Welcome to the third edition of our rowing updates!

Lin and I have settled back into our routing of work and training, after the week of so called 'holiday' that we spent in Devon for our Ocean Yachtmaster and Sea First Aid courses. We're both really proud that we passsed hta Yachtmaster exam as is't just so hard and neither of us had done anything similar to it before.

Fro both of us, training is taking on a variety of guises. The obvious training that we get asked about all the time is the physical side. And that's going really well. We're out on the water rowing 2-3 times a week, supplemented by a ouple of gym sessions as well.

We're both up to completing an hour or more on a roiwng maching in one go now - something that causes strange looks and the odd comment form our fellow gym goers who can't quite believe what they're seeing! You just know thay tink wer're completely barking, as they watch us tap in 60 minutes plus, wiht 'that look' on their faces !

It's a really different approach though as we have to check the level of intensity isn't too high and train our minds to realise that we can (and must) stop for water breaks every 15-20 minutes. Very different to anything we've done before. One of our next challenges is to get hold of a couple of rowing machines to use at home. Our thinking being along the lines of rowing away in front of the TV to pass some time, instead of loafing around on the sofa!

But that's really just one part of what we consider to be 'training'. We've already started buying and testing (eating!) a variety of expedition foods. We want to find out early on what brands and flavours suit us best, what we like and don't like, and what effect they have on our bodies and performance.

We also spent a wonderful weekend in the Forest of Dean with the Skelton family. Ned owns the Clean Coaching Company and we've worked with him for the last 4 years or so in our Dragon Boating and professional lives. With Ned's help, we worked through some exercise to establish our values and goals - going in different directions can literally be the undoing of crews in a stressful situation. Although we strongly suspected that our goals were the same, or very similar, it's a really comforting feeling to know that we have evidence to back this up.

We tackled a few specific scenario's too - findingour about our mental states when faced with fear and understanding what to do to move form 'rabbit in headlights' state, to a competent state where you can handle the issue. And if you want a real laugh, ask Lin about hte Smash Potato Men in the water - helping her to overcome her fewar of being underwater! It's all been really fascinating and has developed us as coaches a little more. You'll be certain to har more about this side of our preparations too!

Check out Justgiving too as there's some great messages. But for now we're off to make ourselves glam for the launch party for the Sevenoaks Atlantic Row team, who we met on our course and who are competing in the North Atlantic race. And you thought we were nuts?!

Question of the month - Where do you sleep?

A good answer to this would probably be 'wherever we fall'. Working on the basis that we'll be so tired we should be able to sleep on a bed of nails. But the real answer is in the cabin at the back of theboat. It's big enough to fit both of us in if needed, but most of the time just one rower will be resting at any time.

We understand that sleep is tricky though. The boat is constantly mving and even if you wedge your body in, your innards still 'slosh' around to a degree! There will also be the noise of the boat, oars and water to get accustomed to.

We're currently exploring anumber of options for helping to minimis movement and rolling around, and looking into the best kind of pillow, bedding and mattress arrangements.