After two days of rowing more than 10km a day (15 & 12km to be precise) I went to our local Jubilee fete. I had been given a pitch there and I wanted to row another 50km. This went very well and I completed it quicker than last months, despite talking and having photos taken. I also had to eat as I rowed as we had gone out in our pair earlier in the morning and had already completed 10km on the river. I have been amazed by the amount of people that have come up to me once they know that I had Meningitis,and then tell me their stories of family and friends that have died or are severely disabled due to them having contracted Meningitis. Every time I hear this it just makes me feel very lucky to have survived, let alone only get away with the health problems that I have! But as I say to everyone - it just shows what you can achieve if you are determined enough.

But the biggest news for this month is that on Monday 18th June I reached my half way point! So that is 1006 miles complete (or 1,619,000 metres). This was reached 12 days ahead of schedule. So I am really pleased with that. And by the end of June I had completed 1073 miles (1,726,560 metres).

I had to miss out on the Concept2 Summer Solstice Challenge due to too much work etc... this was to row 21,000 metres or for 97 metres more a 1/2 marathon, but I only had time for my usual 10km.

I'm looking forward next month to getting out and about again, this time at our nearest Decathlon store as they have agreed to let me erg in the shop and I am going to attempt to row 100km in less than 8 hours. This will only be possible with my brilliant support crew, cheers guys!!! So all training at the moment is long and slow in preparation for this.

I also have a new seat pad from Pro row which is really great for long pieces as it is made from natural sheepskin so is very comfortable, especially if coupled with my usual seat pad, I'm sure this is going to come into its own on this long row.

Lastly all this training is definitely paying off as we are now training for the Boston Rowing Marathon in September, it's a 50km race in Lincolnshire & this time I'll be in a mixed 8+. We did our 1st session the other day of about 17km and it was nice to have the fitness and stamina to finish this with ease, all down to hours on the erg...

As always I am doing this to raise awareness and money for The Meningitis Trust, so please sponsor me here - http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DarrenSimmons

Cheers

Darren