It’s the day after Tough Guy Nettle Warrior. If I didn’t know this because it was in my diary then I’d know it by looking at the amount of search results that have hit this site over the course of the day. Most of them are looking for pictures or for information about the event. One was looking for Savlon Nettle gel (to whom I shall say only this: deal with it. Nettle stings are nothing compared to the pain and suffering of existence. Or something similarly zen. )

I didn’t do TG this year - first time in four that I haven’t. There’s no particular reason other than I didn’t get off my arse in time to enter. I do intend to do at least one of the events next year though (and that’s likely to be the January Tough Guy as it’s the one that I feel I haven’t properly conquered yet.)

Anyway, to all those who visit this site looking for info about yesterday’s event, I’m afraid there isn’t much here. I hope it went well for you and I hope you’re still buzzing from the experience. If you want to share how it went, feel free to leave a comment.

Here’s a link to my Flickr set of pictures from Sunday’s Nettle Warrior. Only half have been uploaded at the moment. Stay tuned for the rest. (Preview after the jump)

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We survived.

We made it around in 2hrs 34mins and were placed 321st (out of 1690 finishers and ~2000 starters). It seemed harder than last year but we did do it 20 minutes quicker. A few changes to the course (notably the Berlin Wall was another 10 foot higher and was mainly a climb up netting - oh, and no more Bailey Bridge either).

Many thanks to Pix for taking pics and shooting video. You’re a star.

More updates (and photos) soon.

I had a cold last week. It was one of those ones that started as a bit of a sniffle then developed into the brain fogging, throat trashing, can’t quite cough enough type of cold that is supremely irritating. It also meant that walking, let alone cycling, anywhere suddenly took on a whole new challenge as I thought either my lungs were going to explode or my heart was going to pack it’s bags and wave bye bye.

This did not put me in a good mood. One because it meant that my lips got dry and chapped and I now have the ugliest cracked cold sores you’ve ever seen and two because the cold meant that I wouldn’t be able to do Tough Guy on sunday. At least I had the weekend free.
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A couple of weeks ago, the Sunday Times Style Magazine* had an article which discussed the type of midlife crisis psychology behind people doing events like Tough Guy. There’s an online version here.

I guess I agree with the overall sentiment but that was something I discussed last year and was the reason I entered TG in the first place: proving to myself that I could do it, looking for something that made me feel a little more alive. Not only that, I want to do something different, something exciting. But then, that’s the type of person I’ve always been in one manner or other. Of course, if, as a result of this article, next years event is going to be full of city wankers then I’m not sure I want to have any part of it. There’s always more challenges to go for.

*I hasten to add that I don’t read the Style section myself but the wife does, habitually. I normally go for the Culture section first.

British weather is a wonderful thing and don’t believe anyone who tells you differently. I was terrified (well, mildly concerned anyway) a couple of weeks ago during the brief heatwave that we had that the sun would be out and blazingly hot on Sunday. Fortunately it wasn’t and it was exactly the same weather as we had a year ago.

This may not have been a good thing for all you sun seekers but it was a blessing for the 2500 people who trekked up to Wolverhampton on their annual pilgrimage to the Killing Fields of Tettenhall Horse Sanctuary for the summer Tough Guy event commonly known as “Nettle Warrior”. Nettle stings, barbed wire scratches, smoke inhalation, electric shocks, near drowning and cramp are one thing without complicating matters with dehydration and sun stroke.
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I have managed to persuade a friend of mine to sign up for Tough Guy and she promises me that she’s sent off her entry this week. Of course, she also admitted that she didn’t understand it so failed to send any stamps off and didn’t send the right amount of money. I think it’s her subconscious trying to get out of it.

She then tried to persuade other people to enter while we were all at a dinner party on Saturday night. She opened with the line “I’ve just entered a competition with T. Do you want to do it too? You get to run through shoulder high nettles and everything!”

Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t much take up on that offer. Perhaps she should have mentioned that she’d be covered head to toe in mud and that might have got some of the men at the party off their arses to at least come and spectate.

I managed it last year, didn’t manage it in January and will attempt it again in July. Yup, my entry for Tough Guy has been stamped, addressed and posted.

It’s Nettle Warrior VIII on July 31st and I will once again be braving the obstacles and challenges thrown at me. Hopefully I’ll be a little fitter than last year and get around quicker. It’s made a little more challenging by the disability that prevented me from doing the winter Tough Guy in January though. I will explain more about that later but a brief snapshot can be seen below. Look away if you’re of a nervous disposition.

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I’m back.

And I’ve just sent off my late entry for Tough Guy 2005. That’s “Tough Guy” this time and not Nettle Warrior. What’s the difference? Well, Tough Guy is only one lap of the course. Which should make it easier.

If only it weren’t taking place during the hypothermia-inducing weather of January.

Yes, that’s right. To prove that I’m not just a fair weather masochist, I will be braving the electric fences, barbed wire, flaming pits and communal showers in the winter event. There is a real risk of hypothermia - the colleague of a friend who did it last year had to stop half way around because of it - and preparation is key this time around.

The added challenge is that, since the end of July, I have gained about 3/4 of a stone and am considerably heavier than I was back then. Couple that with some injuries sustained from rugby and I’m in anything but peak condition.

Still, at least the fat will keep me warm!

There is a very slim chance that I may appear on television next weekend.

UPDATE: Okay, that was a tease, I admit. In all likelihood, I won’t appear on television at all and if I do, it’s going to be a fraction of a second in a crowd shot. Apparently, Channel Four’s “Transworld Sport” program will be doing a piece on Tough Guy next Saturday (at 7am!) so if you’re an early bird and fancy seeing footage of the madness I took part in a couple of weeks ago, that’s the program to watch.

And just in the unlikely event that they show the shot of me running up the trail behind the cameraman perched precariously on the back of the quad bike, I have put some piccies up in my training diary. (The action ones are poor quality because they are taken from video footage but that aint’ being published!)