Owwww 2

Struggling to get to sleep. Feet are hurting so much.
Wish my alarm wasn't set for 7am tomorrow.  Ho hum, life goes on.

Job done

We made it. 4pm on the dot.

Danny is my hero!

Beer at last

Due to being fast walkers, we appear to have time for a pint in the Greyhound, Wigginton, Herts.  Timothy Taylor Landlord no less

Lunch in Wendover

We've discovered a breed of people we never knew existed. Yummy hikers. Thick makeup, burberry jacket and hat, holding hands with something-in-the-city boyfriend.
We won't let it change us though.
On another note, Danny has become friendlier with other dogs as of this morning.  Perhaps he's discovered himself and this has been more than a physical journey for him.

Owwww

Pulled muscle in right calf climbing up hill east of Chequers. Very annoying.
Only 12 miles to go though. Ish

David, David, give us a wave!

Not enough time to drop in for elevenses at Chequers.  Must press on. 

Leaving Princes Risborough

Day 4

Left the Black Horse at 9. Hope to go back some day with clean clothes and shoes.
Got to the Ridgeway south of Princes Risborough at 9.30. About 19 miles to go. On target for 4pm finish at Ivinghoe Beacon.

And so to bed...

Danny and I are hunkering down on the bar floor tonight as it's blowing a gail outside.
Couldn't have found a more hospitable pub. They've even left the light on in the ladies coz it's so much nicer than the gents.
Plus they're going to have a whip round tomorrow for my fundraising.

End of day 3

Ok so it's further from Aldworth to Lacey Green than I thought. We walked for 9.5 hours today at something approaching 3.5mph. Somewhere between 30 and 32 miles is my estimate.
The last two hours were in the dark and the last one was in lashing rain too.
Thankfully Danny's nose is better than my eyes as I had no idea which way to go setting off across open fields in the dark. As soon as darkness fell Dan took the lead and kept us on course.
Only 19 or 20 miles to go tomorrow.  Hope to be done for 4pm.
Just short of £1800 raised on Justgiving.com / 1man1dog1tent too.

Day 3

Lunch at 1.30 midway between Mongewell and Nuffield. Phone battery misbehaving so no updates till I get to Lacey Green

Day 1

Well I couldn't update this earlier as the rain was too heavy. Yuk!
We've done about 15 miles so far and we're tired but ok.
I think Danny is more confused than anything.
I'll post pic once I'm on wifi at the Fox & Hounds in Uffington.
At this rate we could be there for 6.00

By the way, yki should be able to track my progress at the following link.
http://www.greenalp.com/RealtimeTracker/index.php?viewuser=1man1dog1tent
Ttfn
Phil and Danny

8.5 hours to go

Time for some sleep. Start time has been revised to 9am to allow for othet family members getting to work etc.
Bag is mostly packed. I'll be weighing it in the morning.  Anything under 30lb (13.6kg) and I'll be happy.

Media madness

Well it seems the PR guy at the hospital knows his stuff.  I'm going to be live on BBC Radio Berkshire at 4.30pm tomorrow (Wednesday).
Fancy that!

One Week To Go

This time next week Danny and I will be en route from Overton Hill to Uffington, with about 12 miles behind us, and another 12 in front for the day.

The bad news is that I slightly pulled my right calf muscle bowling in the nets last night at cricket practice. So there will be no heavy training walks for a couple of days while I apply plenty of ibuprofen gel and make sure it's fully recovered.

The good news is that I've already raised nearly £1600, 60% over my original target! I hope to press on to £2500 now, with offline donations starting to gather speed, and a few promised donations to come.

The weather forecast doesn't look too bad.  A few showers predicted for Thursday, dry on Friday and Saturday.  However, any forecast over about 3 days is not terribly accurate, so I shan't get complacent just yet.

I still have my fingers crossed that the BBC might pick up my story.  That would be a tremendous boost.  Meanwhile, here's another picture of Danny, and a reminder of the website for on-line donations.

www.justgiving.com/1man1dog1tent

• 26th February 2015 - leave Overton Hill, Nr Avebury, Wilts

• One 47-year old man
• One 10-year old border collie
• One tent
• 4 days
• 87 miles
• £1000

• 1st March 2015 - arrive Ivinghoe Beacon, Nr Tring, Bucks

Those are the numbers that matter this year.

Below are the numbers that mattered last year.

• 11th March 2014 - diagnosis of advanced, aggressive breast cancer

• 6 sessions of FEC-T Chemotherapy
• 1 Mastectomy
• 15 sessions of Radiotherapy
• At least 16 other drugs to alleviate the side-effects of the above
• 3 trips to A&E
• 2 admittals

• 17th December 2014 - final radiotherapy

OK, so treatment is on-going, but the cancer has been removed, and that's what last year's hellish 9 months was all about.

My wife Marny received tremendous care during that time from the staff of the Berkshire Cancer Centre in Reading.  They really couldn't have done more.  Everyone was fantastic, from the surgeon and oncologists, to breast care nurses, the hair loss advisor, the volunteer receptionists, the chemo nurses, the radiologists, even Sue making endless mugs of tea and coffee in the King Edward ward.

It turned out that there is so much more to treating cancer than the medical side of it.  Nurses on call to give advice at any time.  A consultant oncologist who will stop and chat, and rearranged his day to address Marny's problems. Specialist chemo nurses for whom being surrounded by cancer patients all day seems to be a joy.  And they give so much peace and joy in return to those same patients.  I will never forget how wonderful they all were, and to make sure other people receive that service in their hour of need, I want to raise as much money as possible for the centre.

Please give generously, at www.justgiving.com/1man1dog1tent

There is also a sponsorship form in the bar at The Bell Inn, Aldworth, RG8 9SE, if you prefer to give cash.