My walk to work!

Its taken days to get this on the blog.  This is my walk to work which I do twice a week.  Starting at about 5.00am it takes almost 4 hours to do the 12.6 miles to the office.  Twickenham to Blackfriars in London.  Most exciting!

Tense lats and a steady head!

I have now enlisted the help of a personal trainer - Stu.  With 12 weeks to go,  I want to concentrate on the main areas that I need help on.  The problem was that without the input of an expert,  I had no idea where I was lacking! We have had one session so far which was more of a fitness test (although I have no idea if I passed!) and will be having two sessions per week until the off.  I have been introduced to kettle bells, superman and parts of my own body that I swear have been hibernating for the last 37 years. My lats are tense apparently but the good news is my head does not flop about when running.  I am no biologist but surely that is because it is attached to my neck?

This is in addition to my normal regime of excercise, so to my surprise, Stu was standing in the reception of my gym (Pools in the Park) when I arrived this moring at 6.30 after running from home with my work clobber on my back. I had already done my cardio for the day (the run) so I am still surprised that he managed to pursuade me to join the spinning class he was hosting - and even more surprised that I then did a twenty minute session of "Abs" afterwards.  I now feel it, but also feel pretty good.

This week will also see the start of me walking to work.  This may sound simple but work is 12 miles away so I will be leaving home at 5.00am twice a week. Why on earth did I sign up for this thing!!!! I will update you with further progress as and when.  I have recently bought a digital video camera so you may even get some action shots.

Stu has kindly donated a proportion of my sessions as sponsorship - so welcome to the list of Sponsors Stu and see you tomorrow at 6.30am again!

A NEW SPONSOR

I am very pleased to introduce Hamilton Rentals as my latest sponsor.  Hamilton provide IT hardware rental and hire for the corporate and consumer market.  They have kind enough to provide me with sponsorship and assistance in PR in their market place. 

Welcome on board Hamilton Rentals and thank you very much!

I am still looking for sponsors and in return I will wear logo's during the race, create targeted press releases, talk at corporate events and do what ever it takes!

The GET ME OUT OF HERE weekend....

Ogmore by Sea is on the Heritage Coast in South Wales and is where we spent 36 hours being put through our paces by Jock and the rest of the race organisers.  Once we got to a half flooded car park on the banks of the river, right next to Ogmore castle, we were given 30 minutes to get our tents up and then it was time to leave for a walk to "the dunes". The tents we were using are the actual bits of kit we are taking to the Pole.  Jo, in charge of the tent, has taken it home with her for careful storage! Everything seems very real!

The opening challenge was shuttle runs up and down a huge sand dune.  We were all wearing our pulk pulling harnesses and had been clipped on to a rope in teams of four.  Therefore you were only as fast as the slowest.  The run up was a lung busting cardio workout as the sand was pretty soft and it was half a step down to each one up.  The way down was more a case of trying to stay upright and go as fast as possible. We did five shuttles each which got the legs aching - but as we mixed up the groups they were all done at different speeds.

The afternoon involved a 4 hour walk navigating to various way points that we had been given - all good practice with the GPS.  The weather was fantastic for this time of the year, so it did not really feel like a "get me out of here" weekend.  I was very pleased with my fitness and found the whole day to be more fun than strenuous.  Still,  we will be pulling pulks in very cold conditions for 12 + hours per day whilst fuelled by dehydrated ration packs - so any physical training will be helping my end goal.

That night we ate in the local pub - The Pelican.  Food was great and very much needed, and of course there were a few obligitory beers to be consumed,  I realise that this was not exactly roughing it, but the team building and bonding elements are very important as well.  After a wet and windy night in the tents,  we woke to find ice all over the tent.  The temperature had dropped a lot, to the extent that passers by on the following day who had seen where we were camping, all thought we were nuts!

The next day we were back in our teams so Jo, Lucy and I were handed a set of coordinates that we had to get to in a set order.  This time however,  we were pulling our pulks that had kindly been leaden with big bags of sand!  We had a thoroughly good day and got used to the posture differences involved in pulling a heavy weight (you automatically try to lean forward which puts extra stress on the lower back.... something I am working on in the gym!).  We had some gear breakages that we managed to mend easlily enough, and we even managed to meet up with another team to have a packed lunch next to the beach!

All in all it was a great weekend, and now I have my harness,  I will be getting some used tyres and hitting the gallops in Richmond Park!  A couple more blogs to follow shortly.  Until then!

The Team

Its time to introduce the team - and the team name.  Jo, Lucy and I make up the POLAR SLUGS! Slugs because we strike an alarming similarity when all in our sleeping bags!  Also,  its to lull the competition into a false sense of security as after all, slugs are not know for their speed over the ground!  You may also have noticed that I have started to grow my beard!  It is fiercely Ginger at the moment - and strangely having one has given me the appetite to flail my arms around on public transport whilst grunting loudly!

We have divided responsibilities amongst ourselves.  One person is responsible for a task with someone else to support if needed.  I am in charge of many things, the most important being the food and the cooking duties (which also includes gathering and melting the snow/ice for water).  We are eating dehydrated food (casseroles, chille, soups etc) which will not try my culinary skills too much, but I am proposing to take some enhancements to reduce the monotony. Ideas so for are Tabasco sauce, veggie bouillon, packs of jelly, herbs, garlic granules...  If you have any ideas please leave a comment! 

Jo is in charge of shooting, the gun and the ammunition and Lucy is in charge of medical areas - which is very handy that she is a doctor. 

We have a Facebook page - please like or follow or what ever you do - and leave messages of support!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Polar-Slugs-Polar-Race-2011/170809679625751?v=wall

We have recently spent our first night together in the tent which was great.  It was cold but we were all fine in our remarkably warm RAB sleeping bags.  Another update will follow on that later but it was our first taste of waking up to a tent with ice on the outside.

Good lord - they have given him a gun!

We recently descended upon a shooting club near Salisbury to learn the art of shooting spinning disks made of Clay.  These "pigeons" were shot so that we could familiarise ourselves with shooting a shot gun.  It all seemed very well in the warm (comparably) southern counties where we new we had a lovely lunch waiting for in a couple of hours. Focus your minds forward a few months (only 4 now) and it will be minus 20 with a wind that makes the temperature seem illegal, and the only time we will get a gun out is if we really have to. The only thing that will make this a necessity is about 3 m long and 500kg in weight, with a top speed similar to my beloved Vespa (that recently got stolen..).  So,  not seeming so very well when put like that.

Polar Bears are endangered and although we will not be surprised to see one, they really do not pose a threat to human in the majority of cases.  They are typically curious and are at the top of the food chain where we are going so what have they got to fear?  The issue is that we carry food, and a polar bear can apparently smell a seal more than 32 km (20 mi.) away (Domico, 1988). Although how they measured that I have no idea.  We take the guns for obvious safety reasons but if they are used, it is normally to create a loud bang (special cartridges) that would persuade Mr Bear that we are not a seal - and our food makes loud noises!

At the shooting range we had a great time unloading cartridges against clays coming at a variety of velocities and angles and all thought we were becoming pretty good (I had the Olympics 2012 in my sights - excuse the pun). The guns were wonderful looking engraved pieces of highly polished wood and metal - certainly the object of someones care and attention.  This was going to be a new hobby that we were taking to the pole! We then got given a few shots with the gun we are taking.  With the introduction of "its been built by the Americans for a purpose - there is nothing to go wrong, the design has been about for a very long time but it works so we use them." we got given a long, heavy, pump action shot gun.  The piece was certainly without any artistic engraving and was missing the fine lines of the classic Gentleman's shooting choice, but this was the Articulated Lorry of the shooting world. 

Firing three cartridges in quick succession with a gap only long enough for the "pump" provided the sense that I was Rambo, Arnie and the Godfather all in one - albeit in Wiltshire wearing thermal underwear.  It is an amazing bit of kit that we need to learn to respect and know how to use or it could be nasty!  We did of course spend a lot of time on safety, maintenance and the like - and then got to the important part - the lunch which was a quite remarkable spread of fantastic Yorkshire fayre.  Many thanks to the team and the Shooting club: http://www.wylye-shooting.co.uk/.

After the feast I was ready for a lie down and a snooze but we were sent off in our teams for a bit of GPS and orienteering practice.  Team you may ask?  You will have to wait until my next blog (and as the snow has set in that will probably be tomorrow!).   As a teaser,  Jo, Lucy and I have been put together in the team as we all entered individually.  We are already a good team and I have a good feeling that we are the right fit to get us to the North Pole, and get us there competitively.  More to come.

The Orienteering was supposed to take us over 2 hours and involved a lot of traipsing around the country side overcoming various obstacles that had been cleverly put in our way.  With a little pre planning and taking the time to work our an intelligent route,  we got back as the first team and withing 9m minutes - the only prize was that we were the first back into the warmth for a cup of tea - what a great prize! I should add that it was not a race, nor was it competitive - words I have ignored all of my life.

I will blog again soon - I have been sleeping in the garden as it has been dropping below zero and there is a lot of snow;  I have TWO charities that I am now supporting,  and I have had most of my clothing logo'd up and its all coming together well.

One last post - If anyone knows of companies who would like to sponsor this crazy endeavour then PLEASE get them on the blog! 

The Original Mountain Marathon

At the weekend I completed the OMM which is a 36 hour endurance orienteering race that this year was on Dartmoor. My team mate Seb and I met at the less than auspicious Travel Lodge at the Exeter M5 services on Friday night and tucked into the largest piles of stodge that the on site Harry Ramsdens had to offer. The Fat Duck it wasn't, but it did the trick e.g. prevented either of us from sleeping as we could feel our arteries groaning with the pressure!

The OMM has been running for 15 + years. There are about 2000 entrants competing in various categories from Elite to the Short Score. We had entered the Long Score which is 7 hours on day one, a specified overnight camping ground and 6 hours on day 2. At the start you get given a map of Dartmoor, with the overnight camp half way up - and several check points dotted all over the national park that have points allocated to them, the harder they are to reach, the higher the points. You carry a minimum amount of compulsory kit (tent, sleeping bag, cooking gear food etc) and try to go as light as possible (except Seb brought a travel pillow!). The forecast was for rain and high winds. Perfect.

So we started with an hour long bus ride from Okehampton army camp (the finish) to the south of Dartmoor. Our start time was a little after 8.00. 2 x laminated A1 size maps were provided and we were off! We ran on the flat and down hill, and reached many high scoring points and as the weather was good, it was all very enjoyable if very hard work. We got to the overnight camp in good time and had just enough time to put the tent up before the heavens opened. And they really did. What we had not prepared for was the lack of things to do in the evening. Keeping as much mud out of the tent, and keep as dry as possible we boiled our water, had our soup, re hydrated our freeze dried chille and then.... well that was it really. It was hosing it down outside and dark so we were both in our sleeping bags and try to sleep by 7.30!

All night the rain continued and the wind was considerable. Inside the little 2 man tent it was dry and comfortable enough - and quite exciting with a storm raging outside! DAY 2 - Quite a lot different. Tent was wet and therefore heavy, it was raining and looking at the map it was 25km without picking up any "points". It was going to be a long day.

To get North to Okehampton we had to cross 3 streams. Because of the deluge, these streams were now torrents. They were all about waste deep and bloody cold! The method to cross these are sideways, crab like holding on to each other and only moving if the other has firm footing! We made it in one piece!

We finished later than our allot ed time at about 2.30pm. After checking in, collecting our results and have the hot soup we got back to the car and changed into dry clothes for the first time in 2 days. It took until Bristol to fully warm up!

All in all it was great, hard work but worthwhile. The main lesson learn was to take lighter gear as some of the competitors had bags half the size of mine. The other runners were supremely athletic and talented. It takes something to run over the moors in the rain and mud non stop for 6 hours whilst map reading. Next year!

I should also mention that its a dangerous game! Quite a few people dropped out including friends Nick and Bruce B-H who had to retire after Nick ripped his calf muscle whilst daintily leaping over streams!

Next blog to follow soon - I have chosen McMillan as my charity for the race, more on that later. Now I better do some work.