My Cancer Charity

[Mike Vogel]

Dear colleagues, friends and acquaintances,

I hope you will forgive this and future reminders of my sponsorship drive. Please access the following Justgiving website and email the link to all your own family, friends and acquaintances.

http://www.justgiving.com/mikevogel

The Mary Wallace Foundation [Wallace Cancer Care] provides advice and treatment for cancer patients and their carers. Their main focus is on coping strategies and the relief of stress and anxiety. Their website is http://www.wallacecancercare.org.uk
but can also be accessed via Justgiving.

I will repeat this email as a sort of reminder from time to time between now and August. Even if you may have taken action, others you will have emailed may forget.

If you would like to support Wallace Cancer Care but feel uncomfortable about giving online, you can send a cheque to:

Wallace Cancer Care
7 Red Cross Lane
Cambridge
CB2 0QU

But please also print out, sign and include the gift-aid declaration, which I have attached to this email, if you are a UK taxpayer.

Many thanks and best wishes.

Mike

[Mike Vogel]

PROGRESS REPORT

Hello again, everyone.

Firstly, thanks to all who have supported me and who intend to [!!!]

I have had fun testing my walking stamina and sussing out my projected route. Most of the footpaths on the OS map are, remarkably, well demarkated on the ground and most are quite easy to walk on. There is one bit which is uphill, very uneven and about a foot wide, but that's only for about 1/3 mile.

I pushed myself twice in April between Bedford and Sandy over 15 miles, which took me 4.5 hours. Knowing I wouldn't maintain that rate over 30, I tried 20 at a steady 3 mph yesterday, including the paths between Sandy and Gamlingay with my previous effort. I ended up doing about 24, with aching calf-muscles and complaining cartilege. I know that if I do this 4 or 5 times with less discomfort at the end, I'll be able to do the 30 mile walk on Sept 6 [it won't matter if I drop dead afterwards, as that will be the "real thing".]

For a walk like this I have two big recommendations:
[a] use walking poles. These will keep you upright and, if used properly, may take between 25% and 30% of the weight off your feet and legs. However, with these my maximum speed is less than without them.

[b] This is a guess, but I suspect a change of footwear may give some relief to the feet. I bought a pair of Burghaus boots recently and broke them in over 15 miles. I was surprised at how little the feet ached afterwards [i.e. they ached a lot instead of hurting excruciatingly]. Over 30, I am thinking of alternating them with Asics trainers, which I will use for my next 24-mile practice to compare foot-ache. A thin inner sock and a thick outer are recommended and there is a gel-type inner sole available onthe market for extra cushioning.

The other problem is that if you stop for any length of time it is hell's difficult to get going again!

I am enjoying the experience, and it may be that my wife will be able soon to accompany me on some of the practice routes. She is getting herself a trike which can be powered by pedalling or by an electric battery. Since her knee-replacement the muscles and tendons have never been free of pain, and this way she hopes to get the exercise as well as being able to carry on when it hurts. She is one of those people who haven't the balance to ride a bike and she doesn't hold a driver's licence, so this will be a big thing for her.

Fundraising has proceeded in fits and starts, but on the whole I'm satisfied with its progress. I expect to exceed my target of £1500. I now have a bit more time to push the walk at businesses, as term and marking have finished and I have, at long last, retired. The allotment will now be able to get the attention I have been intending to give it, though with the weather as it is the watering at least is down to a minimum.

[Mike Vogel]

Top naturediva - many thanks for your support. I'd pm this, but I've forgotten how to.
mike

[Mike Vogel]

WE DID IT !! 32 miles in 11 hours with stops [rather longer than scheduled!] My two 30-something children, our son-out-law and my ex-pupil [left this July]. None of us had done 32 miles inone day before and we all felt good about it. I may say that I out-walked the youngsters and felt at the end that I could have gone further. There must be something radically wrong with me, or maybe it's all that digging.

Sponsorship is going to bring in over £2000, so i'm well chuffed.

Thanks to all my donors.

mike

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Mike, congratulations on completing the whole 32 miles, and a bigger congratulations for raising such a large sum of money for the charity, i think they will be delighted.

[retropants]

many, many congratulations Mike! I'm so glad you reached your target & beyond!