12.5 miles today. A little walk to the Massingberd Arms for a few pints, then back to the George and Dragon to cool off with a couple of ciders.

Disaster strikes after 10 miles. After the first two hours at a fair pace, muscle pain starts in front of my thighs. By the first check point at 9 miles, I'm slowed right down. Fifteen minutes rest and onwards and a slightly more sedate pace, but after a mile, the pain becomes more intense. 9 miles to the next stop (and an exit point from the sea bank) seems too far to risk, so I have to turn back. Very odd, as I've walked for much longer than that before now.

Anyway, Gary carried the tracker the rest of the way so you can at least see where I was planning on walking!

Early night tonight in preparation for the Marathon. The live mapping will be showing my progress.

Getting ready for the Skegness to Boston Marathon on Sunday. Beer seems to fit in the rucksack perfectly, as you can see here, which will please Gary Bennett who is keeping me company.

The total raised for LIVES from the drinks evening on 8th was £752.00, with the same amount going to Hagworthingham Church. Thank you again to everyone that worked to organise and supported the evening - on behalf of myself, LIVES and the Lincolnshire people that your generosity will undoubtedly help.

The Open Gardens event raised £165.36 for LIVES, with the same amount being donated to Hagworthingham Church. Thanks, everyone, for the hard work that went into making the day a success and thank you to everyone who visited. I hope everyone enjoyed the day, which remained sunny & warm in spite of the nay-sayers predictions. As always, it never ceases to amaze me the goodwill and generosity that LIVES bring out in people.

Met Rachel Green who was doing the Pirate Gold Treasure Hunt for BBC Radio Lincolnshire and had a clue in the village. Spoke on air with Rob Underwood about LIVES, the Kilimanjaro climb and our planned ascent of Steep Hill in Lincoln breathing through a straw (thanks, Yvonne!)

Thank you to everyone who supported the drinks evening at the Church. Dr. Richard Harper-Smith MBE , who was a founder of LIVES, was present. It was a privilege to meet him and talk about the early days of the charity. People in Lincolnshire have a lot to thank him for.

On Sunday 10th we have Open Gardens and there will be a LIVES tent with information and demonstrations.

Broke the £2,000 mark. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me on this challenge, or has made a donation at events organsised to raise funds for LIVES.

Started breaking in the boots. They really are a lot more comfortable than I remember walking boots being from my school days (the last time I walked any real distance on a mountain), but the 19th will be the big test. 26 miles from Skegness to Boston on the Seabank Marathon. Obviously not running (much) in boots and a rucksack, and not much of a test at altitude, but if I avoid:

Back from Glastonbury, which turned out to be a good source of exercise, trudging around in thick mud. Trench foot and sunburn, all within 3 days.

28th September 12:17:40	Back at last night's camp before descending to Millenium Camp for tonight
28th September 08:33:12	Success! Arrived at the summit.
27th September 13:24:15	At Barafu camp 4650m We start out for summit at midnight
26th September 17:50:25	Great day moving across Barranco Wall. Not the toughest day, but probably the most exciting.
25th September 20:37:55	At camp and in bed. Really tough day.
24th September 16:02:51	At Shira2 camp. Wet, cold but happy. Put back out this morning reaching into tent but a cocktail of drugs and a good walk and all OK
23rd September 13:18:00	Another day in the forest and then out in to 8ft high heather. This place is vast. We are at Shira 1 camp tonight.
22nd September 11:41:00	Off we go! After driving to the Kilimanjaro National Park and signing in, we are starting the climb with a long trek through the rainforest, ending up at Big Tree Camp..
21st September 09:14:22	Arrived at Kilimanjaro, today will be spent relaxing at the hotel and having the last beers for several days!
21st September 06:34:25	At Nairobi
20th September 20:24:30	All done with airport security. Another obstacle overcome successfully. Next stop Nairobi.
20th September 15:48:09	Just heard that Cotswold Outdoor has donated 75 kilos worth of boots for us to take out for the local ground staff - amazing generosity!
20th September 14:03:15	On my way to Heathrow (via my parents to say goodbye). Note that all timestamps are in local Kilimanjaro time from now on.
19th September	Almost time - this is what we've been preparing for and I'm really excited! I'm packing my bag tonight and not sure how it's all going to fit in. The flight is tomorrow evening -overnight to Kilimanjaro International Airport, via Nairobi. We get in early on the 21st and then have a day at a hotel preparing our kit for the following day.
17th September	No ill effects from either of the pills, which is a relief. Just getting the last bits sorted out for updating the website and learning how the satellite phone works, charging batteries and so on.
15th September	Only 5 days until departure! The last few weeks have been hectic, getting the last few bits of kit together and keeping up the walks. Trying out Diamox today and tomorrow to see whether it adveresly affects me. Diamox is the drug you take if you get altitude sickness, so knowing what the side effects are like will mean that I don't worry that they are the AMS getting worse. Also anti malarial day tomorrow - another potential for feeling ill with side effects. The views had better be bloody good when I get there!
27th August	Steep Hill publicity walk went OK. Breathing through a straw is pretty difficult if you pinch your nose. Surely it can't be that bad when we are on the mountain? Feeling pretty confident now and really looking forward to the trip. The last 3 weeks of weight loss and walks are going to fly by, I suspect. I have most of the kit I need, which is a relief as the bank account is getting pretty depleted by the hidden costs of this kind of thing.
19th August	Off to London to collect the Visas for Tanzania. All kit now ordered, so ready to go!
13th August	Thanks to everyone that supported the car boot sale at the pub today. We raise £154 for LIVES. Thanks to Martin & Jackie for hosting and for the teas & coffees and especially to Val for organising the event.
8th August	An absolutely manic week with work has affected training, but back to the routine from tomorrow.
27th July	12.5 miles today. A little walk to the Massingberd Arms for a few pints, then back to the George and Dragon to cool off with a couple of ciders.
22nd July	13 miles in last couple of days without any problems. Need to find pubs that are progressively further away, as having a target makes the walk so much easier.
19th July	Back to training, now that my legs work again. All in all, a minor setback and good that I discovered the shortfall in my training plan with time to spare. The tracking all worked well, so that's a job ticked off the list.
17th July	Disaster strikes after 10 miles. After the first two hours at a fair pace, muscle pain starts in front of my thighs. By the first check point at 9 miles, I'm slowed right down. Fifteen minutes rest and onwards and a slightly more sedate pace, but after a mile, the pain becomes more intense. 9 miles to the next stop (and an exit point from the sea bank) seems too far to risk, so I have to turn back. Very odd, as I've walked for much longer than that before now. The boots and rucksack were comfortable and the knees were fine, but I'm not sure that the X-trainer and treadmill are working the same muscles as I used today. I'm going to walk 5 miles in boots and ruscksack every other day this week and build up the distance over the coming weeks. Anyway, Gary carried the tracker the rest of the way so you can at least see where I was planning on walking!
16th July	Early night tonight in preparation for the Marathon. The live mapping will be showing my progress.
14th July	Getting ready for the Skegness to Boston Marathon on Sunday. Beer seems to fit in the rucksack perfectly, as you can see here, which will please Gary Bennett who is keeping me company.
11th July	The total raised for LIVES from the drinks evening on 8th was £752.00, with the same amount going to Hagworthingham Church. Thank you again to everyone that worked to organise and supported the evening - on behalf of myself, LIVES and the Lincolnshire people that your generosity will undoubtedly help.
10th July	The Open Gardens event raised £165.36 for LIVES, with the same amount being donated to Hagworthingham Church. Thanks, everyone, for the hard work that went into making the day a success and thank you to everyone who visited. I hope everyone enjoyed the day, which remained sunny & warm in spite of the nay-sayers predictions. As always, it never ceases to amaze me the goodwill and generosity that LIVES bring out in people. The money raised by the drinks evening at the church last Friday is being tallied, and looks like being an incredible total - again, split between the Church in Hagworthingham & LIVES. As soon as I have the total, I'll post an update. Met Rachel Green who was doing the Pirate Gold Treasure Hunt for BBC Radio Lincolnshire and had a clue in the village. Spoke on air with Rob Underwood about LIVES, the Kilimanjaro climb and our planned ascent of Steep Hill in Lincoln breathing through a straw (thanks, Yvonne!)
8th July	Thank you to everyone who supported the drinks evening at the Church. Dr. Richard Harper-Smith MBE , who was a founder of LIVES, was present. It was a privilege to meet him and talk about the early days of the charity. People in Lincolnshire have a lot to thank him for. On Sunday 10th we have Open Gardens and there will be a LIVES tent with information and demonstrations.
7th July	Broke the £2,000 mark. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me on this challenge, or has made a donation at events organsised to raise funds for LIVES.
4th July	Started breaking in the boots. They really are a lot more comfortable than I remember walking boots being from my school days (the last time I walked any real distance on a mountain), but the 19th will be the big test. 26 miles from Skegness to Boston on the Seabank Marathon. Obviously not running (much) in boots and a rucksack, and not much of a test at altitude, but if I avoid: a) serious blisters b) knee problems c) an ambulance all will be well.
28th June	Back from Glastonbury, which turned out to be a good source of exercise, trudging around in thick mud. Trench foot and sunburn, all within 3 days. The serious training starts now - no beer, wine, cheeses, burgers and anything else that is going to hamper shedding 28 lbs between now and departure.