EVERY heartbeat, breath and muscle strain of a Kendal adventurer’s 3,000-mile row around the British mainland will be pored over by thousands of schoolchildren when she takes on an epic challenge.

Thanks to state-of-the-art physiological monitoring equipment, Sarah Weldon will literally not be able to move a muscle during her circumnavigation of the UK shoreline without 17,000 youngsters following it online.

In May next year Miss Weldon will set out from Henley-on-Thames to row solo around Great Britain following the routes used by the Vikings.

Whilst manning the oars for 15 hours a day for up to 14 weeks, she will wear a “bio-harness” and a special pair of shorts that will relay information about her vital signs and muscle movements live to the web.

Miss Weldon is undertaking the expedition as part of her work as CEO of educational charity Oceans Project, which uses its website to teach children about the ocean and create materials and resources which can be used in the classroom.

“Even in the UK I meet children who have never even been to the beach,” said Miss Weldon, 38.

“Oceans Project uses an online platform to bring the ocean home to children all over the world who might never actually see it.”

Miss Weldon will wear a pair of Google glasses during the expedition, which will enable her to take pictures of her journey simply by blinking then upload them to the web.

The bio-harness, which is the same as those used to monitor astronauts on the International Space Station, will relay information about her breathing and heartbeat, while a pair of SMART shorts will show which muscles she is using.

During the voyage Miss Weldon will sleep on board her 20ft boat as much as possible and burn up to 5,000 calories a day. She has already put on four stone in preparation for the nutritional rigours of the trip as well as training for the row on Derwent Water.

“A lot of teachers say they struggle to find meaningful raw data that children can analyse,” said Miss Weldon.

“This will enable the children to monitor what I am doing and then feedback on it. As a kid I loved everything about the Vikings and I thought following the routes they took around the coastline would be a really good way of engaging kids’ imaginations.”

People can follow her preparation and progress by going to www.oceansproject.com

During her challenge Miss Weldon will raise money for Oceans Project, as well as money that can be used to buy educational packs for deprived children.

She said it would be first time anyone had rowed solo around the British mainland.