokes to every breath, I was breathing on every stroke. I swam about 2.5km in total, and although more tired than after a swim in the pool, felt pretty good!

I am also getting help from Nigel in the pool on a Friday night for my swimming technique in general, and more specifically for open water swimming! After using fins in the pool last week, my legs felt they had done as much of a work out as my arms. I am now swimming a much longer stroke, with improved breathing efficiency! I feel like I am well on track for the swim at Lulworth Cove in 10 days time.

The day before my swim in the Quays I took my God Daughter, Sophie, up The Shard in London. We had a lovely blue skies,and the 360 deg views were magnificent. We could see way past Wembley Stadium, the Olympic Parc, The Oval and Battersea Power Station. It really gives a different perspective of London. We spent a very happy day walking miles, people watching & catching up. Only in London could you watch men wrapping themselves in cling film, people painted gold and silver apparently sitting in mid air, and a 1000 people riding their bikes naked ……!

I am enjoying my monthly challenges, but finding that as I start new activities my list of hobbies is growing. I am now regularly walking, cycling, swimming & eating chocolate. I am sure I would be snow shoeing as well if we had snow!! The upside is that I am probably fitter now as I start the six month countdown to 50 than I have been for a long time!

I have been looking forward to the Sussex Stride for a while … It takes training to a new level. The Nijmegen Marches was getting up early and walking long distances on four continuous days. This was walking a really long way (51 miles) for the best part of 20 hours. We were nearly late for the start; at Chicester,we drove 2 miles in 50 minutes queuing with The Goodwood Revival traffic … arghhh.

Anyway we arrived with 20 minutes to spare, just enough time to check in, for Paula to check the route on the map, for me to smother my feet in Vaseline (I am not sure if this helps, but I am trying to avoid blisters – so whatever it takes), and to have a quick loo stop. Then we were off! The first stage was Longhill to Offham (10miles)

First Trig Point - Black Cap

Paula - On top of the Downs

Last time, when we walked the South Downs in April, the weather was grey, cold, misty and very windy. On Saturday, it was warm with clear views for miles. There were about 120 walkers (very different to the 40,000 in the Nijmegen Marches) and we soon spread out. It was interesting chatting to fellow walkers (Paula is a lot better at this than me!) Once a year the LDWA organise a 100 mile walk within the UK. You have to complete a 51 miles walk (in 20 hours) to be able to partake. There was a lady of 80 who has completed 8 of the recent 100 mile walks, she would like to do 10; another lady in her 60’s / 70’s has done 13, 100 mile walks! When I completed the 27 mile walk in April, I couldn’t see myself doing 50 miles ….. now I quite fancy the challenge of 100 miles (It has to be walked in 48 hours!). Next year the walk is in Wales – I will be just back from the Arctic, so should be fit enough. In 2012 the walk is in London to tie in with the Olympic Games, I am very keen to do that! (I can feel lots of people raising their eyebrows as they read this and shaking their heads … am I really a lost cause?)

It was great to get 10 miles under our belts, and I felt really good, (all my training was obviously beginning to pay of!) The next stage was Offham to Glynde (5.1 miles), which took us through the centre of Lewes; it amused the shoppers to see us all with our packs and sticks! We had a very steep climb from Lewes up to the golf club and back on-top of the Downs. In Glynde we were fed quiche, sandwiches, and lots of Swiss roll – it was a much needed, quick energy refill. Then up an extremely steep climb back up to the top of the Downs towards Alfriston (6.4 miles). We had covered this section on the 27 mile walk, so knew what we were walking for the next 20+ miles. I think this is one of the hardest stretches. The climbs (and we had at least one in-between each check point) are always worth it on fabulously clear days like Saturday, the views are so rewarding.  

As we walked from Alfriston to East Dean (7.1 miles) The sun started to go down. East Dean was the start and finish point for the 27 mile walk in April. We were fed bacon butties here, and even served pudding! The volunteers were all fantastic, and really looked after us extremely well, at all the check points.

We missed the sun setting. By the time we came out of the village hall at East Dean it was almost black. It was time for coats, gloves and head torches! The next satge was East Dean to Litlington (5.6 miles). This would take us over 4 of the Seven Sister. Some very steep climbs up and equally steep walks down. We  had to take real care that we did not wander too far left and into the sea! It did make it easier having walked this stretch before in day light, at least we knew roughly where we were going, and where we needed to be! As we came down the hill into Litlington, the Marshall marking us in to the checkpoint, stood by the gate, waving his arms, much like an air-traffic controller! His luminous jacket was very effective and it made it so much easier knowing where the gate was onto the lane!

Litlington to Norton (4.8 miles) was a quick stretch! We were now getting accustomed to walking in the dark,  using head torches.

It was a Dark Dark Night ...

Paula and I walk at different paces.In the daylight hours Paula had jogged on the flat stretches to catch me up (I like to attack the hills!) Paula found that jogging stretched her legs out. Me I don’t run anymore (although Tommy does try and make me do a bit of jogging on the treadmill in the gym!) Once it got dark, I would walk for a while then wait for Paula. There was a reasonable group of us spread out along this stretch, so we never walked completely on our own. Norton to Southease (5.5 miles) was a frustrating section. The directions provided were not particularly clear and the way marker used as a reference point had been knocked over by cattle (It transpired that the organiser knew this, but failed to communicate it to us, despite being at check point 6!). We spent at least 40 minutes in this black field ensuring that we were on the right track. We made it to checkpoint 7 with only 15 minutes to spare.

Southease to Longhill (6.4miles – THE FINISH) was the section that required reasonable navigational skills, By this stage Paula was walking with Paul, and I was walking with his mate John. We had to keep waiting for fellow walkers who had their own compasses (I have now put a compass on my Christmas list!) to ensure we took the right bearings. We marched this stretch at quite a pace, arriving at the finish at 4.47am; an hour and 13 minutes inside the required finishing time!

We were served tea and coffee, and a cooked breakfast of bacon, eggs, beans and toast – what fantastic value! The walk had cost £15.00 to enter! I did suffer with a few ‘mean’ blisters on my heels, and I was a little stiff in the thighs, but I think this was more from a tough Pilate’s class on Friday morning and a hard session in the afternoon on the rowing ergos at a Glacéau vitamin water training session (More on this in my next blog!)

My key learning’s from this long walk are:

• My fitness levels are good
• My strength training is starting to pay off (I did not get sore shoulders or back from carrying a heavy rucksack
• I need to work on my navigation skills
• I need to find a better way of looking after my feet to reduce the chance of getting blisters.

Suggestions and help gratefully received ….

Forgot to say …. the fastest people (runners ..) finished the 50 miles in under 12 hours!!

Simon and I had a gentle day in London taking in high level views of London. We started with the London Eye, which surprisingly Simon had not done. The weather was fantastic and we had clear views over the whole of London. We also enjoyed sitting on the Embankment and taking in a variety of street acts, which were generally very entertaining, and drawing good crowds as people pottered along the river. Being in no rush, we walked along the Thames down past the Globe Theatre to Bankside where we took the river taxi to North Greenwich. It was a very gentle way to travel through London and take in the varied scenery and architecture!

At North Greenwich we took the Emirates Air Line urban cable car from the Greenwich Peninsula over the river to the Royal Docks. The cable car allowed spectactular 360 degree views of the City, Canary Wharf, City airport, historic Greenwich and the Olympic Park. We also got good vista of people walking over the O2, my July challenge which we were going to undertake at sunset!

The cable car has a span of 1,100 metres and we travelled at heights of 90 metres between the two terminals. On the north side we enjoyed the early evening sun and a very healthy fruit smoothie!

We took a return cable car to the south side and walked to the O2 for supper before our climb challenge. It was the first time Simon had been back to the ‘Millenium Dome’, which unsurprisingly he had no memory of being only 18mths at the time! Simon chose the venue for supper – Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant with a cold food conveyor belt. We both opted for hot dishes, but got tempted to try the cold dishes which kept whizzing past. Luckily we were not seated right next to the conveyor belt, otherwise I think we would of eaten significantly more! It was Simon’s first experience of Japanese food, having a severe peanut allergy he is a little wary of Asian food, but once he got the hang of the chop sticks there was no stopping him!

After supper we had time for a coffee and a quiet chill before heading to ‘Base Camp’ for a briefing on our climb! We were booked for an 8.00pm climb, in time to get views of the sun setting of the Capital City. The safety briefing was very comprehensive and our guide Tom ensured we were all correctly dressed in our harnesses. We had to wear provided footwear to ensure we had adequate grip on the walk way which is particularly steep at the start and finish of the climb. I was quite relieved we did not have to wear the blue smurf suits, which I think are used in colder and adverse weather conditions.

Because of the hot temperatures I had decided to wear a floaty dress for trekking around London. This was probably not the best attire for wearing with a safety harness, but luckily it just about worked! The guided expedition across the roof of The O2 is via a tensile fabric walkway suspended 52m above ground level. It is quite bouncy which was alright on the incline but a little disconcerting on the decline. We were attached to a central guide rail by a safety line, you had to keep the attached clip at a certain angle to move it through the 80 ‘gate’ points which proved a little frustrating at times. The walkway is 380m long and has an incline of 28 degrees on the way up and 30 degrees on the way back down.

An observation platform at the summit allowed us to enjoy spectacular 360˚ views of the Capital and its many landmarks, including the newest one – The Shard. We were not dissappointed with our sunset over the City, it was simply stunning. We spent a good 15-20 minutes enjoying the sights before heading back down. This was a hugely enjoyable challenge, which both of us found fun. It was not physically demanding, but the walk up and down added a sense of achievement to the experience.

Over the last 2 months I have viewed London from various high points. If you can only do one, then this is the one I would recommend! Thanks to Mimi who suggested the challenge. I am still looking for a couple of ideas for the remaining 5 months of the year …..  What else would you suggest to add to the list of completed challenges?:

1. 70 Mile White Horse Walk
2. Reading 1/2 Marathon
3. Snow Shoeing
4. Posh Chocolate Making
5. 50 km Mountain Bike Ride
6. 4 km Open Water Swim
7. Climb The O2

Sunset from the top of the O2

Jo Early Morning at -25 Deg

Our second night out on the ice was marginally warmer, but I hunkered down much better, so didn’t get as cold, and got a better nights sleep. I have attached a picture of me in my sleeping bag from this morning – not great quality, but you can see how wrapped up I am and all the ice on the outside of the sleeping bag!

We had an hour’s ski into base camp, once we had bought the pulks in, and sorted kit out, I dived straight into the shower – bliss! The shower is over a bath, there are no plugs, but flannels work very well, and I enjoyed my last soak for 3 weeks!

All my kit has now been washed, and we are slowly sorting out our stuff out.

The rest of today, is spent planning our route, sorting out our pulks and getting ready for the start of the race 9.00am – 10.00am tomorrow morning

I suffered much less than I had anticipated after the gym session last weekend. My arms were a little stiff (whose wouldn’t be after doing squats & lifting a school bench above your head in reps of 10 for an hour?) What really hurt were my stomach muscles, but on reflection, these core muscles were used in nearly every exercise we did on the circuit!

I have taken on board the suggestions made last week about getting race fit. I signed up to a weekly Pilate’s course to build my core strength; now my stomach muscles hurt even more! Saturday I donned many layers (it was a typical wet and grim January weekend) and tackled part of the Test Way from Romsey to Mottisfont. The first part of the walk was through marshlands, I was walking through boggy fields up to my ankles in water (it would have been deeper, but the bottom 6″ was still frozen and I was frequently skating rather than walking). I then trekked through equally wet woodland where I had to improvise bridges over fast flowing channels of water; and onto the pig farm. This herd of pigs (is that the correct term for a large field of pigs?) made lots of high pitched squealing, ran away, re-grouped, then ran towards me at pace – luckily there was an electric fence between me and them! From ankle deep in marsh water (the favoured option), I moved on to ankle deep in cow muck, and out onto better tracks. I had to turn back before Mottisfont; just as the rain really set in, to retrace my steps (what joy!) and collect a waiting child at school. It was a good 2.5hr walk with a ruck sack, at a fast pace. Not a bad start. I would however recommend this particular leg of the Test Way to be completed on a warm summers day!

I finished the weekends exercise  with 1.5 hours Nordic walking (poles, but no skis), on Saturday evening and a lovely 2.5 hours walk with Charlie dog in the sunshine on Sunday. About 20 miles over the 2 days.

This week also saw me starting to contact people about sponsorship opportunities. Everybody has been very supportive, and only one company has said outright no. The theme has generally been “how can we help you”, ” if we can’t help you, we might know somebody who can.” This is a slow but optimistic start, and brings me onto the theme of this news update –  “Kevin!”

I have just finished reading the book “innocent our story & some of the things we’ve learned” which takes you on the journey of innocent smoothies, from initial idea to highly successful company over 10 years. I got lots of useful tips from this book, for running my own company Simply Stuck, and for life in general. The “six degrees of Kevin”  is that everyone on the planet  is only 6 people away from knowing Kevin. The theory here for me is that I should know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone … who needs this wacky opportunity to promote or test their brand or products.(even if though they don’t know it yet!). So please think about everyone you know, even vaguely, and if you think there is any possibility of any support (It does not matter how small) then please put them in touch with me!!

It is a  huge challenge to raise the sponsorship and then an equivalent amount for charity, and a few people have told me how tough it is out there (I run a business – I know!), and that it can’t be done. One of the other messages that runs throughout the innocent book is:

“no matter how many times you get told “no” or “you can’t do it” – never, ever give up!”

Just finished 2/3 20 mile days.

Exhausted!

Jo

News from the Polar Race Organisers

Canadian or International Waters?

Published: Saturday, 23rd April 2011 21:30

Strange but true!

Our racers are going through an area where we traditionally always encounter bad communications: The Maclean Strait.

We could never understand the problem until the last race when webmaster Chris Walker made determined efforts to find out why. He discovered to our amazement that this area is not recognised by the USA as Canadian waters and that this is in dispute. Consequently our Canadian registered Satellite phones which use the American (government backed) Iridium system fail to be recognised and for about 36 hours communications can be very patchy.

Ryan Malfara, who handles Team Internationals comms however had the “wit of mind” to use one of our other contact numbers through to our Checkpoint Team, (and got through) still sitting at the top of Bathurst Island who relayed an approx position to us, which showed them as having done 18 nautical miles and still in the tracks of Slugs. This shows that they are both making determined efforts to make the KCI Checkpoint for the final push for home.

Jo & Rob on the Plane to Resolute

I am writing this email on a very small plane from Deer Bay, back to Resolute Bay. We have had a very challenging week or 2! You should have got my update for leg two, as I was leaving Check Point 3, where things all started to go a bit wrong!!

Due to various reasons, (The storm, delayed planes, and slow progress by the other team), we were facing time constraints to finish the race in the remaining time available. The length of leg three was increased from 75 miles to 90 miles, if progress was slow, people would be flown from CP3 to the pole …..

Polar Slugs team moral dropped a little, but we rose to the challenge, and put in some long days, doing circa 20nm most days (on 5 hrs sleep). Our final day into CP3 was storm conditions again, and we were blown along at quite a pace. Luckily the 40 knot gusts were on our back! We reached the CP3 in good time (by 5.20pm), and after a challenging hour or so managed to get the tent up securely (We have some seriously bent tent poles!)

In the morning, we had to phone for an update on the Internationals progress, only to find we were not at CP3 …. the co-ordinates in our GPS were incorrect! We had also been verbally given the co-ordinates (The correct ones), but when asking the chap who had entered them, if they were the same, he said yes ……

We had to ski 4.75nm to the correct CP3, and our arrival time of 12.20pm was taken. The Internationals, had arrived at 2.00am, so this put them ahead of us again – very frustrating, but at the end of the day, it was ultimately out fault for not checking the verbal co-ordinates, with those in the GPS!

The final leg the Magnetic North Pole was 38 miles. The race was restarted at 2.30pm (no rest day!). We completed 11nm. We decided the only strategy to possibly win the race was to go for the final 27nm in one go ….

The next morning the weather was semi white out, so going was slow. We were walking by 7.30am …. another short night! The first 10nm took us to the mountains, which we then had to cross! The big ups & downs were very challenging, dragging the pulk. But I really enjoyed this section, and felt very strong. Eventually we found a valley going down the mountain and into Deer Bay – the location on the MNP! When we reached the edge of the bay, we had 5nm to our destination. It was the longest 5nm of my life; we were all very tired by this stage, having been on our feet for 14 hours. We eventually reached the MNP at 2.00am. It is 24hrs daylight in the high Arctic now, and there was a beautiful golden glow as we reached the end of our journey.

After a celebratory hug, we put the tent up and cooked supper. It was 18 hours since we had started & we were all shattered. Just as we baffled down into our sleeping bags, we heard the Internationals arrive; they had obviously found a shorter route over the mountains than us, and our lead on getting to the Pole was not enough to make up for the error at CP3!

We had a social day at the Pole, catching up with the other team; Steve & Neil, arrived late afternoon (The Check Point Team, who had completed this leg, rather than flying in!) We had a relatively early night, the plane was due to pick us up the next day …….

This morning, we got up and prepared a run way for the plane. We were told it would be in around 2.00pm. so were very surprised when a plane circled, and attempted to land just after noon, we hadn’t even packed up the tents! News came through that the run way, was not good enough, and we had to try and make it better! (less bumps!) After a couple of hour’s work of digging & stomping, we got a message that the plane was not prepared to land on that
site & the only option was to walk 12.8nm to a ‘fixed’ site across the bay. The plane would wait until 7.30pm, but would then be out of hours.

That was a huge ask … 12.8nm, in an unrealistic time scale, but we had no option but to go for it! We re-dressed in our skiing gear, packed the pulks, and set off. I was determined I was going to get this plane, one way or another, so I walked as fast as I could, with Rob and Ryan from the other team, doing nearly 3 miles/hour, which is an amazing speed pulling a pulk, and going over some long rubble fields. My moisture management was terrible!

I was just under 2nm away, when I saw the plane leave; I was gutted, but caught up with Rob and pushed on. Apparently Catlin was doing some research in that area of the Bay, and had a heated tent, and a cook!

As we approached our destination, we heard the plane; it had been on a recce flight to see where we all were. I was so pleased to see it land again, and very, very thankful! Only Rob and I had made it, and the two person crew, said it would only wait 20 mins, before it had to leave….. Ryan arrived just in time, but unfortunately, the other 3 Racers and the two check point team did not. It felt very wrong leaving them behind, but there was no way I was not getting on that plane – our scheduled flights back to Ottawa leave at 6.00am tomorrow.

I am not sure what will happen to the others, and it is not a great way to finish the event; but I am very pleased to be on my way back to civilisation. I am desperate for a shower (Annie would be a-shamed of my very greasy hair), and some clean clothes.

We are due to land in Resolute at 11.30pm, so I am sure this will be another night of little sleep, by the time I get clean, eat some normal food, and pack all my gear.

News from the Polar Race Team

Published: Friday 29th April 2011 13:30

Team Polar Slugs

Congratulations to Jo, Lucy & Rob!!

The first team (Slugs) arrived at 01:54 yesterday morning, the second (Internationals) followed on closely at 05.00. Once again all our teams have made it to the Pole. All are in good health and enjoying the moment.

Back in Resolute yet another team of people were medivaced in last night from the ice demonstrating again the competence and ability of this year’s Racers and the training regime and organisation that made it possible for OUR people to achieve their dream.

Now that they are safely to the pole, we have the task of getting them out. Much of this is governed completely by the weather, which is proving a little problematic. We have had a low pressure system go over the top of them last night and the emergency medivac has put pressure on the pilots’ available airtime. Nevertheless the weather for today is looking good and I am as confident as I can be that we will have them out this afternoon. This is never easy.

Fortunately the racers are aware of the situation and have plenty of supplies to keep them going, although I’m sure they would like to be retrieved sooner rather than later!

Full race results and statistics will be published soon.

Charlie and the Blues

My song of the moment is The Climb by Miley Cyrus. It’s keeping me focused! My immediate support networks (husband & parents) have abandoned me for 7-10 days, and I am getting a little frustrated about the amount of time I can give this project, which obviously has to be fitted around the kids and Simply Stuck  but to quote my song ” I got to be strong. Just keep pushing on” even if it is with tiny footsteps for a few weeks! Hence the slight delay with this post.

The training is going well, Charlie and I are up with the birds, enjoying some very early morning starts (circumstances explained!) Which mean that we are frequently up at 5.30am… Still we often get the best of the weather and see a lot more of the local wildlife. The blue bells really are out in full splendor. I walk past this bit of hedge row quite frequently, and was blown away by the fragrance from this mass of blue.

I have now walked over 600 miles since the end of January and my average weekly mileage is up from 40 to 45 miles; I should get this to nearer 70 miles/week by the end of June.

I have now found someone who is prepared to help me with some personal training, building up strength in my hips and shoulders. Tommy Gentleman, has recently started his own fitness business and he is going to put me through my paces. I have mixed feelings about this. I know it will provide huge benefit, but it is going to really hurt when I first start…

I have just spent a brilliant weekend in Yatton, Somerset with other Polar Racers learning all about the clothing system we will be using next year. I am reliably informed that it is not unusual for temperatures to be  minus 52°C . That’s before wind chill!

We will be using  a simple layered system. The base layer has to be nice and soft; for us girls that’s merino wool,  apparently our legs are more sensitive to the cold than the boys – they get synthetic (but just as soft) Helly Hanson. These garments will only be worn to race in on the very coldest days ….  just how cold is coldest ? A  comfortable mid-layer, is our core walking gear, most likely to be worn everyday of the race (very smelly after 4 weeks!)

Over the mid layer we will wear a multi pocketed fleece jacket. The pockets are for items that will be needed regularly, sun cream, lighter, multi tool etc. We also get fleece lined pants, but these, along with tent boots (posh slippers) are for leisure wear in the tents. Not sure we get much leisure time ….

A lightweight one piece wind suit is worn over the warm layers. It has many zips, which are useful for venting. When we are walking / skiing, the ideal scenario is to try and keep warm without getting hot and to produce as little sweat as possible, as this freezes as soon as you stop. The suits have further storage pockets for gloves, hats etc. Organisational and locational management of items is key and must be learnt quickly for efficient daily routines . This will be a major challenge, as I struggle to keep my large desk orderly on a daily basis. At least I won’t be multi tasking as well! The suit also has a bum-flap, this along with the ‘she-wee’ will take a bit of getting used to.

We get various types and combinations of gloves, hats, goggles, sunglasses, balaclavas etc to use  as required in various weathers. Different people prefer different set ups and it comes down to personal choice! Our feet are kept toasty in Baffin Boots, which have a removable liner. These are extremely cozy and comfortable, and if I have not been too heavy on my feet will be ideal for any supporting duties on the rugby or hockey pitch on my return. The final piece of kit is a light weight, heavy duty down jacket. We wear these when stopping for our hourly, refuel breaks (5 mins max), setting up and breaking camp. It is not intended to be used for racing when we are pulling the sledges, as it would increase the rate of perspiration significantly!

It was great to spend some time with all the racers, develop the bonding process and talk to potentail team mates!

At the end of May I entered to do the Housman Hundred. I pre-qualified with a 50 miles walk – The Sussex Stride in 2010. I entered the event because I thought I would be at my fittest on my return from the Arctic, and this likely to be the only time that I could walk 100 miles in a single go. I knew it would be a challenging event – the route took you through Shropshire and North Wales and included a total climb of 18,000 feet!

We started the event at 10.00am, it was a damp drizzly day, which got progressively wetter! The views were fantastic and the hills challenging! I love the ups, but found the very steep declines were starting to cause my knees (mainly my good knee!) problems ….

I teamed up with a nice couple as it got dark and we climbed Offa’s Dyke. Navigation was difficult at times and I took two falls and lots of slips on the almost vertical descents. As dawn approached and I hit the 50 mile marker I decided that the I was likely to do some long term damage to my knees if I kept going (unusably sensible of me I know!), so I reluctantly pulled out of the event. Most of my training had been on gentle inclines and rolling hills with the odd steep challenge. I had not trained for this level of ascent and descent! We covered 9,000ft in the 50 miles completed!

I had been due to complete another hilly event at the start of July – The Welsh 3000, but we have had to post-pone this due to bad weather. This has been re-scheduled for Oct half term!

The immediate challenge now is The Nijmegen Marches. We are registered and ready for an early start tomorrow – 3.15am! One hundred and sixty kilometers in 4 days (40km/day)!

Long Haul

On Wednesday 15th December just under 200 pupils from Hampshire Collegiate Junior School participated in a sponsored walk,  raising funds for Arctic-Mummy and the Junior School’s charity “Schools in Madagascar”.

The Children walked the walk for as long as they were able from 9.30 – 11.30am. Every class from nursery to year 6 took part, and walked as many 1 mile circuits as they could. It was a lovely dry day with a hint of sunshine, and the children happily and enthusiastically completed lap after lap. The route took us up a short, but mean incline to the Florence Nightingale seat, through the woodland areas and back down the hill. You can imagine Florence Nightingale resting on the seat and admiring the views and enjoying the peace and quiet. Unfortunately I didn’t get chance to share the same experience!  Mr Meaden kept me company for most of the walk, and we talked the walk! which was easy on the flat, but slightly more challenging on the ‘mean hill’ as I was working quite hard pulling the tyre!

We were provided with refreshments after an hour… coffee and kit kats for the grown-up, squash and fresh fruit for the kids! (There are some benefits to being a grown-up!) After two hours Mr Meaden & I had completed 8 laps – eight miles! The more energetic children, who had run round some of the laps completed 10 and 11 laps … very commendable!

Gaggle of Wellies and Boots

After a quick change and warm up with more hot coffee, I joined Teresa Rogers, the Head of the Junior school for a  roast turkey lunch. It is a long time since I have had school lunches ….. I think things have improved hugely since then!

I have had a great week!

John & I have both had our entries into the Nijmegen Marches accepted. 49,352 people applied to participate; the limit for the ‘Four Day Marches’ is 45,000, so we are well chuffed! We will be marching 50km (31miles) for 4 consecutive days. On the official web site it mentions that some competitors do this in wooden shoes … not us!  We have booked our accommodation with a local family and agreed to share a bed (with each other!) The serious training is starting. I am now up at 6.00am most days to fit in a longer walk before driving the kids to the school bus and work. This also has the added benefit that I get into work earlier …. ho hum.

I have two long walks this weekend, 26 miles along the Test Way on Saturday with Rosie and Lucy to ensure we are ready for the MoonWalk in mid May. We should receive our bras for decoration soon – all design ideas welcome! On Sunday Paula and I are walking 26 miles in the South Downs Marathon. It will be nice to walk some different countryside. I am hoping to see lots of blue bells!

Britax have kindly donated 2 car seats to use for raising sponsorship funds. If you are in need of a new child seat and fancy one from the current Britax range, then contact me with an offer!

For those of you who like gadgets and stats, I down loaded my pedometer tonight and I have now walked over a million steps since the end of January 2010! The sunshine is meant to last until after the weekend with temperatures of 20 degrees – enjoy!

Just before the end of term before Christmas Hampshire Collegiate Junior School organised a sponsored walk with ALL the children to raise funds for Arctic-Mummy and their chosen charity “Schools in Madagascar”.

The sponsored walk was a truly successful event. We all had a very enjoyable morning walking round the beautiful school grounds, and the children raised so much money (over £2,400), that the money was split three ways, also raising money for Jovhan, a Ugandan child, which the school sponsors – what a fantastic result!

With the winds still gusting up to 35 knots and blowing snow no one moved today!

With the weather set to improve steadily from tomorrow we are all hoping for better things.

We have had a conversation with the Checkpoint team on the satellite phone but because of the weather we have to sit tight.

“We are becoming stir crazy but know there is nothing we can do”

The intention if the weather improves as predicted is to move the Checkpointpoint team tomorrow afternoon to await the our arrival.

Video of Tony (Support Crew) at Resolute Bay

Gallery Photos of the Storm at Resolute Bay

Arctic Mummy on Skis 300311

It has been a busy day for our first full day up in Resolute. This morning we put the tents up indoors, getting all the poles marked up (we leave the poles in the tent from now on & just break them down, and roll up the tent canvas round them for carrying on the pulk). After getting the hang of this inside, we then took the tents out, and made camp for the evening … we will eat dinner in South Camp Inn where we are based for the next week, and then have our first night out on the snow. Having put the tents up, you then need to dig them in, putting lots of snow round the valence of the tent.

This was hot work; in future, I think we need to take it a bit slower, and keep our core temperature more stable!

This afternoon, we put on thr skis and had our first go at nordic skiing. I was quite apprehensive, as last time I skied, I ruptured my cruciate ligament. After I shakey start (and a few falls, where I mastered getting upright!) I began to get the hang of it – you just have to visualise yourself on the cross trainer in the gym. Our 1.5 hr sesssion passed in a flash, and was great fun. I was also pleased as my layering seemed just right, ensuring good moisture management (no sweating!!)

The rest of the day has been spent doing on going tasks … today that has been lots of sewing, attaching cloth to our goggles to prevent them steaming up, and keep our noses protected. The best ‘Burka’ is still being developed and modified! You can clearly see mine in this picture of me on skis!

I am looking forward to our first night in the tent, but it may be a little chilly as we are not cooking in them tonight. We get that responsibility tomorrow!

Don’t forget to click the full blog post URL to see the whole article and more photos

More Photos for the Gallery

News from the Polar Race Support Team

Published: Sunday, 1st May 2011 09:30

The plane is on its way and with any luck our remaining racers and staff will be off the ice in the next couple of ours. Weather has been a bit poor in Resolute and various pick ups from local Hamlets have not happened. So fingers crossed we may yet get away from Resolute only a day late as there may be free seats on the plane out We need to wait and see. All I think will be glad to be “winging” our way back to the UK.

It is never over however till the “fat lady sings”.

Keep watching this space for more on our adventures and the final results. Early next week after the May break we will also be making an important announcement on the future of the Polar Race.

As they say “watch this space” – especially those who feel they are up to the challenge!

Jessica Brinton wrote an article recently in the Sunday Times supplement about female adventurers. Brave women, great women, women with fortitude running through their veins –  warrior women who don’t do fear! I am not sure that is really me … well not yet! I have talked to a few of these warrior women, Rona Cant, who sailed as a crew member in the BT Global Challenge Round the World Yacht Race 2000-2001; Rachel Smith, who rowed across the Atlantic. They have both generously given up time to pass on their learning’s from their great adventures. I still have lots of fears; fears that I won’t raise all the money to enable me to take part, fears that I won’t raise all the money I want to for my charity, fears that I don’t do cold, so how will I get my mind round temperatures of minus forty, fears that I am going to let down all the family, and friends who have all got behind me, even if they think I am having a major mid life crisis!

I’ve done research on pictures of warrior women (as I am still only a trainee) and found that actually I am not that far away! (see MoonWalk Blog)  Once I have conquered a few more of these fears (which I am facing head on), I too will be a qualified Warrior Women! I have  embarked on this Polar project to push myself harder (life had got too cosy)  and to make sure I am making the most of what life has to offer. I hope you are enjoying the sunshine and having some fun with the kids over half term! x

Female Warrior

Pooh and Christopher Robin go on a big adventure to find the North Pole, which is just a thing that you discover! Christopher Robin explains to Pooh that all the animals will be going, because Expedition really means a “long line of everybody” . He tells Pooh to make sure the others are ready, and that they all bring provisions with them (things to eat!)

Over the last few weeks, I have talked to some super people who have been very generous and helpful with their time and support. Without this  ‘long line of everybody’ I know this challenge would be much harder. It is great to get the emails “just to let you know I am thinking of you” and chasing me for blog updates … I know, I know I have been rather slow with this update, but we have had Easter and chocolates and stuff. I promise to do better!

The training is going well, and I am slowly increasing the mileage. I have a big weekend scheduled at the end of the month with two consecutive days of 26 miles….

I am building my pipeline (a bit of jargon for you!) and identifying other potential companies for sponsorship. If you know someone, who knows someone, who you think might be interested in sponsoring me …. do pass my details on!

N75.23.087 W96.56.247 – Check Point One!

The day started with flat light, which made navigation very hard.  Around lunch time we saw the other group who were slightly ahead. Around 7 miles out we could see the Polaris Mine, and some old containers. We are skiing around 1.5 miles/hour, so the mine was like a mirage, always in the distance, but never getting any closer! We arrived at the check point one just before 6pm, We were 55 minutes after the Internationals.

The Polar Slug philosophy is to enjoy the Polar Race experience, and win, if we can (but not at all costs). We generally get up around 6.00am, and try to be on the road before 9.00am. We stop every 2 – 2.5hrs for a quick drink of hot water & a bit of the day bag. The stops are a double edge relief, you need the fuel, but you always get rather cold, especially the hands! We normally ski until 5.30pm, stop, put up the tent, dry out our gear, have supper, with lights out juat after 9.00pm – quite civilised.

The Internationals, get up at 5.00am – ski until 10.00pm, and turn in around 1.00 / 2.00am! I know which race strategy I prefer. Especially as we are now completing around 14 miles/day which is a great target!

We had a great welcome coming into the check point with bunting, and hopefully lots of pictures! It felt really good to have achieved, this first hurdle.

We get Sunday as a day of rest tomorrow, which is most welcome. The race then starts again on Monday. The next leg is the longest at over 100 miles … We have now skied 60 miles and completed 20% of the race!

YouTube Video of the Support Team setting up Checkpoint 1

N75.09.151 W96.49.598

Friday 8th April

Polar bear close up !

It has been a long day  – we have done 14 miles & have 14 to go to check point 1, which we should arrive at tomorrow late afternoon / early evening.

We had great excitement – around lunch time we saw our first polar bear! It was too far away to get a picture. We also saw lots of foot prints of female & young, so we didn’t hang around!

We over took the Internationals around two, at Polar Bear sighting, but following in the normal pattern, they over took us, once we set up camp tonight about  7.00pm. It will be interesting to see who gets into check point first tomorrow!

See the full post for Gallery photos of the Checkpoint set up

Checkpoint 1 Set up

A few photos of the chaps setting up Checkpoint 1

N74.56.579 W96.27.203

7th April 2011

Jo - on the way to checkpoint 1

Had the worst night’s sleep, very cold, and\needed the loo in the night – we have given up on the shewee, and create an outside loo (just like the olden days!) each day when we camp; so was avoiding getting up!

Dreamt of hot baths & hot chips, obviously what I am craving most!

Had a really good day, skied about 14 miles; overtook the other team at lunch time, although, they have camped about 5 minutes past us tonight! We had a good run, due to great navigation by Lucy, and luck – we hit a motor way (Skido tracks) which went the same way as us for most of the day, which made the skiing a lot easier.

My skiing is definitely getting better, and I am swearing less at myself! My moisture & kit management is also improving. You need at least 2 pairs of gloves and two neck gaiters each day, as they freeze up, through the day, and become very uncomfortable.

The plane flew over with Danny & Steve, who have gone to set up check point one. It waggled its wings at us, as it went overhead. We have now completed 10% of the race, and should reach checkpoint one on Saturday – hurrah!

I spent most of today listening to an iPod that my lovely neighbour Richard put together, kept me going all day, but I was very surprised there was not more Elvis!

Tomorrow we should move up a latitude to N75; we have spent the last 3 days going along N74, to start our journey Northwards

Nijmegen Marches – Day 2

We had a slightly later start today (they alternate the start times for the 40km march because there are so many participants!); the extra hours in bed made a difference and I found the going much easier today.

We had a couple of firsts today!

• Saw our first person doing the event in clogs — yep proper wooden clogs. You can hear them well before you can see them
• Met up with 27 UK Bobbies from different constabularies in the South of England. They looked very smart in full uniform including their helmets.

The weather was much cooler today and we had the odd spot of rain – but it was warm rain, so not unpleasant or tough going. More rain is forecast for tomorrow, fingers crossed it does not start before we finish.

We took today with a more leisurely attitude stopping for a coffee break and lunch. The bands and local disc jockeys were out in force, so we were suitably entertained along our miles. Day 2 is known as the Day of Wichen, because you spend a large amount of your walk going in and around the Dutch town of Wichen!

No new blisters today, but we did pop into the Red Cross Tent to get yesterday’s blisters re-dressed (not sure if this was a wise move or not! – will let you know tomorrow). We are back on the early shift in the morning – so must away to my bed now.  Goedenacht!

N74.48.237  W95.47.987

Day two

Our Wake time is 6.00am, then it is a very busy couple of hours, having breakfast, and taking down the tent. Another beautiful in the Arctic, with clear blue skies and slightly warmer temperatures of -29 deg.

Because none of my wet stuff dried out from yesterday, I had to ski in my thermal vest & fleece, which was a disaster for moisture management! Despite venting, my windsuit, I ended up with more wet clothes, so this evening, we have had the burners on full, to dry everything out, it is a slow process, but we are getting there!

More photos below on the main post page

We have seen polar bear tracks, on the last two days. they have been quite old, and slightly snow filled – but they are enormous….

The day started off in some sea rubble, which soon cleared to good skiing, but we have been rather slow today, mainly I think, because it was another cold night & we did not sleep that well. We have covered about 9 miles, today, so will have to up the anti tomorrow.

The other team passed us as we set up camp tonight, so they will be slightly ahead of us now!

More Photos

I was firmly in my comfort zone. Everything was very safe and familiar. I had lived in the same house for 12 years, I had run the same business for 10 years, and home life revolved around the kids and what activity or friends house they need taking to next. I was stagnating!

I signed up to the Polar Race to provide some challenge, experience some personal growth and learn some new and exciting things. I am now so far outside my comfort zone … I am petrified! My family and colleagues would probably say I am stressy!

Do I wish I had stayed where I was all warm and cozy? No! I am scared, but my fear of all things unknown from raising sponsorship to organising charitable events is far outweighed by the excitement and opportunities. Failure is not an option!

Tough 2 days walking up coast of Bathurst Island.

Should reach CP2 tomorrow.

Thx. Jo

(Sorry, limited Internet connection – so only a short message again by SMS )

More news from the Polar Race Support Team ….

Teams fight to the finish

Published: Tuesday, 19th April 2011 08:30

Quite a bit of gamesmanship going on out there. Only Internationals reported in and they were on the move still. Both teams are determined to get to the Finish tomorrow evening and with only one hour between them they are both going for it.

Both teams seem to be taking slightly different routes to the Finish. Slugs have tried to communicate but are also still on the move.

He who wants it badly enough??

Internationals position at 22.00 (local time) on 18/4/11 N 76 deg 35.652, W 98 deg 18.679

May the best team win!!

I am now back on track with my 12 challenges for 2013. The fourth challenge – chocolate making is on the 20th April. I am an expert chocolate eater, so feel I need no preparation for this challenge, especially after all the Easter chocolate! The fifth challenge however is looming fast & as I have just been reminded, with only 3 weeks to go I am leaving my training a little late! The 5th challenge is a 50km off road cycle ride round Stonehenge. If the weather & my bike fitness allow, it should be an enjoyable scenic ride (haha).I only have a rather ancient (it was good in its day!) Carlton road bike with gears on the cross bar – not at all suitable for this off road challenge! I have managed to borrow a bike from my sister, which Basil, her husband (a regular Iron Man competitor) ensures me will be just fine! Having picked the bike up at the w/e I got it out of the van today, to get in a bit of training before been taken out by the experts, Lanky Trev & Neil from Wessex Outdoor Training (who are out on their bikes regularly & run Mountain bike leaders & Assessor courses). I had to do some basic bike mechanics before I could even get out on the road, put the front wheel on, pump up both tyres, re-fit the front break cables, find an allen key to tighten the seat & put the chain back on, which is about the limit of my skills!

I also had to dig out my cycling gear, which has not been worn since 2008! I knew my cycling shorts were at the end of their life, but I hadn’t realised that I had binned them!! I did however find a fetching all in one cycling piece, which has a good padded bum, and will do the job just nicely! Having got the bike in reasonable working order I thought I would pop out for an hour & test my road legs. I know Neil & Trevor are going to enjoy this event, getting their own back after the long WHW in March! Cycling uses all the opposite muscles to walking, so I will suffer!

As I mentioned the vast majority of my cycling (and I did a lot up & down the Dales round Leeds in my youth), has been on a road bike, where you lean down over the curved handle bars. On a mountain bike you are very upright, which does not feel quite so natural, and I also got the feeling something was missing – like a seat belt! I cycled about 8 miles, the first 5.5 miles was on road, and I have to say, I felt quite good! I managed to suss out the gears on the handle bars, and got up the local hills without too much puffing. I then turned off road for the final 2.5 miles home, this was a very different ball game – very bumpy & by the end I felt like I had been continuously driving over a cattle grid. The final hill reminded me that I needed every day of the next 3 weeks to get some serious miles in. Hopefully I will have built up a tiny bit of off road fitness before my first trip out with the experts at the w/e! Also I will need to take up their kind offer of checking the bike over, the front brakes are a little bit lacking & I don’t do down hills well at the best of times!

I have some ideas for my remaining 7 challenges, but am open to suggestions ….. all ideas will be considered!

The weather has improved so we are back on racing. No Internet access so this quick message is sent via SMS.

Good to be skiing on land again. Skiing up Bathurst Island. Tough Day, 13.5 miles. 30 percent of the race completed.

Polar Racers 2011

All the 2011 Polar Racers are now back home!

Rob, Lucy, Lee and the checkpoint crew, who narrowly missed the plane back with the rest of us had to spend a further night on the ice. They all piled into one tent (five in a four man tent must have been very cozy), and drank champagne! The plane picked them up the next evening and they all got back to the UK by Thursday 5th May.

When we arrived in the Arctic, we were warned about Arctic Shock, which can occur when arriving in such a cold, white environment. I think because our journey to Resolute was a prolonged journey with plane troubles, we were pretty well adjusted by the time we arrived! I think they should have warned us about ‘Home Shock’! Having not been to bed for at least 3 nights out of the previous 5 before returning to the UK, I arrived home well but shattered. I have found sleeping in a big spacious bed difficult, so my nights are still very broken. I don’t think it helps that I am in white bedding, so most nights I dream that I am still skiing!

The Tent

In the High Arctic we slept in Rab Down filled ‘Mummy’ sleeping bags, which with the fleece liner were generally very warm, but there was not much room to move, particularlywith all your bed partners!

After we put the tent up, we would get changed from our ‘day gear’ – changing our stretch bottoms for fleece lined tent trousers, our racing hat for our tent hats, our boots for down filled tent booties, and hang all our wet / damp kit up to dry in the top of the tent. When the stoves were not being used for cooking, they would be pumped up and the temperatures in the top of the tent would easily reach mid – high 20 degrees (Roasty Toasty). As soon as the stoves were switched off, the temperatures plummeted, and would often drop to minus 26 / 28 degrees, so anything left out froze! To ensure I had dry kit for the next day, most of it would came into bed with me! My boot liners (seen hanging above my head) would go at the bottom of my sleeping bag between the bag and the liner. My gloves, hat, face mask, and socks would come into my sleeping bag. My wash bag came into the sleeping bag (otherwise any moisturisers, sun cream or toothpaste would freeze!) All my electricals which hung round my neck during the day on various lanyards, were put into a small bag and bought into the sleeping bag. The electricals were: The iridium phone (think old fashioned chunky first generation mobile phone!), My video camera, my ipods and all spare batteries for phone, and cameras,  and my GPS; in my top pocket was my small digital camera and the plastic bullets (for scaring bears – which wouldn’t work if they got cold!) And left round my neck was a lighter, which we all carried and was used for lighting the stoves! This didn’t leave a whole lot of room for me! We slept on two layers – a foam mat (about 5mm thick) and a thermalite ‘mattress’ (about 20mm thick). I generally sleep on my side, with only 25mm between me and the hard ice, I woke up regularly with sore hips and would have to turn onto my other side, shuffling all ‘my stuff’ so that it was behind my knees! I generally slept in my thermal underwear, my fleece tent trousers, dry socks and booties, my stretch top and my fleece. I kept my gloves and a supply of toilet paper in my fleece pocket – needed for nightly toilet dashes out of the tent! On really cold nights, baffling down in this gear, with your fleece liner pulled tight over your shoulders, your hat pulled down over your nose, and you neck gaiter pulled up to your mouth wasn’t enough. On these nights I pulled my Down Jacket (my Downey was probably my best friend!) into the sleeping bag and wrapped it round me.  Early in the race (before spring arrived) when you woke up in the night or early morning (we were generally up by 6.00am) the zip on your sleeping bag would be frozen, and the only way out was breathing on it, and there would be ice on your sleeping bag, which showered you as you sat up. This is cold!

I will update you with more information on daily life in the Arctic over the next few weeks … Many people have asked what next?! I have no major challenge planned (yet!) but I do have a few small events! The first is this weekend. I am doing my second MoonWalk – 27 miles through the streets of London on Saturday night in my bra, kindly decorated by Katie (again!). If you you would like to sponsor me for this event, please visit my fundraising page HERE! As ever, thanks for your continued support – it is much appreciated!

Barmen at the Last Bash

Saturday 19th March was my last fund-raiser! Judy who has superb organisational skills, and an excellent network, invited the majority of the guests and co-ordinated her army of support! Most of the food was prepared and donated by friends and family, as a result we had the most amazing feast with plenty for all (and some for Sunday lunch and supper the next day! It’s always a bonus, not having to cook when you are rather tired and a tad hung over!)

It was a very social evening with around 70 guests – family and friends, so it was just an excuse for a knees up! The disco played a great selection of music and kept the dance floor full. There was plenty of 80’s music for us middle aged peeps!

I tore my left calf muscle at the last two dancing events in November and January, so I was under strict instructions just to do some quiet shuffling! I managed slightly more elegant dancing than a shuffle, but my eldest sister Doctor Nicki, gave me frequent reminders to prevent anything too energetic!

There was no hard sell raffle or auction at this event (been there, done that – back in November with the Black Tie Auction!) It was a low key fundraiser with money being made on the tickets and the bar. We made an amazing £1200 through this event! This will be split 50:50 between Arctic-Mummy and The Jamie G Sporting Trust; I have now raised just under £8000.00 for the Trust through fund-raising events, and very generous donations. People’s generosity in these tough economic times is amazing.

Lots of people helped make this event a huge success, but it would never have happened with out Judy! A big THANK YOU to everyone, and a special Thank You to Judy! I know we have discussed this many times before …. but you could have a fabulous career in event management!

There are more great pictures in the Gallery!

Only six more sleeps until I leave … Still so much to do!

Wednesday morning’s post was very exciting! We had our first four cards returned from the balloon release in Andover Town Centre on Sunday morning! The weather on Sunday 6th February, had been dry but very gusty, but  I was still really amazed by the destination of the returned cards. Two from the UK, Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire …… the other two were from Germany! Another four cards were returned last week – two from Andover, (they must have been the balloons that unfortunately bobbed up the high street), one from Holland and another from Germany. The furthest recorded balloon so far from the Andover release is one that was found later that day in Kirchgandern, Germany; about 600 miles away!

I have had a go at editing the footage that I took during the release and the Tyre Pull on the Kodak Playsport, along with some photographs kindly taken by Nicola Dunning and Mimi …. You can see the end result here! It is the first time I have had a go at editing, so I am sure these videos will improve! The Kodak Playsport was really easy to set up and use, so I am hopeful of some cracking footage in the Arctic!

Map showing Balloon Returns (so far ….)

 Balloons were launched at 8.15am on Sunday 6th February:

1.  Southhampton – 30 miles

2. Great Missenden – 68 miles

3.  Kensworth, Dunstable – 90 miles

4. Potters Bar – 90 miles

5.  Gorinchem, The Netherlands – 355 miles

6.  Lith, Nederland – 372 miles

7.  Rees, Germany – 451 miles

8.  Billerbeck, Germany – 510 miles

9. Kirchgandern, Germany – 612 miles

I am sure more cards will be returned, so I will update you on progress, and the eventual winner! The closing date is 28th February 2011

MoonWalk 2011 Finish

The London MoonWalk 2011 was much colder than last years event – there was a bitter wind blowing that was sometimes head on! I wore my attractive plastic poncho for at least half of the walk – it did a great job as a wind shield! Many people are asking if I am enjoying the warmer weather of the UK – but I have yet to feel really warm, and have only managed shorts once, for a quick dog walk, I am often wearing gloves, as my hands in particular are still quite sensitive to the cold!

I Pottered round the MoonWalk, taking lots of pictures of London at night – you can see most of these HERE. The London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament are particularly attractive landmarks in the night sky. The first 16 miles were easy, and came round very quickly. 16 – 20 dragged a little – probably the early hours of the morning. Then the finish was quite quick!

London MoonWalk 2011 - Buckingham Palace

I was very pleased that the organisers had changed the final route back  into the Park. Last year we had a long drag along Rotten Row, across the bridge and back down Serpentine Road into MoonWalk City, which although just over a mile, seemed to take an age! This year, we came down The Mall to Buckingham Palace, along Constitution Hill back into Hyde Park – a lovely welcome back, and a great landmark especially against the bright blue skies we had that morning.

The theme this year was ‘walk on the wild side’ – there were some great costumes, but I didn’t think as much effort had been made as last year with the bra decoration, and outfits.

I was back home just after 9.30am. It was The Andover Rugby Club Presentation Day, and both the boys did John and I proud winning awards; having been away from home for five weeks – it was a moment not to be missed! After a healthy lunch of a rather dry burger and a Mr Whippy 99, I was tucked up in bed by 1.00pm. I got up briefly later that evening, but was in bed for the night by 11.00pm, and had my best nights sleep for at least 8 weeks …. no skiing and no loo stops!

I was surprised by just how tired I was in the days following the MoonWalk. I don’t think I have really appreciated just how much my Arctic ventures have taken out of me physically. This does worry me slightly as next weekend I have a REALLY long walk. One Hundred miles in 48 hours. It is a very challenging walk, with many steep hills, in Shropshire and North Wales! The good news is that I have no walks planned for June!

MoonWalk 2011 The London Eye

Year 2 Thank You Cards

I recently visited Mary Collins year 2 class at Wherwell Primary School. They were a lively group of children, who clearly enjoyed learning, and were very participative.

The children were keen to know how I would keep warm out in the Arctic, with temperatures up to minus forty degrees Celsius. I took in most of my arctic clothing, so that they could try it all on, and see how the layers worked. They particularly enjoyed trying on the goggles, which make everything yellow and sunny!

After my visit the children sent through a generous cheque of £40 for my charity –  The Jamie G Sporting Trust; and all drew me some lovely cards, with great messages in.

I know the children are now working on a banner for me to take to the Magnetic North Pole. If the drawings on the card are anything to go by, I am sure it will be a very colourful and personal banner!

I have started my training for the wild swim due to take place at the end of this month. So far I have only been in the pool, which is decidedly warm! Having not been in the pool for over a year I was a little apprehensive about my water fitness, but all the cross training is obviously paying off! I am managing to swim 2500m relatively easily maintaining a very steady front crawl (I am not looking to break any speed records!). I know swimming in the open water will be very different & at current water temperatures very cold! Sally who is swimming with me on the 29th June, ventured into the sea in Cornwall at 1/2 term and to quote “even with a wetsuit it, was almost unbearable” ……… We are having a few nice sunny days now, so lets hope the water is warming up a tad! I am planning to book at least one session with a coach, so that I get some kind of expert advice before spending a few hours swimming in the salty sea water off the Dorset Coast. Swallowing warm pool water is one thing, but taking on-board too much salt water is another!

Although not one of my challenges, I am venturing up the Shard this Saturday with my Beautiful God Daughter, Sophie Polisena. Having watched the Shard being built on various visits up to London, I am really looking forward to experiencing the views. The forecast is currently looking good with plenty of sunshine, so it should be fabulous.

I am yet to organise challenges for July, August & September. I have had a few suggestions, but would welcome your thoughts on any more ……

In October, I am going with two of my oldest & dearest friends to Istanbull. We were all at St Hilda’s School from the age of 9, in the deepest darkest depths of North Yorkshire, near Whitby, a Church of England convent school – run by nuns!

 This photo on the left was taken of us in 1977! The one on the right was taken many years later in France at Gilly’s where we all had a fabulous holiday together. Can you spot all of us in the photo from 1977?  We all turn 50 within 10 weeks of each other, as the youngest I always enjoying having a few extra weeks on Dawn & Amanda, but I have to be honest and say that Dawnie probably has the most shiny hair with the fewest greys!!

It was an early start on Saturday 29th June, I met up with Sally just after 7.00am, on a gloriously sunny morning to drive down to Durdle Door for a 9.00am briefing! The wild swim was organised by Swim Trek. We had two lovely ladies Kate & Vickie guiding us, and two support boats. Our group was 14 in size, mostly ladies. Swimming in the cold sea (temperatures were around 13 deg) is not for the faint hearted! This was my first wild swim and I was a little bit apprehensive,  but the lovely walk down from the cliffs to the beach helped distract me & calm any nerves. We passed our change of clothes to one of the support boats and it was time to go! The water was a beautiful turquoise blue, and very inviting; we slowly made our way in and spent 10 mins getting used to the water temperature. I was very grateful to have swam with Basil in the Quays a few weeks earlier, where swimming face down in the cold water had been a real shock! This time I was prepared for what to expect, and managed to get my breathing under control much quicker.

We swam out through the Door, and down towards Lulworth Cove. When I was taught to swim we only learnt to breathe on one side (now a days kids are taught to breathe on both sides), unfortunately for me this is my right side, looking out to sea, so I had to make a concerted effort to concentrate on my landmarks for navigation. I wasn’t sure how my pace would match up to the other swimmers, and although I was not the fastest, I was fairly steady and up with the leading group. The group swam well as a team, looking out for each other, making sure people were not getting cold (two mad swimmers chose not to wear wet suits…). The view down the coast line was spectacular, and it was a real treat to be able to enjoy the views from the sea. The plan had been to swim into ‘Stair Hole’ and around the rocks, but the water was too choppy. We had a couple of brief stops for swimmers to re-group & take on-board fluids. The last stop we made was a little too long for me, and I started to get quite chilly, what I hadn’t appreciated was we had made such good progress and were just outside Lulworth Cove!

It was a short swim into the Cove, where the water temperature was noticeably warmer, and the sea colour typically Mediterranean. The total swim was 3-4km and had taken me about 1hr 10mins. It was a fantastic experience, and I really enjoyed it. We waited for all the swimmers to finish, then got changed and warmed up with hot drinks and carbs! The soles of my feet were numb with cold and took a good 10 mins to warm up properly, a very weird feeling!

Once we were all changed, and warmed up we walked back over the cliffs from Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door. It was lovely to see the same views from land and get the complete picture. This part of the Dorset coast is stunning and we were lucky enough to have such good weather and see it at its most splendid.

Lulworth Cove

The Swim route from land!

My challenge for July is walking over the O2 Dome with Simon …. this week! We will don our blue smurf suits and climb up and over the Dome. We are scheduled for a 8pm climb, so with the current weather forecast we should get some spectacular early evening views over London.

Annie recently undertook a challenge of her own, and cycled 55 miles from Crondall to the Ugandan Embassy in Trafalgar Square, London to raise funds for her trip to Uganda. Due to personal & college commitments Annie had been unable to do much training. But did fabulously well. John cycled with her and they completed the ride in 6.5 hrs; resting every hour for 15 mins to take onboard fluids. In conjunction with other fund raising events Annie has raised over £1000! People are exceptionally generous & supportive. x

Annie Outside Ugandan Embassy, London

Annie & John en route to London

Polar Gear ready for Packing

The days are rolling quickly into each other now! We spent a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago packing up most of our kit into our main bags. All the team equipment has to be split up, and taken out between us – I have the tent outer! I also have some Baffin Boots to fit into my bag. I don’t think I will be wearing these ones, as they are a tad tight with a couple of pairs of socks on!

I have been rooting in the ‘packed’ bag (Rooting was always a big sin on our family camping holidays as a child!), still using some of the kit for training walks. I will have a big re-pack tomorrow! There is a short video of Rob packing up ALL the gear!

I have not been sleeping brilliantly the last few weeks. I feel like I still have quite a lot to organise, and get my head round. I have a couple of fears, that I can’t address until I get out to the Arctic. 1, is the cold (I know this is an obvious one!). We have great gear (and I have a few extra bits!) I am sure we will be fine whilst we are walking / skiing, but how do you not sweat when you are pulling 50Kg pulks? As soon as you stop, this sweat freezes ….. and I get VERYcold. hmmmm. Here in the UK, I just jump into a hot bath to warm up. But in Northern Canada, that’s not really an option (gulp)  2. I keep waking up in the night about 4.00am to go to the loo. In the Arctic, I won’t want to be leaving the relative warmth of the tent, to go outside and wee! I have a shewee, but am not comfortable using it just for a wee, let alone trying to wee into a bottle, in your sleeping bag, in the tent, in the middle of the night …. if you get that wrong ….. cold, wet, smelly sleeping bag (lurvley!)

The Route

This picture shows the checkpoints that we will be walking too. As you can see there is quite a lot of sea in the 350 miles we are covering!

Only 4 sleeps until we leave!

Shooting Slugs

Another packed full day (no wonder I am exhausted!) Spent the morning learning about polar bear activity and how to deal with different behavious.

Run is not a good option! We then spent time familiarising ourselves with the gun, and the different types of ammo we will be carrying. Bangers to scare the bears away, plastic bullets to frighten, but not hurt the bears, and slugs as a last resort when the bear is in attack mode, to protect ourselves. I am in charge of the gun, so lots of going over loading, discharging, unjamming etc etc.

Tony, and Danny then took us out into the field and we practised firing the shot gun at a cardboard target. the gun is much heavier, with a bigger kick than the one we used in the UK, and the slugs, when fired are very loud! You will be please to hear, I got all but the first shot on target!

This afternoon, we spent more time on navigation, and camp break down. We are now getting ready to go and make a new camp about 3 miles away! Will update you in the morning!

 It has been 2 years since I had a real opportunity to play in the snow, so I have been really looking forward to my third challenge this year – snow shoeing in Meribel, and it has not disappointed! for anybody who likes walking, particularly nordic walking this is a great winter sport. whilst the rest of the family have been throwing themselves down the busy ski slopes this week, I have been enjoying the peace and quiet away from the crowds. I engaged the services of Mark from Simply Savoie. Mark has excellent local knowledge about the area & the wildlife. On our first day we started from the village of Les Allues, and climbed up through the woods. We had many magnificant views of the local mountains & slopes, with blue skies & sunshine! It was quite a challenging walk, climbing about 700m in total. as many know I have no problems with walking up, but am not so keen on the down …. but in the snow shoes I even enjoyed the downs, despite one particularly impressive face-plant on a steep decline! The only time we saw anybody else was when we stopped for lunch at the Refuge de la Traye, 1/2 way down the mountain. The refuge was run by the very hospitable Pascal, and lunch is always followed by a glass of his speciality – vipérine. A bottle of almost neat alcohol with a viper in!!

On our second day we snow shoed in The valley of Champagny le Haut a listed site of natural beauty since 1992. This was a much more straight forward walk up the valley. Again the scenery was stunning, and we did get to see a lot of the local wildlife (ibex, eagle, bearded vulture, fox, and marmottes which have just come out of hibernation!)

We managed to get quite close to this particular ibex which had a very impressive set of horns! The snow is beautiful, and is meters deep on the roofs of the houses. Its weight has a major impact on the silver birch trees, causing them to bend double! yet they still continue to grow! I have uploaded more images to the gallery.

John, the kids, and the Ridley’s have been having great fun on the slopes. They have been filming much of their antics on the newly acquire Go Pro, which I will upload, when they have reduced down the hours of footage! I think Sam & in particular Simon are speed demons, creating a fair amount of havoc in their wake! Annie & Lucy are much more sedate! John who is a very competant skier, skiing with little effort, has been told by the kid’s instructor that his technique is out of date, and that he skies like he is in a 1960’s Bond film – I think that is a back handed compliment!!

I am really looking forward to my final days snow shoeing tomorrow, and think this is definitely the way ahead for me, rather than the crowded slopes full of mad skiers & boarders like my sons!!

On Saturday I completed my 4th challenge – chocolate making! This was my birthday present from John, a half day session for 2, learning how to make posh chocs! I met my eldest sister, Nicki, bright & early in Arlesford for a coffee before heading to Chocolatecraft’s workshop at Upton Farm. To begin with we learnt some basic facts about chocolate (including tastings), and the best ways of working with it. With our newly acquired expert knowledge, we started the practical session! We were shown how to make the chocolate moulds, two layers of chocolate, which were then refrigerated for 20-30 mins – enough time to prepare our ganache! Hampshire cream is boiled and then glucose added. Once it has cooled you can add your flavourings, including alcohol, nuts and fruit pieces. This is all mixed together to get a shiny ganache. I made an orange ganache with either hazel nuts or orange fruits & Nicki made a limoncello ganache. We piped the ganache into our chocolate moulds, trying to avoid peaks, overfilling and air gaps! The moulds were then returned to the fridge for further chilling.

Topping off the chocolates

Whilst the chocolates were chilling out, we practiced our creative decoration techniques (I am not very artistic!). We were provided with chocolate lollies to decorate, needless to say I did not win this competition!! Once the chocolates came out of the fridge, we topped them off, with the aim of giving them a nice shiny bottom! This involved pouring chocolate over the whole mould from the top. When it was fully covered, you then scraped once firmly, removing all the excess chocolate from the mould, and cleaned up the sides. Any holes, were carefully filled with the corner of the scraper! The mould was returned to the fridge for a final chilling.

When the mould came out of the fridge, we ‘twisted’ it like an ice cube tray, then turned it over and banged it down hard on the table. Most of the chocs came out easily, and any stubborn ones fell out with a little gentle persuasion! Having honed our creative skills, we then decorated our chocs before boxing them up. I kept my decoration very simply, initials, hearts and dried fruit pieces! Nicki & I shared our spoils, so that we had a selection of posh chocs! We had a really enjoyable morning, and whilst this was not physically challenging, I did learn some new skills, and even managed to increase my knowledge on chocolate! Great present John!

Finished Chocolates!

I have managed to get out on the bike a few times over the last week, but I always seem to attract the rain. On  Thursday, Trevor and I had just reached the highest point on Salisbury Plain at the trig point above Boscombe Down, when the heavens opened. It didn’t just rain, but blew a storm with gusting hail stones for a good 20 mins. Being an expert, Trevor had a 4 man survival shelter in his ruck sack, so we didn’t get too wet or cold, for which I am very grateful! It is about 10 days to the event, so I need to get out as much as possible this week, which is a challenge in itself, with the kids in three different schools across Hampshire & Wiltshire, and John travelling away more with work – on the upside, at least the evenings are lighter, so there are more useable hours in the day!

I have booked my 6th challenge! Sally & I are going to brave the British waters and do a wild swim round Lulworth Cove. I will soon need to find time to get into the pool and build up some water stamina – Life is never dull!

Nijmegen Marches – Day 4

The day started out quite damp, but not the heavy down pours of yesterday afternoon; just gentle rain for about an hour and then the sun came out to play!

We were on the late start today (5.15am UK time!). I have found that the extra hour in bed on 2 days made a huge difference. The crowds were out in their masses. The locals of Nijmegen don’t seem to sleep and are out on the streets drinking beer cheering us on as we start the walk each day!

From Curijk onwards (14km from the finish) the pace slowed right down, and the public were handing out Gladiolli to all the walkers. I enjoy walking through Mook (my Mother family originally hale from this area of Holland and take the towns name as their family name)

There was lots of messages for people doing their nth Nijmegen March, the highest I saw was 56, but on the news there was an 85 year old chap who was walking his 60th March – impressive!

The medals for this event are well worth earning. The medal for two years has a crown, after that you get pins with numbers to go on the ribbon, until your 5th walk, when you get another special medal. I am not sure John and I will be progressing beyond two!

Nijmegen Marches – Day 1

An early start, crossing the line at 5.30am (4.30am UK!). The weather was better than forecast and the sun was out most the day, which made it hot work in my Hotpants. The atmosphere was great with the locals supporting us well with music and refreshments. We were interviewed by Dutch TV and asked  how walking together in the Nijmegen Marches was growing our love for each other …. John admitted to being an un-romantic type of chap and hadn’t thought about the marches in this way!!

We completed the 40km in 7.30 hrs; visited the Red Cross tent where a couple of blisters were sorted; then had a little lie down in the sun!

We have now replenished the carbs, and about to retire ready for another early tomorrow!

First Morning

The Polar Slugs spent their first night out in the Arctic last night. It was a cool – 25 deg. We have lovely fleece liners in our heavy duty down sleeping bags, and I was mostly roasty toasty! Except for my face which did get a little chilly at times, despite wearing my cashmere eye mask (loved it Kt – thanks), my neck gaiter, my fleece ears and pulling my hat down to the end of my nose! When I woke up, there was ice on the outside of my sleeping bag … reminded me of when I lived in a student house with no heating in Colchester!

I also used the shewee; I was not brave enough to use it in the sleeping bag, but crawled out of my snug sleeping bag,donned my tent booties and scrabbled into the porch. Having completed this challenge, you then have to sleep with your pee bottle, otherwise it all freezes, and you are stuffed!

That is a bit hard to get your head round. The up side is the extra warmth!!

We woke up to a glorious morning. This is the first view when we opened the tent t- this is just in Resolute Bay … but so beautiful; imagine what it will be like when we are miles from anywhere and just us – team Polar Slugs!

Todays schedule brings stove management, in preparation for another night in the snow, this time cooking our own dinner and breakfasts. We are also skiing today – with the pulks!!

Briefing in Ottawa

It has been a long day! I only got 4 hours shut eye last night, so I ready for my bed. I had a surprise send of today from the Jamie G Trust Committee. Having spent too long packing, repacking and weighing bags upstairs, I rushed into the kitchen saying ” OK lets get going”  only to be greeted by Jacqui, Ivan, Tommy, Liz, Paul, Anjela and Dave! Already emotional this started to tip me over the edge – what a lovely send of!

John and Annie took me to the airport. More emmotional farewells! The kids had all written me a lovely card & Annie had sorted out some photos – more sniffles.

Unfortunately The Finnish Team have dropped out, so we are now down to two teams of three! It is very sad to loose Jari and Tero at such at late stage (5 days before the event), and bad news that now, not only am I the oldest lady doing the race, but the oldest person (probably by 10 years)!

We had a good flight to Ottawa, and have a night of comfort in the Lord Elgin Hotel! We have packed all our food bags up, and have an early start tomorrow. We take a small jet to the Baffin Islands, then a prop plane to Resolute Bay (which will probably stop of at least once at a village on the way!). The final plane will be half cargo and half passenger plane.

Every day will be an adventure now. But for tonight I am going to have a hot shower, and curl up in my nice large hotel bed!

It’s been a busy week, but if I haven’t done it now, then it’s not going to happen! Here I am ready to go (well almost). I  have only managed to get to the start with lots of help from many people!

It is always dangerous to name people for Thank Yous, but there are a few people that it is only right and proper to publicly THANK;

Tommy Gentleman from infin8pulse, who has provided me with personal training for the last 11 months. Tommy has always worked me to my limits, and there has been some serious pain … but my strength and fitness has improved beyond all recognition. I can now do pres-ups (never quite managed more than a few mms with pull ups), and no longer have bingo wings! You can see my last session with Tommy HERE!

Dave and his team at Key Multimedia, who have done all the clever stuff with the Arctic-Mummy Blog. I can update the posts, put photos in the Gallery ….. but anything slightly technical and the experts have had to be called in!

Sarah Kennedy, who has provided Pilate’s classes for the last 14 months. I now know where my core is, and can do a reasonable side plank, down dog, and reverse press-up. Sarah’s classes are always challenging, sociable and have helped me build great core strength. This is vital when I will be pulling a 50kg pulk for 12-15 hrs each day!

I have had an amazing amount of help and support from friends organising my three fundraising events. Sarah Kennedy (not only my Pilate’s instructor) but my lovely next door neighbour and very good friend, was the primary organiser with the quiz night held back in March 2010. Kizzy Romer-Lee who co-ordinated the very successful black Tie Auction night in November, and Judy Staples who made the Last Bash such a great event last week. Lots of other people helped out at these events providing food, running the auction, taking the bids etc etc, but these three beautiful people made these events happen!

My lovely business partner – Katie, who has provided all my creative stuff; from designing the very clever Arctic-Mummy logo, to producing artwork for sponsor badges, and making up films for You tube. A very talented lady!

My family (it’s rather large) have been fantastic. Neither sets of parents were keen about me abandoning my husband and children for 5 weeks to trek 350 miles in sub zero temperatures. Despite this My Parents Rene & Malcolm Hutchinson, and John’s parents, Philip and Gill Winchcombe have been fabulous, attending all the fundraising events and always being there for me and the family! My three beautiful sisters, Nicki, Carol and Lindy and their families, who have come and danced at the social events and kept telling me – you can do it! Wenche Smith, who sewed many, many sponsor badges onto my wind-suit … no mean feet with all it’s many pockets (which are all still use-able!) My gorgeous family, John, Annie, Sam and Simon, who have had to put up with me being away for training weekends, and constant questions about  the North Pole! Charlie Dog who has walked miles and miles with me!  Last but not least all my friends, near and far, who have constantly rallied round, sending texts, emails tweets and face-book comments – Thank you all so much. I would not have made it to the start without all you continued support!

My final thanks go to Danny Long and his team at Pure Technology, who have provided all the kit for me to keep blogging whilst I am away. I have had a good play, and so far so good!

My next blog will be from the other side of the pond! With Love and Thanks to you all xxx

With my big 50 approaching at the end of 2013 I thought I would set myself a few challenges.

The objective is too have fun, do stuff I haven’t done before, challenge myself and raise some money for charity.

Having had a few months off from extreme walking, I thought I would start the year quietly ….. next w/e the 19th-20th January I will be walking 90 miles round 7 of the white horses of Wiltshire. They will be long days, with walking starting at 6.30am and finishing around 8.30pm. Four to six hours of each day will be walked in the dark with head torches, and there is some vague talk of extreme temperatures and snow!!

I have been keeping reasonably fit since racing to the Magnetic North Pole in March/April 2011. I completed the MoonWalk and the Nijmegean Marches in 2011, and in May 2012 Rob MacAlister and I did a 40 mile walk round Oxford …. but my longest walk over the last 6 months has been 18 miles, with most being 4 mile long walking Charlie Dog. I know I am going to have to dig deep and keep focussed. It is only 2 days, and I have some  lovely support walkers keeping me company. The support walkers are doing various legs of the walk, and as they will be joining me fresh legged, will encourage me to keep my head & pace up!

I have had lots of help organising and planning the walk  from Heather, Neil and Trevor from Wessex Outdoor Training. I am raising money for the Trussel Trust, and they are kindly providing a support vehicle to ferry walkers back to their cars after completeing their sections of the walk. The walk is an LDWA walk and the route can be seen here. Please support me if you can.

White Horse - Hack Pen

White Horse - Marlborough

Not so long ago I was given a four wheel drive tyre to pull for my training. The tyre was given on the wheel, which made an already heavy tyre …. extremely heavy! I took the tyre down to ATS who, after much struggling, managed to remove the tyre from the wheel. The mechanic rolled the tyre round, asking where the puncture was. I tried to explain there was no puncture, I merely needed the tyre for my training. He clearly thought I had lost the plot!

The Big Tyre

With Pop’s help I set the tyre up ready for pulling. As you can see it is a significant step up from the golf tyre! I took the tyre out for it’s first (and only pull to date) on my Thursday walk with Kizzy. I had under estimated how hard it would be. This tyre has serious drag and not much bounce. We were only walking a 3 mile circuit, but I seriously thought about taking the tyre off and picking it up on another walk, some time later (much later!)

Kizzy was delighted, this tyre slowed me down hugely; luckily we met Sarah another friend out walking her hound, who joined us otherwise Kizzy would not only have had a very slow walk, but a rather unsocial one too. By the time we got home ( I live on a hill, so it was a cruel finish!) I was the shade of a very ripe tomato.

Tommy has had me working seriousy hard in the gym. I am now deadlifting 50kg (only 10kg off my 60kg target!), bench pressing 30kg (I don’t have very good technique on this yet!), and doing eccentric press-ups with a 5kg weight on my back. My workouts never seem to get any easier; each week I come away with slightly different muscles hurting, I suppose I must be making some progress, but it is difficult to see.

The Arctic-Mummy Black Tie Auction was last night. It was a seriously fun evening which I will blog about in a few days time when I have managed to have a look at all the photos. I am also busy organising the next fundraising event which is in 2 weeks time … arghhh. So much to do, and time seems to be racing by so quickly!

I have just put together a silent movie (well Katie did all the technical stuff, I just played the staring role). To watch me in my Tango Wind-Suit, seeking sponsorship click on this link!

New Training Boots for Arctic conditions

We have Team Polar training in Porthcawl, Wales this weekend …. It is called ” I am a Polar Racer – Get Me Out of  Here!” I am all packed and think that I have enough changes of clothes & shoes! We have been told to take costumes, perhaps this is part of our cold training? We are sleeping out in tents & no doubt cooking on our stoves! I will update you next week!

I am very keen to test out my new Merrell Boots! I Had great customer service from Merrell. At the end of last year I emailed them informing them that I had bought some of their boots in the summer. After four months the linings had split on the back of the boots and were giving me blisters. I explained that I was doing lots of walking and suggested that they looked at this web site! Within a week, they contacted me, suggested I might like the pictured boots as a replacement, and what size was I? If these were not the right boots, then to look at their website and choose any other pair that might be more suitable!

My new boots arrived very promptly, and their initial performance is fantastic. I have worn them a lot in the snow, the grip was excellent, and yesterday, I wore them for over 2 hours, walking in heavy rain. When I got home my feet were still warm and very dry! The boots have been very comfortable from the start, and not required any wearing in! This weekend, running up and down sand dunes will be an even greater test! It is unusual to get such good customer service. Well done Merrell 10/10!

Arctic-Training - Merrell Boot Footprints!

I will try and tweet with pictures this weekend. I am sure it is going to be tough, but at least they can’t make us eat any jungle nasties!