5 weeks and counting down.

The RR is getting seriously close now. Fitness is slowly coming back, and tonight I worked the rowing machine harder than I ever have before. The calorie counter is a bit flattering - 1400 calories burned in an hour - I don't think so. A 16km run in 90 minutes only burns 1200 calories, so I generally divide the rowing machine value by 2.

Yes, the knee joints still ache, but this is now more age than lack of fitness. I treat this all as a rehearsal for old age - after all, old age is contagious - we all get it sooner or later!

I now have to get a long exercise session pretty well every day. Weight is going up as I am putting the muscle back. Just watching "The Jump" - it has Eddie the Eagle as one of the coaches. I have stood at the top of those jumps - real scary, but I have never jumped. The RR passes a couple of hills - a small one in Kuusamo and a set of jumps in Taivalkoski.

In a couple of weeks when I am Lillehammer, I can have a go at some of these - skeleton, 4 man bob (professionally piloted). I am trying to get up the nerve to have ago - at 5G the forces are same as F1 drivers get on many corners.

There is plenty of inspiration for me. Andrew Musgrave, a young British cross country skier won the sprint at the Norwegian championships. And someone I do business with, recovering from serious illness - I hope he recovers to come and do the RR with me one day. It reminds me of one of the skiers in my first RR who had beaten cancer twice. And there is Arthur Gilbert from the running club - the world's oldest triathlete - who can put me to shame. If I can keep going as long as him, then expect me at the RR for at least another 30 years.

Actually my target is to make it to 10 RRs - for my master skier award (6 more years after this year) and I'll see how I go after that.

Now the countdown in earnest

One month on and I am starting to recover some fitness. I am back to doing my 16km Saturday run - taking it gently and not as fast as I normally do.

Today I booked all my travel and will do my usual thing of arriving in Kuusamo a few days early. I am resigned to the fact that because of injury my fitness might not be up to where it should be and I might have to take the coach for a short section on the longest days.

However, this is better than trying to push back to full fitness too quickly. I know that I have completed the RR three times in the past, and it would be a disappointment not to complete every last metre. But I have just learned that my body has limits - it was pushing too hard to gain 35 seconds on my personal best half marathon time that gave me an injury putting me out of action for over 3 months.

I really look forward to seeing so many people who have become my friends over the years - I can recognise at least 15 people for this year's RR1 that I recognise.

Now I will have to add my sponsorship details for Sports Relief and see how much I can manage to raise this year.