Having gone through various plans and information about the DW race from Ed, I was still under the impression this was just going to be a case of sitting in a canoe for 24hrs.  I knew Ed and Jools had attempted the DW twice, once in 2008? and again in 2010, both times they got to the half way point and retired for a few reasons that I would later have a lot of respect for just getting half way.

The river (Thames) has been on red alert for the past few weeks so getting out on the river hasn't been an option. training for the Tough Guy race last week should give me the ability to cope with the cold and my general fitness should be fine. So when Ed suggested we head down to Aldermaston and paddle to Reading I thought this would be a good test but straightforward.

We got to Aldermaston, Jordan was with us in a single canoe, before he had even left the bank, he was in the water, we laughed.

Ed and I got 100 yards before we capsized, the canoe is so unstable, not like any other canoe I'd been in before. Clearly by the look on my face i was not impressed, this was now officially the start of the Edmund Simpson Boot Camp, I was starting to get the sinking feeling that this was going to be hard graft for the next couple of months, I wasnt wrong.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the sofa in a depressed and demotivated state, trying to work out how this was going to be possible. This is going to be tough.