Well, a really good solid week to make up for last week's poor attempt. No reaction from the knee so I'm delighted. Managed 65km since my last Blog on Monday and I'm going to keep doing weekly entries every Friday from now on.

So where does that leave me overall? 171km into my challenge is where, which equates to being just north of Leicester in my challenge. Seems crazy that I've made up that amount of distance, but it also makes it clear how far there is to go. 171km down, 4039km to go :-(

A big thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far - anyone wishing to do so please go to my JustGiving page http://www.justgiving.com/romeandback

And thanks too to anyone who has shared this page on any Social Media - hopefully the word will spread and more sponsorship will come in - I know Mia's parents are so grateful. If you want to keep an eye on her progress too, her Mum runs a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/avoiceformia. The latest update is about her improvement in making "P" and "Z" noises - such a simple thing for most of us but something that has taken so much work and money to get to for Mia and her Family.

Gym tomorrow, that'll be 5 times this week, then a rest on Sunday :-)

Well, I had predicted a difficult week given the drinking and time away, but it was worse than I had imagined! A combination of 3 days in London, a crippling 3 day hangover, catching up with work, a stomach bug and the fact that I spent most of Friday, Saturday and Sunday hobbling about with a knee injury meant I only managed a paltry 20km last week - feeble I know and that puts me well behind schedule!

The knee injury was the most frustrating. I have has a few operations on my right knee over the years, resulting in it currently being held together with a few steel pins and a bit of superglue. However, given all the work it's been doing over the last few weeks it's been feeling amazing - incredibly strong, zero pain and probably the best it has been for about a decade. Imagine my ire then when on awaking on Friday morning it was almost three times the size of my left knee, very painful and almost locked in position. And all this with no discernible cause! Went to bed on Thursday fine, woke up on Friday ruined - very annoying.

But, after a weekend of good rest it's feeling much better and I managed a steady session at the gym this morning with no negative effects. Very weird, but hopeful all better now.

The Stag Do in London was awesome. The hangover was not. I will leave out the gory details.

So, I'm now back on track and ready to eat up some of the deficit this week. I'm shooting for 5 x 20km days, which will put me pretty much back on track and a fair way down the country on my virtual journey. Fingers crossed that my knee agrees to this plan.

Right, well, because I only got round to doing my original blog post today, then it's a double header as today marks the end of week 1!
Managed 4 sessions at the gym this week, for a combined 78.8km, which puts my progres just south of Goole. Not a shabby start!
Next week is going to be tough. Tomorrow marks four gym sessions in four days, first time I've done that in about 12 years, and I'm tired already. However got three days of rest and recouperation after that, in the form 3 days drinking in London to celebrate my friend Rayner's impending nuptuals. 
I get the feeling that Monday's session is going to be tougher.....

Just a quick shout out to all the people who have sponsored me so far, a good solid start and I'm hoping to hammer the social networking sites next week to really start spreading it as far as possible.

This includes some generous sponsorship from Local and National businesses - Start Fitness (www.startfitness.co.uk) and Maximuscle (www.maximuscle.co.uk) have both been very generous and Cycle Lane Ltd in Pocklington (http://www.cyclelane-ltd.co.uk) have also offered me sponsorship- very much appreciated and a big help towards keeping me going!

On November 1st 2012, I started a virtual journey from my home in York, UK, to Rome in Italy and back again.

Crazy I hear you cry? Possibly.

Ridiculous? Probably.

Pointless? Definitely not.

Over the next 12 months I will be cycling, swimming, running, rowing, hiking, basically anything I can do to make up the 4210km that make this journey, and keeping an accurate log of how far I've done. A lot of the work will be done in my local gym, which basically equates to about 16km of gym work, 5 times a week, for 52 weeks. I'm sure this might not be such a daunting task to anyone who is fit and looks after themselves, but i'm not, and I don't. It's going to be an absolute lifestyle change for me and a massive challenge.

Other than the obvious benefits for me, I'm raising money for a girl who currently is in need of potentially lifechanging therapy. He rname is Mia, she is 7 years old, and suffers from Verbal Dyspraxia, Auditory Processing Disorder and Speech and Language Impairment. basically put, she has very limited communication output as the language areas of her brain have not developed properly. She struggles to communicate with her parents and other children, except through very basic sign language. She obviously has frustration tantrums, as she cannot express to others what she is feeling or thinking.

However there is therapy that she can have that will help her realise her potential for speech and communication - but it is very expensive, and is not available through the NHS or through schools. Mia's parents face the realisation that time is running out for her to have this treatment, as once she reaches a certain age her ability to learn these skills will plateau. 

She has no real ‘friends’. It is such a huge barrier. She can run and chase with other children, but with such limited means of communication friendship as most of us see it is difficult. Her parents take care to give her as happy an existence as possible, but their life is like one, long, complicated game of charades. She has made enough progress for them to know, beyond doubt, that with the right therapy Mia can become an effective verbal communicator. The brain is amazing and can utilise different pathways to give Mia speech and enable her to use and understand language. With help, we can give Mia a voice. If you would like to hear more of her story please go to http://www.avoiceformia.org.uk/

Anyone wanting to sponsor me, please go to my JustGiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/romeandback any donations are gratefully received, and will go directly to Mia's therapy, coutesy of the amazing Tree of Hope charity.