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Blimey....

Simon — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:58:02 +0000

I did it. Even if I do say so myself, I am slightly impressed and more than a little surprised I got it done in the time I had available, without injury, sore feet or any major bad weather induced sulks! The day after I'd finished was very odd - I woke up automatically at 0630, as I had done every day for the previous 4 weeks but then found I didn't have to get up and keep walking.......bit sad really!

Thanks to everyone that has donated so far - I'm a bit hopeless at fundraising so am having a determined effort now to start really rattling the collecting tin! I'm going to extend my deadline to 18 months now just because I'm so busy for the next few months and it's going to be difficult to squeeze everything in. I'll do it somehow though.

Right....time to start planning the next one.......

South West Coast. Toe permitting.

Simon — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:14:43 +0000

Well, I've got the leave sorted, the kit packed and a route breakdown prepared - all I need is two serviceable feet! Without boring you with the gory details too much - ingrowing toenail, infection, antibiotics, nice. I had thought all was lost until I visited Lesley the Chiropodist in Wootton Bassett. The problem has now gone away and I reckon I'll be good to go in a couple of days. Magic!

Time for the SWC is very tight; reckoning on about 20 odd miles a day. I've got lots of friends and family down that way so there will be days when I can dump the 80lb rucksack and just go with a daysack - I should be able to smash out more miles on those days. Work are trying to cancel the last few days of the leave to deploy on some dreadful exercise however there is hope that our involvement in that will be cancelled - everything crossed!!

Hadrian's Wall all done

Simon — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:48:56 +0000

Finished off Hadrian's Wall at 1130 yesterday morning after a fairly high speed dash across the level terrain from Carlisle. It's a nice trail and the centre section across the higher, more undulating ground has spectacular views when the weather is good. Day three into Carlisle just chucked down with rain so I was pretty soggy and knackered by the end of it.

Looking ahead, I think I'm going to go for the South West Coast path and see how I get on. I think I'll struggle to get that a big a chunk of leave again so I might as well give it a go.

Off away with work for a week or so now so am taking my maps and books to start planning the SWC Path....

Hadrian's Wall soon but then what....?

Simon — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:10:48 +0000

Been a bit of a nightmare at work - rather busy and not much time for fitting in the walks... looking a bit iffy for finishing them all in the time allotted which is really disappointing.

I've got all of September off as leave and it's a case of working out how best to use that time. Do I make the most of the summer weather and get the Pennine Way and The Pembrokeshire coast walks done or do I go for the big one? I'm thinking I may just suck it up and opt for the former option and get two done - its tricky because I'm not sure I'll get such a huge block of time off again but I'd rather not face The Pennine Way in Nov/Dec......

Grrrr.....

An update!

Simon — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:05:32 +0000

Been ages since I posted an update on here so thought I better pull my finger out!

I did have 2 weeks of leave booked in early June which had been allocated to the Pennine Way. Unfortunately I returned from an overseas trip late which ate into it and was then delayed further dealing with some very small men at work. Anyway, with the time I had left I had to find a shorter trail to do with a view to replanning the PW for later. I completed the South Downs Way in about 5 days and will shortly post a report on here.

I'm currently "stuck" in the USA on exercise, which is a little annoying as the desert 45degC temperatures are limiting the amount of outdoor trg I can do. Consequently I'm stuck in the gym....

Next event will probably be Hadrians Wall as that's a short one I can squeeze in around work over the next few weeks.

Site nearly there

Simon — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:11:32 +0000

Greetings parents! The site is nearly done - still resizing and uploading pictures for the gallery at the moment hence there are some gaps in there at the moment. I also need to add a page for the google earth uploads. The "links" bit on the right isn't my favourite feature; it's designed for off-site links so opens in a new page. All the site navigation links are at the top of the page. I can blog to this via my iphone or just by logging in and I've reawakened my twitter account so I can text my ongoing dramas as I walk along :)

A late night test

Simon — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:11:34 +0000

This is a blog post from my iPhone.