2 Weeks or 13 Full Days and 14 Sleeps to go!

You don’t need to say it – I know what you’re thinking! You’re thinking will she be ready to go in 13 days 14 sleeps and the answer is an unequivocal, yes of course I will what a thing to say! (eek!)

OH I JUST DON’T KNOW! I feel a little happier about a lot of things – I have now spent a king’s ransom on padded shorts and bum bags for the trip – I even managed to come away from one shop paying £7 less than I thought I would have to – it’s only seven quid but ‘every little helps’ and when you are spending a load of cash £7 can go one of 2 ways – either think to yourself it’s only £7 and what is that against £100 or as I am spending £100 I am pleased that I was able to spend £93 and save £7 – whichever way you look at it, it’s a bit of a bonus!

I am also reasonably happy with the training. On Sunday I did 50 miles/ 80 kilometres in the gym. I got there at just after 9.15 and I left about 12.40 so I was there for the best part of 4 hours but I also did some time on the cross trainer in between my 2 sessions of 40km. The thinking was that if I ask the bike to let me ride for 80km straight it might seem like a never ending task and I find the exercise bike boring enough as it is – 80km might have seen me giving up and thinking ‘to hell with it!’ 40km x 2 was difficult enough. While in stage 2, I was pleased to bump into a girl that I was at school with as I wasn’t doing so well when I saw her, I couldn’t get comfortable on my bike, there was not much left in my legs, I had filled my water bottle up twice and was still like a prune and things were not going my way at all! But chatting to Heledd gave me a boost at the right time and sometimes a bit of company and conversation can be the best thing. I think that is what I will miss most without Penni – besides the looking out for each other thing that would have happened, conversation with someone you know can really be a lifesaver – especially as it can be so boring when you don’t know anyone and you know you have a huge hill to climb or, in my case try and ride your bike up! I know there will be other people on the ride and so I won’t be alone and I used to be able to make friends quite quickly and I generally find it easy to speak to people – I just hope that everyone is as chatty as I am (because, let’s face it, I don’t shut up) and I hope that I can find someone in the same situation as me. I have a feeling that most of the folks will be!

I am off to the gym from work tonight – have my tracky bums, trainers and tee to get changed and go straight, it is too hard to go to the gym if I have been home first! Too easy to sit down and watch Neighbours or Diagnosis Murder on the Hallmark channel and think ‘tomorrow, I’ll go tomorrow’. Tomorrow has its own set of tasks and chores and things to do that you again end up thinking to yourself, ‘tomorrow’, what I need to do is remember that I will be just as bone idle tomorrow as I am today, so better go now while I think about it!

The one bonus of doing long stints in the gym like the one I did on Sunday is that it gets you ready for long days on the bike and now that I have done 50 miles in under 4 hours I know I can do it again, because I have already done it! Albeit in the gym and not on the road – I know that it is going to be very different, but I am doing more training than I would be doing if I was relying only on the open road! Penni said ages ago that dad had offered to pay for us to use the gym, although he never mentioned it to me I wish we had taken him up on his offer and that I had been doing this for longer – still, every little helps hey and I am certainly glad that I am going, can you imagine if I wasn’t? Doesn’t bear thinking about really does it?! I do know that when I had done the 40 miles the other week, I really felt like I had worked my legs and they were, I don’t mind admitting it – rather tender! This time when I had done 50 – I felt completely fine and after a bit of a break and a change of scenery I think I could have carried on for a while! That has to be a good sign! Doesn’t it? I am going to aim for 50km tonight which should make it just over 30 miles, only hope I am home in time for the news at 10! (Working until 6 so won’t get there until about quarter to seven!)

The other BIG news I have about the ride is that I have finally found the right glasses to wear – none! That is not as bad as it sounds, I have moved to contact lenses and I love them! They are taking a little time to get used to and so I am practising now, but no more messing about worrying that if it rains I will be stopping every 2 seconds to wipe my specs and if I play my cards right, David might buy me a pair of fantastic designer sunshades! (He might not but there is always the chance hey!)

Sponsorship is still on the slow side and we won’t be having the jewellery party before I go after all. We may still have one and do it as a fundraiser but closer to Christmas. Otherwise, the online donation page is still at £3,475 but the form at my desk is now worth £130, I have collected the penny pots from the various places in which they were left, David now has one on his desk at work and I have been promised some cash from various members of the family – all in all, I think we can be proud of the money raised and happy in the knowledge that the MS Trust desperately need it and will use it well!

So, until the next time; take great care and don't forget our fundraising page www.justgiving.com/joandpenni
Loadsa love, Jx