Dave says

I have set March 1st as my day to start training, as it coincides with a trip to my drug dealer.
Once he has checked my blood pressure and reviewed my medication I will pop into the chemist next door and get my next month's supply.
I have conceded that I may have to make a few lifestyle changes in order to manage this Herculean feat. But really how difficult can it be !!! I've been walking since I was 2 for goodness sake !!
I intend to follow a celebrity diet - my chosen celebrity is Humpty Dumpty as I am nearly there. I have the body of Adonis - but Boy will he be teed off when he gets it back.
As the walk takes place in June I am currently scouring e-bay for the best price for bulk purchase flip flops as I'm not sure one pair will get me there.
I look forward to posting regular updates on my metamorphosis.
Dave

[should you have any spare flip-flops (size 13) please let us know at info@babybarney.org.uk ]

Introducing Dave...

Martin's partner in this walk is Barney's grandad Dave Stevens, born 15th February 1955 in Nottingham where he grew up becoming a lifelong Forest fan. He joined the Police force at 16 as a cadet serving in Nottingham. In 1973 he married Jo and they had their first child Suzanne in 1977. In 1978 Dave and his family transferred to Kent. A couple of years later in 1980 they had their second child Gaz. Dave went onto complete a further 26 years in the Kent police retiring in 2004 when he and Jo moved to Scunthorpe.

After pounding the beat for so many years walking this route should be a breeze but at 6'2" Dave's pace will have Martin working hard!

Watch out for Dave's contributions to this blog... you have been warned!

Walking kit

Over the past few weeks I have been clocking up the miles in my new shoes and socks, not very exciting for those reading this but my feet are especially pleased about this fact. They are extremely comfortable and not a blister in sight. This is getting into anorak territory but...

Shoes: Merrell Chameleon II Gore-Tex XCR

Socks: 1000 Mile blister-free guarantee

Should you ever be mad enough to do some serious distance walking I thoroughly recommend this combination.

Long time no Blog...

Apologies for not keeping the blog upto date, been busy with half-term, planning the route to London and getting past the hurdle of Barney's due date.
I have managed to finalise the route for the walk. so the next job will be to physically drive the route to ensure the routes I have identifed do actually exist!

The itinery at this point in time is:
Day# from > to

1. Carlton Scroop > Bourne
2. Bourne > Yaxley (Peterborough)
3. Yaxley > St. Neots
4. St. Neots > Hitchin
5. Hitchin > Potters Bar
6. Potters Bar > Victoria

The map earlier in this blog has been updated to show the route or click here

Walking Route

I have mapped out two walking routes to use on a daily basis to keep me on track...

For the weekend a looped route from the house to the local village store and home, total of about 5.3 miles. Nice views of the countryside even though lack of footpath does mean dicing with death from tractors and nutters!

The other route is a daily wander to/from London Kings Cross to my office in Victoria a mere 4 miles, a different type of scenery but always a different site every day, and I will never get bored of walking up The Mall.

Training to begin at the weekend

Managed to achieve absolutely no training in the past few days , other things have consumed my time (not just laziness). The healthy eating kick too took a dive yesterday with a Little Chef Olympic Breakfast! Was very nice though.

Weekend Training

What with one thing and the other (sheer laziness that is!) I didn't really do any training this weekend. Just a couple of brief walks round to the Church to see Barney, total of about 3 miles.

Loads of time yet...

...what do you mean "famous last words" ?

Here we go... Training Day 1

Having just returned from a brief holiday to Malta, lots of walking I hasten to add, not sitting by the pool!
This week I managed to stick to my usual regime of walking to the car etc.
However, today I took it up a notch... I took the Bus to the train station! Walk to the Bus Stop and from Grantham Bus Station to the Train Station gave me an added 300 yards or so...

Not too impressive when you write it down, even if you don't write it it's pretty bad too!

I just realised that writing up this blog this evening I have consumed a packet of Chocolate Fingers (Bugger!)

Walk to work... sounds simple eh?

To coincide with SANDS awareness month this year (June 2007) I am planning to complete a sponsored walk from our home in Carlton Scroop, Lincolnshire to my office in Victoria, London.

A "bijou walkette" of 150 miles which we are completing as Six Marathons in Six Days.

Bearing in mind I usually only walk to the car...!

Joining me on this jaunt will be Suzanne's Dad Dave Stevens and hopefully anyone else we can convince [emphasis on the con] to join us as we go along; to raise as much money and most importantly awareness as we can.

This blog will be my diary of:
- my strict training regime
- planning the walk (route, walkers, local hospitals etc...)
- sponsors as they come onboard

If you have any suggestions, want to offer advice or help please email us at: walk@babybarney.org.uk

Step two (seemed like a good idea at the time!)

When Barney was born we were given the use of a special room at Lincoln County Hospital that was provided by the Stillbirth and Neo-Natal Death Charity (SANDS) being isolated from other mother in the maternity wards so we had a positive experience in a calm private environment.

SANDS provide support and bereavement counselling through a national helpline and through local groups run by bereaved parents. They also fund research into the causes of such deaths and are pushing for better care for women during pregnancy.

We started raising money for SANDS through not having flowers at the funeral and for family and friends to donate to SANDS via our fundraising site www.justgiving.com/barneystevensbrewin

Now we are taking it to the next level....

Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Martin Brewin I live in a village near Lincoln in the UK with my partner of 5 years Suzanne Stevens.

At the end of last year, our first son together, Barney Thomas Nelson Stevens-Brewin was born sleeping after 27 weeks of an uncomplicated pregnancy.
We were shocked when it happened to us how common stillbirth is (17 babies a day in the UK)and how it seems to be treated as a taboo and just not talked about. We are determined to change this and to ensure that families suffereing as stillbirth or neo-natal death get the help, support and understanding that need.
Step one was to set up our website www.babybarney.org.uk which we are developing content at the moment to share our story and to offer practical advice from our experience and to gather other parents experiences too. Also along with links to external support and services that will be of help.

Step two is to raise awareness and to break the taboo...

Thanks for visiting our blog, please come back!

Martin & Suzanne
martin@babybarney.org.uk