Day 6 - Skegness to Barton-upon-Humber

This will be the second running day, and also a longer one than the last 51 mile run. We are still on the East Coast of the United Kingdom but am moving ever closer to Scotland. These are some of the flattest areas which I will be passing on my 4500 mile expedition with a combined ascent of merely 571ft and descent of 564ft with the highest point being 59ft for this day.

Skegness station where I will be starting from was opened in 1873 where the first train arrived on 28 July and was then dubbed the "Blackpool" of the East Coast.

This leg of my journey will take the longest to complete so far with estimated times of 13 - 15 hours for this 68 mile day, with a minimum energy consumption in the area of roughly 7594 calories, the biggest energy consumption i would endure in the first week.

I will be passing towns/ cities like Sutton-on-Sea, North Somercotes, the historical Grimsby, Immingham and then finally Barton-upon-Humber railway station.

The aim of this blog is to give you some idea of what I expect for the different days of my fifty day expedition and is by no means absolute in any/ all calculations as situations may change on the drop of a hat.

I will keep a more specific update as this expedition is underway, explaining the differences between the reality of this journey and these earlier explanatory blogs. So I would like you to take this journey with me how I am perceiving not only all the obstacles and downfalls but also all the beauty that this great country has to offer.

You can also follow me on twitter @AroundTheUKin50 or visit my web page: http://www.aroundtheukin50days.com/.

Day 5 - Cromer to Skegness

An apparent mild 116 mile ride. Again we move more north up the Eastern coast of the UK with not much ascent, a combined 1047ft and 1006ft combined descent with the maximum height being just 105ft. Although an easy ride my energy consumption should still be around 5300 calories depending on the weather and wind direction/ strength.

This area called Lincolnshire is the first area I visited when I arrived in the UK in early 2003. First time round I must admit I didn't take much to the area, but hope for some rejuvenation of my experience.

" Lynn originated as a settlement on a constricted site to the south of the mouth of the River Great Ouse. Development began in the early 10th century, but was not recorded until the early 11th century."

On my route I'll pass through places like, Hunstanton, King's Lynn, Holbeach, Boston before ending at Skegness rail station. The whole time keeping the North Sea not for from my sights, as someone said: " If you keep the water on your right your on the right road"

Don't forget to have a look at my web page or just giving account for more info.

http://www.aroundtheukin50days.com/ and
http://www.justgiving.com/AroundTheUKin50Days

Day 4 - Harwich to Cromer

We start this day by firstly crossing from Harwich to Felixstow by ferry then getting on my bike to make my way north along the coast of the North Sea:

This is a cycling day again and I would expect it to be a very difficult start of a long day, this is not such a troublesome day with regards to many hills. Here the total ascent 1824ft, total descent 1768ft and maximum height of 184ft for the predicted 110 mile ride is not as much an enemy than the fatigue from running 51 miles on Day 3 and the relentless wind off the North Sea.

This is a beautiful stretch of ride, on the east we have the North Sea and in various places on the west I will be passing through scattered forests and woods of all sizes. Passing through towns/ cities such as Alterton, Aldeburgh, Dunwich, Blackwater, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Eccles-on-Sea, Mundesley and finally Cromer to end at the rail station.

On this leg of my journey my energy expenditure is calculated to be approximately 5022 calories for 110 miles as appose to Day 3's 51 mile run at 5731 calories.
All calculations are only approximations and to know the real values I would have to be doing the expedition and you would have to follow the input I then give.

You can also follow more information on twitter @AroundTheUKin50 and have a look at my web-page http://www.aroundtheukin50days.com/

I would like to make an URGENT APPEAL to any one who owns a motor home or know someone who owns a motor home to contact me as soon as possible via e-mail: ettiennedbr778@gmail.com.

I have included a link if you would like to have a closer look at Day 4 and where the route will take me for this day: http://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_1669943.html

Lastly, as this expedition is for a real and life changing cause any donation would be greatly appreciated by the women who this is aimed to help. Please make a donation by following the link below or even easier by just texting FQDL90 £1 to 70070 to make a quick and painless donation that counts.

http://www.justgiving.com/AroundTheUKin50Days

Thank you.

Day 3 - Burnham-on-Crouch to Harwich

Day 3 of this expedition is where things get a bit messier. As I mentioned before, two days cycling one day running, and this is the running day...
Now one would think that having a history of running one would be more optimistic about the running days, and I'd agree, if it was a mere marathon or 10 miles, but this kind of running that I'm proposing leaves one in a suspicious frame of mind.

(You might have noticed that I propose to end and start my various days at the rail station of various towns/ cities and that is for no other reason than to keep things simple for myself.)

Starting around 5:00 am on 3 September 2012 at Burnham-on-Crouch rail station, and progressing towards Harwich, one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North sea to it's east. This journey is not so much a coastal route due to the geographical nature of the countryside which would make it very hard to follow the coastal route. But instead I would weave to and from the coast passing through towns/ cities such as; Maldon, Heybridge, past the Universality of Colchester and ending at Harwich Town station.

The projections for this day if we look at the total ascent of 1306ft, descent 1335ft and maximum height 128ft, would propose it to be a relatively smooth day, however remembering the past two days of cycling with joint distance of close to 240 miles and the distance covered in Day 3 being 51 miles on foot (nearly two marathons back to back).

I think it can be safe to say as I mentioned earlier, to view this day with a suspicious frame of mind even with a running history. Here is a link to Day 3 to have a closer look at the journey planned for this day,
 http://gb.mapometer.com/running/route_1669921.ht

London Tribe-sport Ultra Marathon. 

Finally, I would like to remind everyone reading this blog, that the reason I'm attempting this is not for personal gain or fame but to raise awareness of the lack of information available to the general public about A: how we can limit the emotional pain created by this very real and destructive disease and
B: how to look for potential triggers.

The Haven Breast Cancer Support Centre is one very individual charity that have grasped the true essence of caring for and building life changing habits that support women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. It is also for The Haven that I am fundraising and making an appeal to sponsor me any amount to reach my goal of £100,000 which would finance the treatment for 100 women. To learn more about the Haven Breast Cancer Support Centre follow the link below:

http://www.thehaven.org.uk/

and to make any donation, please visit my justgiving account by following the link below:

 http://www.justgiving.com/AroundTheUKin50Days

Day 2 - Margate to Burnham-on-Crouch

Today we'll have a look at Day 2 of the expedition, starting from Margate rail station and continuing down the coast line towards Burnham-on-Crouch. This will be the second day of cycling so a run will follow this day.

After leaving Margate I'll pass through Herne Bay , Whitstable then make my way towards London (Gravesend) and over the Thames by ferry, then through Southend-on-Sea and finally finish for the day at Bunham-on-Crouch rail station. This will be a shorter day than Day1 with 104 miles to the clock. Again this is quite flat with a combined ascent of 2123ft and respectively 2133ft descent and the maximum height being 279ft. For Day 2 I am hoping to get away with about 4500 calories, which I will explain in a later blog what I intend to munch to keep me going.

Sometimes while planning an expedition one gets swallowed up in the logistics of it all and forget to really focus on the primary aim, which in this case is Breast Cancer. I cant stress enough the importance of education on this matter, and when I'm talking about education I don't mean just knowing about the disease. It is knowledge  that goes beyond merely knowing how to check for any lumps, it goes even beyond regular mammogram checks.


The first thing I want to make clear before we go on, is that I have no intention of stepping on anybody's toes or point fingers in any direction, and am aware that hereditary cancers or any other cancer for that matter is not anyone's fault. There are some alarm bells that; if we're tuned-in, we would be able to possibly spot earlier potential warning lights.

Again I speak from personal experience and had to sit down myself and ask hundreds of questions and in some cases had to face very real and uncomfortable answers. We sat down to dissect all Tricia's previous ailments as far as she could remember and potential causes.

The problem is that there is just not enough understanding of this disease to put our suspicions on black and white.

I would like people to give some feedback on my thoughts, as I am not a doctor or any other medical expert so would really appreciate any input from these sources. Here is a link which I think if people like to learn more might find educational; https://twitter.com/#!/CancerReport.

Also to end this blog is the link to Day 2 of my expedition: http://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_1669906.html

Day 1 - Brighton to Margate

As time draws nearer the start of my expedition, I thought it time to get some of my routes, expectations, calorie consumption and general perception out in public.

My expedition will start on the morning of 1 September 2012 on Brighton pier, and after a send off by gym team, Haven team and all who believes in making a change, I will make my way towards Margate via the coastline passing  well known and beautiful towns and cities such as Eastbourne, Hastings, Folkestone, Dover, Deal and Ramsgate.

In this expedition I will alternate between cycling and running, starting with two days of cycling followed by one day of running, then repeated to the end. As this will be my first day and being relatively flat, save for a few places, I am expecting to expend not much more than 5700 calories in this 134 mile ride.
The combined ascent to Margate is an estimated 3648ft as the descent is 3625ft with the maximum height being around 525ft.

I have included a link so you could have a closer look at my route for Day 1:

http://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_1669891.html

To those who have just started to take an interest in this expedition (which I might say is not a feeble one) I would like to join you to my fight against not only Breast Cancer but the lack of good constructive information that could safe a woman's life if someone could get it out to the nation and also the NHS.

I speak from personal experience as my wife have been through the conventional conveyor belt system that the NHS have in place to "deal" with Breast Cancer.

I am hoping that this expedition around the UK would start a ripple in a pond that might later shake the think engines of our society into a more constructive and preventative way of looking at the disease.
And to the critics, yes I know that technology is moving into the a whole different direction that "could" save thousands of lives, however I would like to point out that wile we are waiting for technology to reach such a stage, thousands of women dies.

I hope that I have the opportunity to test peoples thoughts and believes along this journey, because there are so many women out there that would give their souls to feel whole again, and I believe that if we break things down a little and implement complementary treatments such as what The Haven offers, we can safely say we are walking in the right direction.