Weight: 104.9k
Total weight loss: 4.2kg.

Apologies for taking so long to update my blog. The new job has taken up a great deal of time and I have basically been a bit crap at finding the time. Call it blogger's block if you like.
Anyway, the good news is that the weight is still coming down.
The other exciting news is that all 12 of us on the expedition have been offered the services of a very update gym. Click here for details. It is not so much a gym, as a shrine to the body. I may have desecrated the place just by entering the hallowed portals. Certainly my old favourite gym t-shirt may have to be traded in for something sleeveless in white.
We now all have our own personal trainer, who is neither Australian or over enthusiastic. They are used to fat chief executives in there so I think toning up the muscles of the Arctic troupe is an interesting change for them as well.
Also the fundraising is going well. A big thanks to BT for stumping up £2,000 in sponsorship. Anyone else who would like to make a contribution can follow the link at the right hand side of the page.
I have decided that skiing would be good training for the expedition so I have booked two separate weeks off after Christmas to hit the piste. My companion for the holiday has never skiied before, but is eager to learn. So she will be enrolled in ski school while I weave my way down the mountain.
I have also decided that it would be futile to give up booze in the midst of the Christmas party season, so have postponed D-Day (Dry Day) until January 1.
So apologies again for not updating the blog in weeks, and I promise to update again soon!

The arctic clothing is something else.
I went for the fitting on Monday at a restaurant in Knightsbridge managed by someone else on the trek.
First off there is the thermal underlayer: longjohns and T-shirt. Then there is the outer thermal layer and then a fleece layer. Sweating like a fiend, I then had to don the windproof boiler suit thingy and then a duck down jacket on top of that. Feeling a bit like the Michelin man after Christmas dinner, I then had to put on the balaclava, wooly hat, inner thermal gloves, huge mittens, two pairs of thermal socks and giant ice boots.
I looked like a cross between a yeti and a bouncy castle.
I am sure it does a marvelous drop at keeping out the cold, but wearing the full garb in a warm restaurant was not a pleasent experience. However I don't have to worry about ponging after my 10 days trapsing about an icesheet, because apparently at those extreme low temperatures, wiffs do not bother the nostrils. Thinking about this, it may be because the nostrils are not working.
What happens when we warm up upon finally return to our hotel rooms after 144 miles is beyond contemplation.
Here is a link to the eBay auction for the last place on the expedition. Anyone who feels flush can bid.

Now an apology: I may have given the impression in an earlier post that somebody who had read this blog was so inspired that she was contemplating running the next London marathon.
I have since met the person in question and she informs me that she was playing with the idea of running "a London marathon" but not necersarily the next one. I am happy to put the record straight. Anyway, anyone who wants to encourage her, can reach her at... on second thoughts maybe not.

My new lush gym has underfloor heating in the changing rooms. Perfect!!