A Fundraising Milestone Approaches

It looks as though we are about to break the £2000 mark of kind and generous sponsors for out Cotswold Plod.
We try and thank everyone that we can individualy and I note that we have a couple of anonymous donations so thank you whoever you are!

I am planning another walk tomorrow evening but a little shorter this time but perhaps just up and down some hills near me several times, so give me a wave if you live in Bristol and see a man in running compression gear and walking boots plodding the hills! I do get some funny looks, especially when it gets darker and I have a head torch on.

I have just taken delivery of my new headtorch so I will try it out for the first time tomorrow night. Its a Petzl Myo XP and so far looks very good. Several reviews that I read promised that it would turn night to day and from brief trials outside, it looks very good!

There has been lots of debate between the teams and team members about kit for the Cotswold Plod. The first and biggest item was of course walking boots. Everyone has been off and purchased boots from different stores and manufacturers with lots of comparisons made. I tried on several pairs of boots and read and watched the reviews online. In the end I went for the Salomon Cosmic GTX's which seemed to fit my feet the best and came highly recommended by a number of sources. So far so good, although the recent bash between Bath and Tormarton at speed damaged my feet quite badly. Up until then I had experienced no problems with the boots, but after that walk I had a blister on my heal and two bruised big toe nails which were pretty grim. It took a week and a half for the nails to stop weeping and I still have a concern that one of them may fall off. I am not sure why I had the problems as I had not experienced the problems before, but I suspect that it was a combination of not cutting my toe nails short enough, not tightening my boots properly and the speed that we did the distance in. There were a couple of nasty climbs and descents with some running as well and a really fast pace over the 18 miles so its not too suprising I guess. On the Cotswold Plod, we will be dropping the speed over the distance.

I am also trying to work out whether I take some walking poles that I purchased. They are great on the hills but a pain to carry on the flat and or collapse into my rucksack whilst still moving. We dont like to stop very much once going so I am still unsure whether I will take them with me.

The other piece of kit that I have discovered through the training is how good compression tights are. I look a wally in them, but they offer lots of support for aching legs and also wick moisture away so great for the night time stuff or when its cooler. All of our team now have them and we get some funny looks but I really am not too bothered about the way I look when hiking. I realise that I am nowadays an embarrasing dad and I am proud of it. T is a bit too young to be embarrased of me yet, but it wont be long and the look of me in those tights might be the first time!

Incase you have no idea what I am talking about, we will be trekking non-stop for forty miles across the Cotswold Way, in the DARK, and all in the name of charity! Its the Cotswold Plod!

We are raising money for 'Action For Medical Research for Children', a charity dedicated to improving the health of children and babies across the UK. We are hoping to raise a grand total of £2500 collectively, to help Action Medical Research continue to address serious childhood conditions, and improve the quality of life for children with disabilities.

If you would like to donate, please follow this link http://www.action.org.uk/sponsor/rsg1 and thank you once again for your generousity and support.

Jonny