We’ve been meaning to update for ages. Time just seems to be running away at a supersonic pace and there are only about 15 weeks left now until we leave. Arghhh…

So what have been up to?

Well, firstly we’re working even more ‘normal’ work hours than usual. We all need to get some money in the bank but more importantly, we need to push hard now so we can take so much time off later in the year. We all work for ourselves but that really just seems to add more pressure at the moment.

Also, we’ve begun to train quite hard - longer, more endurance focussed sessions. Lots and lots of dragging tyres around Hyde Park in London (hello to everyone we have met recently!). And all three of us have entered the London triathon which is in about 4 weeks so we’ve also been doing some swimming as well as our normal running/cycling.

Sponsorship of course is one of the biggest and most time consuming areas. Things are going quite well in this area though and we’ll let you know more soon.

And finally organising. Occasionally we need to do some of this and occasionally it happens.

Up until last week, it was all really hard work, but now, with deadlines looming, we’re getting really motivated and beginning to see through the work load and get excited about the trip. There’s nothing like some new kit or booking flights to make it all real!

A few little changes to the site - hope you like them. We’ll write a lot more updates, a lot more regularly now…only 108 days to go.

Training is underway in earnest. You might logically assume that the three of us would be adhering to the exact same training regime, that the prospect
of the 15 or so miles we will all be covering daily would see us following step by step the exact same path to man-hauling fitness. We are also individual people though, with our own individual needs.

Cynan has spent the last week kite-skiing training in the snow in Switzerland; more snow than he had bargained for in fact. He was warned by some of the locals that the height of the snow in Simplon was ‘lebensgefährlich’, ‘life-threatening’ for those non German speakers among you and that he would be ‘crazy’ to go and train there. You couldn’t have got him there fast enough. Being accustomed to Arctic conditions, the snow didn’t pose so much of a threat to him, as the local military presence. A group of perplexed young soldiers, when asked if he could put his kites up, politely suggested that as there would be artillery practice going on all week, the live fire would perhaps make it a little on the dangerous side. Undeterred and in one of the designated ’safer’ areas, Cynan set his kites soaring in the bright blue, sunny skies, to the sound of artillery shells regularly going off around him; an unexpectedly lively training ground indeed.

David meanwhile, whilst successfully avoiding live gunfire in the snow, wasn’t treated as kindly by his snowboard as Cynan was by his skis, well,
by one of his mates really. A friendly push off the chairlift unfortunately didn’t quite result in the moment of comedy intended, rather in more of a crash that was to leave David’s right knee in a less than perfect state for boarding training. He had his left knee operated on shortly before Spitsbergen last year, so for a while he had two perfectly in tact knees. David’s recent training therefore has involved movement, from doctor to doctor. The first doctor told him he should definitely operate, so he moved on to doctor number two in whose professional opinion he definitely shouldn’t operate. He is happy with doctor number two’s verdict and will not be seeking a third opinion. You won’t see him hauling tyres in Hyde Park for the moment, but he is recovering nicely.

Charlie also has a slightly dodgy knee and has been having some great ‘acne puncher’ treatment in the last week, his own version of what is more commonly known as ‘acupuncture’. Whilst his dodgy knee is recovering, we think his dodgy spelling is unlikely to. He, however, could be spotted in Hyde Park at the weekend, hauling tyres and attracting the attention of intrigued passers by, some of whom have since signed up to our distribution list. He also got our fundraising underway thanks to three yummy Mummies who emptied out the contents of their purses and kindly sponsored him £12. Thank you very much lovely ladies. We think he’ll have to work on his charm a bit more though, if we’re to reach our £100 million target before we head south!