21 miles done!

Yay! My first 21 miles are now complete! Only another 979 to go!
Our walk this morning was a quick one - I had to drop Lola off at my Mum's so that I could go to Liverpool for a university tutorial (as it turns out, the tutorial was cancelled, but I only found out once there - doh!)

The weather was okay, there was a 50% chance of rain but I managed to time it right so that we avoided it.

So how would I sum up my first week? Eventful, successful, surprising, motivational and inspiring. I'm totally blown away by the response the challenge has had. To think that I'm just £15 away from hitting the halfway mark of the fundraising target I'd set for the entire year is just madness! I've now got over 260 followers on Twitter, over 50 on Facebook, I've had a blog written about me and been invited to take part in guest blogs. The support I've received is unbelievable - people offering to write to companies for sponsorship, others offering to promote my challenge to their friends, not to mention the amount of re-tweets I've had! Celebrities who have re-tweeted so far are:

Sid Sloane (CBeebies)

Dr Hilary Jones

Sadie Frost 

Tamsin Outhwaite 

Angela Griffin

Lisa Faulkner

Sarah-Jane Honeywell (CBeebies)

Ryan Thomas

Keith Duffy

Annabel Karmel

Carol Vorderman

The Jeremy Kyle Show

One Born Every Minute

Kate Silverton

Lauren Laverne

Dean Piper (Sunday Mirror)

Natalie Cassidy

Emma Forbes

Savannah Miller
Arlene Phillips

And that's just in the space of one week!

This coming week, I'll be starting a new feature on my blog. Each Wednesday will be the turn of a guest blogger, someone who has experienced stillbirth first hand. I want to share their experiences in order to highlight just how important Tommy's' research and work really is. If you'd like your story to be featured, please get in touch by leaving a comment below or email me at heathercook@hotmail.co.uk 

That leaves nothing else to say except thank you so, so much for all the support and encouragement you've given me so far! I'm really excited about continuing the challenge. Please keep spreading the word and donate anything you can to www.justgiving.co.uk/1000milesmummy - thank you! x

Miles 16, 17 & 18

Just got back from our Day 6 walk! The weather was lovely this morning, we set off quite early as it was lovely and sunny when we woke up, the wind has really died down which made such a difference, and it stayed dry for the whole walk! As usual, we dressed up nice and warm and Lola looked very cosy in her pram!



I decided to walk up to Hesketh Park which is a lovely, Victorian park near our town centre. I love the route up to the park from my house, we pass lots of big old Victorian houses which I just love. Unfortunately, some are now in danger of demolition which I think it a real shame. Perhaps next year I should walk to raise money to renovate them?! Here's one of my favourites, recently shut down as a nursing home, hopefully it won't disappear



As we were walking round the park, I got so thirsty that I had to steal a bit of Lola's drink! The park cafe was closed, so I decided to conserve some energy by one of my favourite spots - the fountain. It's recently just been done up and I love the view out onto the lake. We really are lucky to live in such a lovely town. So here's the view:



So we've not been home long, Lola will be going for a nap soon and I'll be catching up with some uni work. We've so far raised £180, £30 of which was this morning alone! Please, please donate anything you can, I'd love to hit £200 by the end of the week!: www.justgiving.co.uk/1000milesmummy

I've also got a guest blog today over at Antenatal Online - check it out here: http://antenatalonline.co.uk/blog/2011/35/meet-the-1000-miles-mummy

Thanks again everyone, and thanks for letting me warble on about my lovely Victorian town! x

Day 5 complete!

Today is my little sister's birthday - she's 20 - happy birthday! My little girl is also 22 months today, madness!

I couldn't decide what time to set off this morning - my weather app said it would rain from 9-11 but outside it looked pretty clear, so I decided to take the plunge. I walked to my Mum's house to give my sister her present. The walk there was so windy and horrible - pushing the pram was a nightmare as the wind was constantly blowing against us, at some points, I couldn't even move! The pram cover kept blowing off and to make matters worse, I found out that I can't stream Spotify on my phone unless I pay premium, despite the fact that it worked fine yesterday. So I walked with no music on yet still had my earphones in as it muted out some of the wind!

My weather app said the winds were 50mph and it felt like it too! My friend has had her shed roof blown off today, and the park looked like it had taken a beating too with branches sticking out of the pond!

I stayed at my Mum's house for a little while and then decided to put Lola down for a nap. While she was asleep, I walked back home to complete the 3 miles. This time I was walking in the same direction that the wind was blowing, so it was so much easier, plus I didn't have the pram which made it almost enjoyable! The weather was dry, still very windy, but quite warm towards the end of the return walk, so it was quite pleasant.




My feet were also hurting a lot less today, think I've finally started getting used to the walking boots, they felt a lot more comfortable than usual!

Please, please keep donating! www.justgiving.co.uk/1000milesmummy
I'd love to raise £150 by the end of the week - is this possible?! Please help! Whatever you can give will make such a difference

Thank you! x

12 miles down, 988 to go!

Just got back in from my fourth walk - this time I decided to walk up to Tesco to buy a birthday card for my sister. I checked my weather app which said that it should be dry between 9am and 10am, so I set off just after 9am. My feet weren't as sore as I was expecting, they still hurt but I don't think I've done any more damage!

We were almost at Tesco when it started to drizzle, and it continued to drizzle all the way home. It was quite refreshing though, really, as I was getting pretty hot under all the layers! Lucky I went when I did though as it's just started chucking it down, don't fancy walking in that again!

So that's it - 12 miles down and only 988 to go! Please keep sharing my blog and supporting my challenge by donating. As fun as this is, it's also really important. Today, 17 families will lose a baby at a very late stage of pregnancy, some within days of their due date. This cannot be allowed to continue. The work that Tommy's do is fundamental for the protection of babies during pregnancy. Please give anything you can! www.justgiving.co.uk/1000milesmummy

x

Day 3 - Wind!

Today I was joined by the lovely Alex who stupidly agreed to walk 3 miles with me in what can only be described as gale force weather! He very kindly pushed the pram for me the whole way into town though, so I can't complain! We were walking against the wind the whole way there which was horrible, really cold and poor Lola's eyes were watering by the end of it!



We decided to stop for some lunch at Marks & Spencer's which was such a relief, it was so nice not to have to walk almost horizontally just to make it through the wind! Lola had a good time too eating her pizza while Alex and I thawed out.



Before we set back off on the other half of the 3 miles, I decided to stop off at Primark seeing as I lost my gloves this morning. I bought a lovely warm hat, a big fluffy scarf and some mittens, as well as some thick socks as my shoes were starting to really hurt my feet again. In the end, I looked like this:



Lovely and warm but I looked absolutely ridiculous!
At least it didn't rain!

Please keep sharing my blog and donating via Just Giving: www.justgiving.co.uk/1000milesmummy
I appreciate every penny you give, it makes such a difference going for a walk and knowing that people are sponsoring me!

Thanks again x

Day 2 - Ouch

After starting the day at 5:30am (thanks Lola!), I was pretty tired but I know that walking the 3 miles only takes me about an hour, so it's not a massive sacrifice and doesn't take up much of my day. I've decided, rather than just ambling around the place with no destination, to try and build things into my walks so that I can get things done at the same time. So, thanks to the death of my phone last night, I decided to walk up to Carphone Warehouse to start the next chapter of phone-life.

I was better prepared this time, I wore my walking boots which last saw the light of day in August 2008 and were still caked in mud from Leeds Festival! This meant I no longer had to fear puddles, which was a relief as there were a lot of them. Luckily, it wasn't raining today, it was pretty windy though and my ears soon started to burn with the cold.

I took shelter in Carphone Warehouse for half an hour or so, during which time my judgement seemed to lapse and I entered a 24 month contract on a new phone despite originally planning to just get a monthly rolling sim. But hey ho, that's life!

So me, Lola and my new Samsung Galaxy SII had a nice stroll home, but by this point, my walking boots were really starting to grate at my ankles. I wouldn't mind, but I'd followed my mum's advice of wearing extra socks and I even put a plaster on each ankle before I set off. They're not blistering yet but no doubt they will be by the end of the week! So I'll be having a hot bath tonight to try and pamper them, my poor feet are going to fall out with me this year!

Please share my blog with your friends and donate anything you can to www.justgiving.co.uk/1000milesmummy. Some are giving a one-off donation, others are donating a little each month. Whatever you can spare, it'll be greatly appreciated and will give me the strength to continue with my challenge!
Thanks x

First 3 miles completed!

Well we've just got back from our first three mile walk in the pouring rain! It wasn't too bad when we started, it was gloomy but dry. I made sure I was prepared by taking two coats (one waterproof, one warm), the pram's raincover, gloves and hat, so I assumed that if it did decide to rain, we'd both be relatively dry and comfortable.

Lola was fine tucked under her rain cover, she even felt it necessary to gloat a little by giving me her hat, scarf and blanket because she was so warm! I, however, got absolutely soaked! I've had to mop the floor in the dining room because my coat was dripping so much by the time I got back. I've also discovered that the shoes I thought were waterproof are not waterproof at all! So needless to say, my radiator is now covered in trainers, socks, trousers (oh yes, my jeans got soaked too and began to chafe!) and coats!

But I feel good - the challenge has well and truly begun now, I'm 3 miles in so only another 997 to go (shudder!)

Let's hope they're not all as sodden as today's walk!

Please, please, please support me by sponsoring the challenge here: www.justgiving.co.uk/1000milesmummy - Tommy's desperately need funds so that they can continue to save babies' lives

Share with your friends and thanks for reading!
x

Dry as a bone!

Soaked to the skin!