When on Guild business, there is only one acceptable way of doing things: 1. Turn up in a blaze of glory 2. Discover the fiercest or most impressively-named feature of the local area 3. Conquer it In the already fantastically-named Cape Tribulation, the most intimidating landmass happens to be Mou...
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Somehow, friends, I did it. 13km of open sea kayaking, 22km of mountain biking and 12km of trail running in the midday Australian summer heat. It was horrendously hard...but not for the reasons I expected. I expected the kayaking to be the killer. I'd never tried it before and I was certain I'...
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By the time I pick up my mountain bike, my mind and body have separated. My body is a shell; a hollow, useless husk. Yet my mind is aflame. For the first time since I signed up for the Enduro Adventurethon, I believe I can complete it. A seemingly impossible 13km of sea kayaking are behind ...
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“If you don't know how to kayak, you may as well give up now.” So says this professional, in his pre-Adventurethon interview. Clearly he has never met an adventurer of The Guild before. We never give up. Ever. And we don't know how to do anything! Due to the weather (there has just be...
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I cannot kayak. This I now know for a fact. A deeply concerning fact... After a morning of exploring Townsville, I hitch a ride with over to Magnetic Island with Derek from Winner Kayaks. He is kindly lending me both a sea kayak and a mountain bike for tomorrow's Adventurethon. He has sugge...
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Exactly 12 hours after we leave London, we arrive in Singapore. The intermittent time has been a blur of free sandwiches and watching hundred-million dollar movies on a faded 10 inch LCD display, through one side of my headphones. In an attempt to stave off sleep until it's Australian bedtime (th...
Continue reading ...[caption id="attachment_1323" align="alignleft" width="225"] In California, 2008[/caption] Like most things, exercise requires purpose. Sometimes, that purpose is generally looking and feeling good, other times it is a more direct goal like running a marathon or performing better at a certain sport...
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After all my ranting and raving about the disorganisation of Spartan Race, it turns out their photos had been uploaded all along. They simply didn't tell us. They also labelled them somewhat confusingly. Anyway, here are some of them: [gallery columns="4" type="square" ids="4905,4906,4908,4909,49...
Continue reading ...A long time ago, some people promised to take me out on the River Thames and give me lessons in the sport of rowing. Sadly, however, it never came to be. Luckily, I happened to be in the Lake District over the weekend, so I decided to rent a rowing boat and row Lake Windermere instead. Granted...
Continue reading ...As part of my Gold Challenge, I had to do some form of swimming. However, figuring that anybody could just walk down to their local pool, jump in and splash around for a bit, I wanted to do something a bit more interesting. So I decided to do some open water swimming - to brace myself against the...
Continue reading ...Back when I started this challenge, I decided to cycle 100 miles for the cycling element. How hard could it be, right? So, I made a plan: Stage 1: Borrow a bike Stage 2: Borrow a helmet Stage 3: Put both in the garage, and leave to mature for 12 months Stage 4: Cycle 100 miles Frankly, the plan was ...
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At 08:30 we awoke, less magnificently than the day before, but still pretty magnificently, in the car. Having spent 8 hours driving 311 miles until 04:00, but failing to find anywhere to stay, we eventually pulled into a car park, reclined our seats and alternately frozen and boiled our way into the...
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I did it. I am now, officially, a Tough Guy. This year was the Year of the Lion Heart...which is just about the only thing that got me to the end. It wasn't fitness and it certainly wasn't preparation - it was nothing but grim, visceral determination and a lifetime's worth of being-an-idiot rolled ...
Continue reading ...The half marathon is is over. Over. Thank the Gods! Having never really attempted anything like it, I decided to try to run 10-minute miles for the whole race. Being a 13.1 mile race, I should therefore finish in 2 hours and 11 minutes. If I managed to pull something out of my hat (we all wear ru...
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