I did enter and take part in the monthly 5k around the Serpentine last week and ran quite possibly the fastest 5K I’ve done, finishing the course in 22 minutes, according to the website. (I actually timed it as 22:20, but who am I to argue!) That’s a lot faster than I hoped.

Only a week to go until the JP Morgan Chase run but I’m getting a little anxious about it. My legs are suffering from a 7/8 mile cross country run I did on saturday. I only ran at about 145-150 bpm for it rather than push the cardio side of the run and made sure that I included a few (steep) hills to push my muscular endurance to the limit. I found that my shins started hurting quite a bit and my legs tired quite easily although that’s not surprising considering the mileage I’d done during the week.

The main issue is my shins which are still aching today. I think it’s mostly down to tight calf muscles and will need to work on the mobility. I’m just concerned that it’s going to take more than a week to sort out before the Chase run.

And it’s only a little over three weeks until TG.

An island in the middle of a small lake. Freezing cold chest deep water (but hopefully not so freezing in the middle of summer) before clambering out onto the island and over a fence (single hand, single bound? Unlikely after this distance!)

I’ve only seen one picture of this obstacle and that’s from the 1999 event. Back then, it was called Deux Chevaux because there were two (deux) Deux Chevaux (2CVs) forming the bulk of the obstacle. Yet another barrier to get my bulk over!

Essentially this is just a large stack of hay bales.

In reality, this is a team effort and not something that is necessarily manageable on your own. Apparently. But if it’s just bales of hay, it must be possible to get some handholds and enough footing to get over fairly promptly.

Of course, as long as I’m not the last one around, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people there who will be willing to give me a leg up, in return for a similar favour. There’s something about the spirit of “Tough Guy” that I’ve read about which suggests that one upmanship is not the name of the game and that encouraging everyone else along and doing it “together” is what it’s all about. The opponent isn’t another competitor, more the course itself.

For the first time in 10+ years I’ve got my name in the local papers for a sporting event. Okay, so 450 of us got our names in the paper as they printed the entire results from the race I did last week but still, it beats my usual slot on the Crimewatchers 10 most wanted page.

And it turns out that I actually came 38th out of 149 in the 6km race. Not bad for a slow chuffa like me.

In deference to going into town today and walking for an hour through the grimy streets of our capital city, I decided that I would stay at home and walk the dog for an hour through the fragant paths of our local woods.

However, Inspector Sands has written a very droll post about today’s events bringing London to a halt.

Scissor Sister groupie, offical “How Tough is Dragon?” sponsor and generally good egg Mike is back. Not that he ever really went away but he did have few, ah, problems. Of the hosting variety. Anyway, that’s irrelevant now. The point is that he’s got a new domain name which, imaginatively, is virtually identical to his old domain name except for the very cunning addition of a hyphen. So that’s www.troubled-diva.com for those who at the back who aren’t keeping up.

In celebration (and because I will bite at the wheels of any bandwagon going past) headCleaner() is taking on commemorative hyphen and will be head-Cleaner() until the end of the week (or until I remember to take it out).

I am learning a new skill; eating raw red chillis.

I have progressed from slices to being able to take a bite of a whole one.

I don’t yet know how this skill will come in handy, but I’m sure it’ll become apparent before long.

I didn’t make the Skinny Puppy gig last week, electing to spend some quality time with Mrs D. instead. It seems there’s a bit of a revival at the moment as I’ve just found out that veteran industrialists KMFDM (”Kein Mitleid F?r Die Mehrheit” - No Pity for the Majority) are touring this summer.

They’re playing in London on Thursday July 8th which is the night I’m doing a race in Battersea Park. Mind you, what an excuse to get hot and sweaty twice in one evening. Oo-er! They’re then playing in Glasgow (G2) on the 9th, Nottingham Rock City on the 10th and the Hob and Grapes in Manchester on the 11th. (They’re then going to be playing in Geneva on the 14th - wonder if I can get work to send me out there again?)

Their latest album, WWIII, appears to be a bit of a political statement and tirade against the current US goverment what with track titles such as “Jihad”, “Stars & Stripes”, “Bullets, Bombs & Bigotry” and “Moron” (wonder who that’s about). I’m in the process of downloading from the now legal Napster, so I’ll let you know what it’s like. Coz I know you want to know!

It’s important to remember that the reason I’m doing all this is for charity and so I thought I’d mention a little about the other charity that I’ll be raising money for in addition to Macmillan.

The ‘Mr Mouse Farm for Unfortunates’ and Tettenhall Horse Sanctuary were born in 1978 with a dozen or so ponies rescued from slaughter, a dozen wayward youths rescued on probation, and a dozen happy people wanting to put some effort into doing some good.Since those brave beginnings it has grown steadily and is able to give aid, service, veterinarian help, shelter, warmth and food to thousands of neglected, abused and abandoned horses and other animals. It also provides security and fatherliness to hundreds of disadvantaged, socially deprived, mentally and physically handicapped people in the local area.

Tough Guy is organized and run by “Mr Mouse” and his colleagues and the event takes place on some of the pasture land that the farm owns. Apart from being a worthwhile cause in itself, it’s a good way of acknowledging the hard work that is put not only into running Tough Guy, but also that is put into running the farm.

(I should point out that all the online sponsorship I raise online will be going directly to Macmillan. Proceeds from my offline collecting will be split between the two.)