Biking instead of walking..

I had decided to train by walking along the path which goes from Sperone to Ciapilli. It is a stunning path right above the sea, and meanders through rocks and flowers, being quite steep at some places. Here are some pictures. 

the "tafones", rocks sculpted by the wind

Looks like Shrek

Even the weeds are lovely here...

Ciapilli

the path

 But I saw a snake as I was walking and I totally freaked out! I HATE snakes. For me they represent death! So I ran back home and went on my exercise bike on my terrace and trained for an hour. Later I went to town and this was what the sunset looked like on Bonifacio:

Corsica

I arrived in Corsica with Nicholas and Christophe two days ago and it is a place which I love especially in Spring and Fall. The landscape is very rugged, the wind can be very strong and the sea can change from a scintillating lake to a battering sea in a couple of hours. From my house, I can see the Lavezzi islands, which have been the scene of many shipwrecks, including the "Semillante" which crashed on the rocks in the straight of Bonifacio during a terrible storm while on her way to Crimea in 1855. It is still to this date the most deadly naval disaster in France with the loss of all 693 men on board.This is such a strong scenery that it always leads me to some reflections on my life. 


I have been asked quite a lot by very sceptical people, "Why do you undertake this challenge? These children are not our problem. You won't be able to change anything!".
Well let me answer like this: "What if I would be one of those children. I would have seen my village been destroyed, some members of my family killed, some others raped. What would be my future? How would I see it? Probably I would see the only way to a secure future to become a child soldier, or a drug trafficker. Of course I would be able to learn. But instead of learning how to read and write, I would learn to shoot and harm. It would be my only way out of being a constant victim".


I know that it is a cliche, but I always try to put myself in their shoes, and think that if I would come into a refugee camp, I would be very happy that someone somewhere has not forgotten me and wants me to be a peaceful and successful human being by sponsoring my education and allowing me to develop my self confidence and team building skills through games. Then I could go back to my village and inspire more children to do the same.


The same people ask me: "How do you know that you will succeed in changing their lives, that you are not wasting your energy and money on an hopeless cause?". 
Well I do not know for sure. But if I would only do things when I am 100% sure of the outcome, I would not have done much. I would not have married, not have had children, I would never have engaged in the emotional side of my life, and , of course, I would never have even thought of this challenge. I would be a super rational human being living in a super rational world, and it would be a nightmare! If everybody thought like those super rational people, there would have been no Mother Teresa, no Nelson Mendela, no Charitable Trusts, no WI and it would be really horrible.
Call me an optimist or an idealist, I don't care. I am happy to be doing what I do. I feel that being a citizen of the world, travelling a lot, I have a global responsibility.


I also strongly believe that being more fortunate than others, it is my duty to help them, not a prerogative. I must never forget that luck and fate put me where I am. I could very well have been born a disadvantaged child but I have not been and I must somehow be grateful for this, and my way of giving back is by helping the weak of this world (children and animals) with money and energy. I am also trying (and think that I have been successful) to give my children the same sense of responsibility.

Flying back to England

I love travelling as I quite often have wonderful conversations with complete strangers on planes, and today was no exception.


On my way back from Trondheim to Gatwick, I sat next to a lovely couple who were going to London for a few days to escape the Norwegian snowy weather and find some spring and flowers in London. I started to chatter to the Lady about banalities and one thing leading to another, we talked about everything: the lack of sun in the north of Norway for 3 months of the year, our different cultures and our consumer habits. We talked about the poorest countries of the world where we export our toxic waste, although, as she rightly said, no one taken individually would approve about pollution or bullying, but unfortunately, often the financial argument always manages to make it a collective necessity. We discussed the teachings of the old, the blessing of having children (she even has grandchildren), and above all, the importance to realise how lucky we are and to remain humble. It made me really happy to share so much and realise that at heart we have the same values and the same honesty. I can get so downhearted when I watch the news, listen to war reports, or simply watch how our society is money driven, that it gives me a lot of hope in the future to meet such people as Ester. If you read these lines, thank you for sharing so much with me. 


This challenge has a wonderful impact on my life. I have discovered how the majority of people are keen to help but are too shy to propose their help, so I have had to come out of my shell and ask, which is difficult for me, but so rewarding! I have made many friends who share the same vision of a world where we work together and use our resources to give back and help humanity instead of only helping ourselves. I have learnt to be open about my feelings and more vulnerable, even if it makes me uneasy. And above all, after all these years, I am starting to trust myself, the real Sabine, and it is a wonderful feeling and gives me a lot of confidence and serenity.

Filming with TV2

On Friday afternoon, I boarded a Norwegian.no plane and landed in Trondheim where I met Petter and his son Ola. It was snowing and windy. What luck that I trained in good weather! We drove back to Stoljen in Sweden. There we spent a couple of hours going through all the expedition material that I had bought in the UK and which cost me a little fortune in overweight luggage!! Luckily apart from 3 down mats which are very comfortable but quite tedious to inflate, we kept everything. I will send the mats back and exchange them for some simpler ones.

The next day, Thome the TV2 reporter met us and we reenacted my training process for him. It started to snow quite heavily at times and the wind picked up, so setting up the tent was more difficult than before. But we managed and were filmed doing all this. I dug the snow inside the tent, installed the mattresses, the sleeping bags, we lighted the stove and conducted my interview inside the tent. We were dressed in our wonderful Brynje clothes, a Norwegian brand which is quite extraordinary and it looked like an advertising campaign! Thome told me that he was going to interview me and that it would be great if I could give him short and precise answers (....) which, anyone who knows me well knows that is not really my style!!... I am more like :"ok, I do it for this... but, .. also for that... and actually..., maybe also for this... although....". No, none of that, precise and concise answers, argh..., but somehow, I seemed to manage!! Thome was interested in:

.  the Norwegian connection to my challenge, i.e. Right to Play and Johann Olaf Koss, and Per-Thore Hansen and Arctic Adventures

. the charity side of it 

. my reason for coming to Norway to train, 

. but also my personal reasons for doing this challenge. 

Then we packed the tent and he conducted an interview of Petter before filming us skiing. After I not so gracefully fell just in front of the camera while going downhill (my only fall...), it was time to say goodbye to Thome. I can't wait to see the interview on TV.

The rest of the afternoon was spent going through more planning, and, of course, some eating (they make very good waffles in Sweden!). After picking up Ola who went skiing with some schoolfriends he met there, we drove back to Trondheim where I slept in the airport hotel. I am really happy as Petter and I get along really well. He teaches me without condescendence and he actually listens if I make a suggestion. Thus we are a good team, we work as hard and as efficiently as we can, but have a lot of fun, crack a lot of jokes and I love it.

Meeting Chemmy and filming in the park

 I had the great pleasure of meeting an extraordinary woman yesterday, 3 times Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott, who very kindly gave me tips on how to prepare myself for such a big challenge. Chemmy came to my gym and we filmed our conversation. She was so gracious in saying that she is confident that I am physically up to the crossing, but she foresees my biggest challenge as being a mental one: keeping strong and positive. She gave me tips on how she does it. She trains herself to think about a lot of happy memories in the week before a big competition, and to go back to those memories as soon as she feels mental tiredness creeping in. She also talks to herself in a very positive way, never negative, to keep her spirits up.

  She also told me to think about songs which cheer me up or have a good rythm. They were all laughing when I told them that I was singing the "Thomas the tank engine" song when the uphill going was very tough in Norway as I really felt like a steam train going on and pulling a heavy load. And last but not least, to seek the help of my team-mates. I will have to be very honest with them and let them know if I feel rotten or have a bad day. Maybe it will be difficult to tell them then, so I must warn them of the signs to look out for, so that they can step in. We already talked about it with my guides, and they say that is one has a particularly bad day (exhaustion, blisters, etc..), the others can help with taking more of the load until spirits are up again. The great thing with going with Petter and Per-Thore is that I think that they have been through it all themselves and tough guys as they are, they have no problem admitting that it can be very tough, sometimes even hell, depending on the weather and the snow condition. It makes it much easier for me to be honest about my weaknesses, and people who know me, also know that weak is not really a part of my vocabulary!! But, this is exactly the type of mental challenge which will be extremely hard for me.


We also talked about food, and Chemmy thinks that I should put on weight before the challenge as she is a bit concerned as to how I will resist the cold if I don't have enough body fat and taking into consideration that I will probably lose  more weight on the trip. So she advised me to buy some..... breastfeeding cookies, which have 3000 calories each and eat plenty before the trip. I might even smuggle them on the trip and secretly feed them to Petter and Per-Thore (although I know that I will laughing myself silly seeing them eating the biscuits and they will be suspicious..). She also mentioned I should buy something called ...a "she-pee" so that I will not have to put my pants down every-time I need the loo! But I'm not sure about that!!

Then it was off to the park where we filmed my training on roller-skis with my heavy backpack. It was a bit difficult as the park was so busy, but Ronit the camerawoman and Tim the soundman were fabulous. We had a lot of laughs (especially when I fell straight away trying to get up the bench with my backpack on and the weight just pulled me down backwards, so that I just sat from the bench on to the road...). We then filmed with Ronit and Tim walking along while I was roller-skiing and talking about my upcoming challenge.


And finally we went back to my home and I talked more about the challenge, my motivation, my fears, etc.. The aim is to produce a short promotional DVD that we can send to prospective donors, and the media. 

Getting publicity to get more sponsorship!

Since coming back from Norway, I have done two things: 

ordering huge amounts of merchandise and food needed for the crossing, 

and, 

meeting famous people for photo-shoots and interviews to get more exposure

At the beginning of the month, I had the pleasure to meet again Johann Olaf Koss, the founder of The Right to Play.

with Johann Olaf Koss

Today I had the pleasure of meeting again the lovely Sarah, Duchess of York, who is the founder of Children in Crisis. I am full of admiration for these two people as they are doers and are really trying to improve the terrible situation in which so many of the world's children are.

with Sarah,. Duchess of York

Tomorrow, I will go to the gym with , Chemmy Alcott the lovely British top alpine ski. She is an ambassador for The Right to Play and who has very kindly offered to give me some guidance on training and food.

On Saturday I will have an interview with a Norwegian TV Channel as they are very interested in the fact that 2 of their countrymen, coming from a country who is the birthplace of almost all major polar explorers, keep on this tradition by teaching me how to be a successful explorer. They also are very interested in my motivation and the charity side of it.

The food and polar equipment are all over my house, and I will definitely have to check in more than one bag when I fly out to Trondheim! Amazing all the things we need, even though clothing is kept to a minimum!   

Lessons learnt

The most important lesson that I learnt is that in order to succeed, the key element will be 

the management of energy. 

We will have to: 

- conserve our energy, by eating, drinking and sleeping.

- conserve our heating energy by not wasting fuel when working with the stove

and use the stove heat to dry clothes at night 

- use our body heat to dry gloves, socks and small items in our sleeping bag at night

- conserve water by making sure that we don't spill it while filling thermoses

It is also very important to 

- focus on the positive: getting angry or depressed is not going to change the weather or remaining distance!! On the contrary it will only make the remaining of the trip harder by depressing me. Nature is very powerful and we can't fight it. We have to learn to live with it.

- be disciplined and methodic: Organisation is paramount, and tasks should become automatic, therefore easier to perform

-  find a walking pace: and try to maintain it if the terrain does not change. Should the terrain change, adapt the speed in consequence

- remembering that this is a team effort: work with the partners, forget egos, and trust your instincts to judge the other members of the team's moods, aches, and give them moral support. 

- if any tension, diffuse it with jokes

- be confident 

Observe, think, share, be practical, show initiative and learn

I love it. A trip like this is totally character building. It also gives me tremendous confidence as I can see that if I put my mind to it, I can do almost anything.
It is also amazingly rewarding as I know that each penny or pound that I raise will make a big difference to a child's life. 

Training from Sandvika to Storljen

Monday morning and early afternoon was spent preparing all food, clothes (which have to be packed in dry bags) and equipment that we needed for the 4 days and which were to go in the pulkas. This goes a long way to build team spirit as we really have to work together for the same goal but with 2 different minds. We put a big waterproof bag in each pulka in which to put all the gear, and we secured those bags. Then we also had to check the tent, the fuel stoves and the skiing equipment and we were ready to leave. Preparing an expedition takes a lot of time and one has to be very thorough and make sure that all the material that is being taken is complete and in good working order as it would be very hard to survive without a tent or a stove.

As soon as we were finished, Petter, Pia (the lovely dog) and myself were driven by Gaid who is Petter's business partner, to Sandvika which is a little swedish village just on the other side of the Norwegian border. There we loaded the pulkas, trying to be as logical and organised as possible, put on our skis and harnesses, attached the 2 pulkas of about 30 kilos each to the harnesses and took off. We skied for 2 hours (we skied twice 50 minutes with a 10 minutes break for eating and drinking) and as it was getting dark, we set up camp. 

We put up the tent, got the primus stove going so that we could start to melt snow, put the Thermarest mattresses on the floor to insulate against the cold so that we could sit down, and got our bags in the tent. Of course, having no previous experience, my clothes were scattered in all of my 4 waterproof bags, so that I had to take them all in the tent. This is not what you want. One bag should be enough so that we have more space to sit and lie down. From the time we arrived at camp until the tent was safely up, the sleds were secured, enough water was melted and our gear was installed in the tent, 2 hours had passed!! There is so much to do in the evening 
Dinner was freeze dried food and it was absolutely horrible!! I had the impression to eat pulp. No taste at all! Thank God I had exercised and was hungry. The night in the tent was much better than I had expected. Apart from having to completely sink in the bag to cover my head up completely so that no freezing air can infiltrate the bag, I slept really well.

The next day we started by taking reheating all the water, having breakfast, packing everything, folding the tent and getting the pulkas ready, a bit over 2 hours had passed. Time flew by! And then we skied for 9 hours sometimes uphill but mostly on pretty flat terrain. Going uphill is backbreaking and really tough. The key is go a bit slower, keep the same stride and a steady rythm until the top of the hill. You feel every kilo (I had about 60 kilos on my sled), but the good thing is that afterwards, the sled feels lighter on flat terrain. The bad thing was that I was getting blisters, but there is no other option than going on, and it was fine. I just thought about other things than my aches. But thanks to my sponsors, every step I was taking was actually benefiting a child in the world, so it was worth the pain! And that evening we set up camp again and were a little bit quicker with the whole routine, and the next day we skied again for 9 hours, but it felt much harder because of the tiredness, the blisters and a very cold and strong wind which started to blow. But our morale was excellent and we ploughed on gamely, doing our regular pit stops for food, drink and a laugh, and reached camp, and started the evening routine all over again. And the next day we were a bit faster taking down the tent and organising the pulkas and we skied 4 hours to reach the little swedish ski resort of Storlien where we finished our trip and had a very good meal and a glass of wine!!

First day of training

After a delicious traditional norwegian brunch, we all Petter, his wife, Mie, their youngest daughter who is 10 and Pia their lovely dog (a german hunter dog) headed out to the forest to try out my new skis. They are Asnes Rasmussen skis red and grey. They look pretty smart and are actually much easier and stabler than my roller-skis!! First I had a long interview with a girl from the local newspaper who was very keen to hear all about this project, the difficulty in the preparation logistics between Norway and the UK, my motivation, the guides, etc.. It was very nice and she took pictures of me pulling the sled.


Then she left and we went around skiing, up and ... down (very unstable!) with the half-skins on the skis. It is less slipery with the skins and the skis don't glide as much so I took them off. It all went well and I could glide quite well. I even was pulled over 50 meters by the lovely Pia and that was scary! It was a super relaxed day.


When we came back, we packed all the food we'll need for the 4 days. One pack with the meals and snack per day per person. So eight bags in total. We will also have 2 sleds each in Greenland as they will not sink as much as a heavy one. Tomorrow we will load them. Tonight I packed all my things in water tight bags, so that if water comes in the sled, nothing is wet.


In the evening Bengt, who is Petter's partner came and talked to us about Greenland. He also showed us the route to take. He has been there many times and seems to know it well. I did not realise that one of the obstacles can be a type of very fast stream which is due to the melting of the ice and which is by the glaciers (first 2 and last 2 days). they can be very difficult to cross due to the strong current and the heavy weight of the sleds. So we will have to avoid them. Sometimes you don't find any, but at other time it can be tricky. 

Anyway tomorrow I leave for my training trip. 4 days of pulling my 2 sleds, sleeping in a tent, eating my rations, and melting snow. Hopefully I will love it!! Because I signed for 3 weeks oh this...

Travel to Norway

Beautiful day here in London and I am off to Trondheim. My first flight is to Oslo where I have a 3 hours overlap. Then it is on to Trondheim. This reminds me of my trip to Alta for dogsledding last year where it took us 2 days to finally reach our destination because of bad weather at Alta. As we are starting to board the plane, the crew make us go back to the departure gate... there is a technical problem with the plane.... I can't believe it! Not yet again... but it solved in no time and we land with 20 minutes delay. 


Petter is waiting for me at the airport. I finally meet the third member of our expedition and I am very happy. He is very nice, efficient and very calm. I am so happy as I can't imagine one of the PTs (as I call them) stressing, thus stressing me!  We go to town to buy my boots. Huge Alfa Polar boots, but I will probably be so happy to have them in Greenland and have my feet warm. 


Then we drive to Petter's home where I meet his family. His daughters are adorable. Marie is very pretty and I cannot believe that she is only fourteen! and Mie is sooo sweet. His wife is super nice and cooked a delicious minestrone. And of course I cannot forget Pia, the dog who is probably coming to come with us next week. She is just adorable and loves cuddles. Princess the cat is more reserved. Tomorrow, it will start for real with some skiing

2 great news

Got an email from Petter yesterday night and we have our

 Greenland expedition permit!!

number is  A 11-39
I am sooooo excited!! 

And to make it even better, "embroidery by Design" have finished my training clothes and this is how they look. I am over the moon. Actually I am going to wear 2 of the tops and the leggings in Norway and Greenland. I am really proud to be raising money for 2 such worthwhile causes and helping children to get education, team spirit and social skills and make their mothers proud.

Yesterday night I had a great roller-ski training session with Katya from "www.rollerski.co.uk"  and she showed me the technique to ski while pulling a sled. Hips forward, abs contracted, shoulders relaxed, small stride and keep the rythm. We were laughing so much as I was pulling her uphill and we got some weird looks. The park was getting very dark and we both had forgotten to take a headlamp, so we were talking really loudly and singing, and I think that we looked rather strange... But it did help me a lot, and my back was not hurting. So again, I am much happier and confident. 


Off to Norway for my training camp tomorrow. Do I look forward to sleep in a freezing tent for a week? Not at all. But if I would, it wouldn't be a challenge I guess, and no one would sponsor me going on holidays for 3 weeks, having the fun of my life! Although, it would be an idea.....

The first blisters!

Tuesday morning was yoga and we are working on a very short stretching routine that I can do when I take my 10 minutes break, and a longer evening routine evening routine to stretch all my muscles. Yoga is ideal as most stretches are done sitting or lying down and this will be perfect in the very low  tent that we will use during the crossing.

Although narrow and very low, these tents are going to become our home for 3 weeks and we also will have to cook in them. I must admit that I have never slept in a tent, let alone in freezing temperatures, but this will change as I am about to start my training week in Norway and will sleep in a tent during the week to get accustomed to the arctic conditions.
In order to get my back used to the heavy weight of the sled, Nick Knight suggested that I walk with a heavy backpack, so I went to the park on my roller-skis with 10 kilos on my back and took plenty of water (a first) and a snack. My aim was to do 2 x 50 minutes stints. Hyde Park was full of people strolling and this makes roller-skiing difficult, especially the sudden changes of direction and hard breaking!! All was fine, I got a huge blister under my toe, probably due to the extra weight. 
But, as I will probably have to do many many times during the crossing, I had to focus through the pain and keep my objective in sight. Giving up is not really part of my vocabulary and it is certainly not a blister, however painful, which will make me turn back.  
On Wednesday after lunch, I tried to rollerski with a 20 kilos backpack (I upped it up in the morning to get my back stronger), but my blister was prohibiting me to do so, and as needed to go get some items for Greenland, I went shopping with my backpack. I decided that it would be better to try and heal the foot until Saturday so that I could train pulling my sled in Norway rather than arriving there a cripple and finding it very difficult to concentrate! Thanks to the people at Ernest Jones who made me an unbelievable deal on a sports watch when they heard that it was a charity trek.

In the evening I had to shake off my "extreme mother" look of ponytail, gym and training clothes, and do my hair, put on some make up and a dress, swap my trainers for heels to attend a beautiful Children in Crisis fundraising event at the Roof Gardens. The Duchess of York very kindly sat me at her table, next to her lovely daughters and I had a great time. Antonia, Lucy and the whole Children in Crisis team were there, as were many people who donate their time, expertise and money to this wonderful cause. Many people donated generously, but I feel that it was way below the money which could have been raised by such a prestigious crowd. I still cannot understand how one can live an unbelievably privileged life of luxury like the one we live in in London, with the best schools, doctors, and sports activities on hand for our children, and not feel inclined to make a small pledge of £100 to fund some programs which will forever change children's lives for the better! But I strongly believe that life is a give and take, and the amazing thing is that if one goes to visit these really poor families, they will happily share with you the little food they have, they will give you warmth and friendship without counting, and they are really teaching us a lesson about what living in this world is about! 

Busy day!

London is so beautiful when the sun is shining, and today there was not one cloud in the sky!

My day started with a grocery delivery (still and always a Mum and housewife), and then I put on my backpack, which today weighed 20 kilos, and headed for a 2 hour walk in Hyde Park park with my dogs. 

I just love walking with my backpack!

It brings back memories from trekking along the GR20 in Corsica. It is a really tough mountainous trek that I did twice. The first time I only did the northern part in 5 days and the first 2 days were incredibly tough. I had huge blisters on my feet, and the going was either very steep going up, or down, and frankly I didn't know what was worse! But as the days went on, I felt more and more like a fish in water. A couple of years later, I did the GR20 in its entirety in 12 days, and although the first 2 days were as tough and painful as during the first run, once over this hurdle, I enjoyed the trek so much that I was very sad when it ended.
Hopefully, the same will happen in Greenland! I think that the first 2 days will be very tough as we are hauling our heavy sled uphill on a glacier. By the time we reach the icecap and the relative flatness of it, I shall be pretty exhausted but hopefully without blisters or frostbite, and pulling the sled will become second nature.


Back from the park, I jumped in my car, and off to the gym for my lesson with Andy. We worked hard today and concentrated on my abs... As soon as the lesson finished I was off to see Jatinder and his wife who run "Embroidery by Design Ltd". If anyone who reads these lines has any embroidery work to be done, this is the place! There were so nice and are embroidering all my training clothes with the charity logos as well as my beautiful "Extreme mother" logo.
Quick lunch at home and off to a meeting with Antonia, as well as Rebecca Cork and Dee Macdonald who both work for The Right to Play. We talked about doing a launch party and strategies to get some media exposure in order to get more sponsors. I must say that I am a bit disappointed at the moment as sponsorship is coming very slowly. Sadly the economic situation does not help. But I am an optimist by nature, and I am sure that I just have to be patient! At least I have a lot of help and support from the 2 charities.
And to finish the day, I went to my drama class and we had a really great course tonight. We were a small group and we are doing impros with masks. Fascinating!


When I read those lines I realise how lucky I was the day I was born. It is true that you need luck in life, and when I think of the appalling conditions in which some children are born, and the cosy loving environment I was born in, I feel that I cannot do nothing. 

I believe that life is a give and take, so now I am giving back by helping children have the means to get a better life

Nutrition and Training

What a great conversation I had with Dr Nick Knight who is a doctor specialising in expedition medicine and knows all about nutrition and training routines for such an event. (Thank you Mark Hannaford for putting me in touch with him.)

He advised me to get my body used to the eating routine that I will have in Greenland, which will be a 

good breakfast high in complex sugar 

which means slow release energy, like oats, with sugar or honey, and dried fruits, and 

we need to drink at least 1/2 litre.

Then we will ski for 50 minutes, and take a 10 minutes break. 

During each break, we need to drink about 1/2 litre and eat fast releasing sugar. I like dried fruits, sesame snaps, raisins, nuts, flapjacks or brownies. We must be careful to eat what we find easy to digest as we don't want our stomach to use up too much of our energy reserves. If we ski during 8 hours, how many breaks will we have? (the answer is at the bottom of the page....)

When we set camp, we have dinner, and again these are slow release, complex sugars, to replenish our body of energy and lots of fluids.

We also talked about training as he currently training a team of rowers who will cross the Indian Ocean... He advised me also to start to have the same training routine as in Greenland. Which means go to the park with a lot of water and snacks, roller-ski for 50 minutes and do a 10 minutes break, and so on. He also said that I should either pull a tyre, or carry a backpack. I could start with 10 kilos, increasing each week, to end up with 60 kilos by mid-April. It was great as it gave me a really good idea for Corsica. I am going to bring my walking poles and my backpack and do all the walking I can with the same 50/10 minutes + snacks routine. Training hard is great but I must be careful to build my strength as I don't want to injure myself before my expedition.

So I am going to keep a nutrition diary during the next few weeks and see which snacks give me the energy required to go on, which ones I digest the best, which freeze-dried meals I like best, how much water I drink, etc.. so that hopefully by the time I fly to Greenland I know exactly what works best for me. 

The answer is 7 breaks... 

Beautiful day

Did yoga with Charlie this morning and we are designing a stretching program that I can do in the tent!! PT and Petter will love this! But I will have them do it too. It is really important to stretch and I am not sure that they do it.

And then I went to Wimbledon to meet Yoyo. I had so much fun on the way filming myself with the Flip in the car talking about the challenge and about ideas to do a small DVD talking about the challenge, see some training shots in the park and the gym, having pictures of Greenland, people skiing and pulling pulkas, sastrugis, etc... Then we could send this to potential sponsors and it would be more dynamic than the footage that we have at the moment.

Yoyo is another very inspiring woman 

who is going to take part in the race to the South Pole!!! My God, she is my idol. Yoyo is a friend of a friend, but I felt like I knew her since ever as we share so much passions and thoughts. We are both quite passionate characters, very optimistic, quite tough, and it seems that we love life so much that we don't want to waste time! We both like skiing, trekking, the New Forests, our dogs, pushing ourselves to the limit, and of course adore our kids. We talked about doing the Haute Route together next year, and I hope that we will.

Anyway, Yoyo very very kindly lent me a lot of the stuff which she went to the North Pole in. A very warm down jacket, some shoes for the tent, gloves and something which I had no idea existed and which will be soooo good for my back at the end of a gruelling day: a foldable chair. I told her that I will be thinking of her and thanking her everyday in Norway and Greenland!

From Wimbledon to Brook Green where I went to see Karen, who designed my beautiful logo. Such a lovely and helpful lady. I cannot believe that she produced such an amazing artwork in such a short time. She worked on it even more today to make "extreme mother" more easily readable, and it will look stunning on my clothes. I can't wait to wear it. I think that this will be the day when this whole adventure will really sink in my brain. I will go and see Jatinder asap and have him do transfers to put my logo (green for Greenland!) on my training clothes so that I can use them next week in the park.

So watch out for extreme mother training on rollerskis  in Hyde Park next week!!

Now, for dinner, I am going to sample one of the freeze dried food that I will bring with me in Greenland!! "Salmon in dill sauce with potatoes" anyone???? Maybe Gloria Gaynor was crossing the Arctic and eating this dinner when she wrote "I will survive"!!!.. If there is no new post tomorrow, please call 999!!

Up and down day

Had a bit of an up and down day yesterday. 

First I went to the gym training with Andy and had a good session. I feel that my abs are really getting stronger and I can keep them switched on for longer , gooood! Stronger abs means better back protection while I am pulling my sled. I love this piece of gym equipment. It is a real challenge just to keep perfectly still on that thing...

Then I had lunch with a truly inspirational woman, Anne Feeley who discovered 7 years ago that she had brain cancer, but through luck, good treatment and 

sheer determination is very much alive and last year cycled across the USA to raise brain cancer awareness and raised 3 million dollars at the same time. You can read about her on www.brainsonbike.org

Back from my lunch I went to the park to rollerski and it is really getting so much better. Some people stop me now and ask me why I am doing this. I absolutely must do some clothes asap with the challenge name on it. I was thinking of having at the back of my jacket: "Ski the Arctic 2011" with my extreme logo under it. Would look wicked! I am going to go to Prontaprint on Monday morning and have the transparencies made, so that I can get on with it.

However, bad and good news in the afternoon. The media group we approached turned us down for their main TV channel (my story is not interesting enough for a big channel), but good news, they are probably going to run it on their smaller channel. 

 They think that the story of a mother who will leave her safe and pampered life behind and cross on skis while pulling her sled, one of the most inhospitable country in the world in three long weeks, braving whatever the elements will throw at her to help children who are homeless, educationless and playless in the world... 

is good REALity TV and could inspire others to do something similar and change their lives. After all, if I can do it, everybody can!!

Thanks to Emma who saved my day and with whom I had a great dinner!! We sent Per-Thore a nice picture of me gulping down a huge brownie with vanilla ice-cream (I must put on weight as I might lose as much as 10 kilos on the trip...)!

This is extreme mother logo!!

I am unbelievably happy about my logo. So simple (2 crossed skis and a M for mother and mountain), yet so powerful. It will look amazing on all my clothes. Hopefully next time I will go training in the park, it will be on the front of my jacket. It really makes me very proud and I cannot thank enough everybody involved in making this happen, and of course its wonderful designer Karen. 

Thanks a million!!