It's been a fairly interesting week with regards to the trek! As my kit list was sent through the post, I am now the proud owner to most of the Arctic clothing I'll need (pictured in my last blog I think)- thermals, jumpers, fleeces, scarves to cover my face and a rather large fluffy hat which I must admit will probably be worn on a day to day basis as well. All that's really left for me to get are some ski goggles and really good sunglasses due to the sun glare from the ice and snow - having seen our puppy Joe's reaction to even a camera flash I do wonder how the huskies are going to cope with this?! The company organising the challenge provide a lot of the specialist gear such as the tent and snow boots, although apparently one year someone did try and bring their own boots but ended up getting frostbite (not what I wanted to hear!).

The fundraising has also been going really well having reached the £3000 mark (76% of my target!) and with the help of friends I have now organised a pub quiz and raffle having been booked for late March which should be a giggle and raise a fair amount!

With regards to the training however, things haven't gone quite so smoothly. Although one positive note is that both dogs can now be walked, which means I'm now walking for around 1 hour 30 minutes daily which must be doing some good! Having powered through just under 5300m on the rowing machine in one go earlier in the week (the furthest I'd ever gone, I'm both proud and slightly saddened to admit!) I thought things were going rather well. However having spoken to my Dad it seemed that although my distances were improving with every session, my technique was not. Dad has been using the Concept2 in a gym environment and at home to try and get back to his fitness levels from his 'rugby days' and so had been properly taught rowing technique, while I had developed some pretty bad habits changing from the gym to simply doddering about in the garage making things up as I went along! Having spoken to him it seemed that I was pulling with my arms rather than pushing with my legs (bad, I now know!) So I got in contact with Concept2 to ask for some advice as although I am for once enjoying exercise, and do plan to continue using the rowing machine even after the trek, I don't want it to cause problems later in life! I was directed to their technique video online (experienced rowers look away, this is embarrassing!) and I learnt that....

• The foot strap should be at the base of your toes (not around your ankles as I had previously assumed, oops)
• You do not lean back during the drive!
• Ridiculously tense shoulders are not the way forward. Your legs should,, really, do most of the work.

With my newfound knowledge I tried again the next day, however although I really did try to follow what I'd seen in the video, and although this time my shoulders didn't ache (yay progress!) this time my forearms really hurt! I am well aware of the phrase 'no pain, no gain' but where rowing is concerned, where exactly should the pain be in order to get the gain?! Any help would be appreciated, it's a little disheartening to know you're probably rowing 'wrong', but I'm hoping to conquer this ASAP so I can get back to improving my distance. As ever, it's a work in progress!

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