Firstly - for the sake of accuracy - my stance in this picture is not en garde. It is the cool and far more effective stab-le-camera stroke, of myth and fable. I am one of only 17 people in England to have mastered this attack in the last 300 years, one of whom was Sir Richard Francis Burton (aka ...
Continue reading ...It's true what they say, you know. You get nothing for nothing. Unless, of course, you are Ryan Air. In which case, you get £160 for doing absolutely nothing whatsoever. That is how much money it has cost me to delay my outgoing flight to Portugal by 24 hours, so I can attend the Gold Challenge Ol...
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Thanks to some incredibly generous donations, I have now raised enough money through the Gold Challenge that they are going to let me run do my 100m sprint event in the actual London 2012 Olympic Stadium, in front of 20,000 people! Do I know how to sprint properly? No. Will I learn how to sprint ...
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So it turns out I'm still one of the Gold Challenge's highest fund-raisers so far. That's pretty cool! I haven't quite reached the heights of the guy raising money to save the rhinos, but I'ml making good progress. However, it also turns out that, if I raise £500 more (bringing my total to £150...
Continue reading ...A while ago now (last September), I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Olympic Silver Medalist, Gail Emms on BBC Three Counties Radio. Unfortunately, I managed to lock myself out of my house beforehand, so had to take the call late on my mobile. Even so, it worked out alright and you can hear it...
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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 ...
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I am very excited to announce I have received my various paperwork for Tough Guy next weekend. Well, 50% excited and 50% worried... I mean, check out how much they sent me... Each of those pages is double-sized and FULL of instructions. Start times, locations, safety instructions, kit list...
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For some reason, I'm still not sure why, I have signed up for Tough Guy Winter 2012. When the organisers describe Tough Guy, they do so using one word: deprivation. They then use 200,000 more words, to boggle the mind and utterly confuse anybody taking part as to what is actually involved!...
Continue reading ...Today, I have discovered that I am the 9th highest individual fund-raiser for the Gold Challenge. That's right, my ridiculous (and apparently unique) attempt at every single Olympic sport has me in the Top Ten... Moreover, I'm also the highest fund-raiser for Action for Children in the entire Gold ...
Continue reading ...I have hit something of a wall. It turns out that people are very keen to offer their help and training services, in the name of charity. When it comes to it, however, nearly everybody drops out at the last minute. Although I entirely understand their situation, it is also starting to get rathe...
Continue reading ...I was lucky enough to have a nice chat on BBC Three Counties Radio this evening, with Olympic Silver Medalist, Gail Emms. Check it out at 46 minutes here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00k88j4/Gail_Emms_26_09_2011/...
Continue reading ...I have finally picked up the road bike, upon which I shall cycle 100 miles. I have so far cycled 200 metres. It wasn't easy. This is not going to be an enjoyable challenge... In other training news, I am back at the gym and lifting the biggest things I possibly can. I have been very slack in re...
Continue reading ...I can barely walk today. Yesterday was bad, but today is ridiculous. My feet won't even lie flat on the ground! I got up in the night to get a drink and nearly fell flat on my face! Like I said, ridiculous. Still, I asked for this I suppose. Things I Learned from the Half Marathon 1. A mi...
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...
Continue reading ...The time has come; it is now under a week until I run the Wycombe Half Marathon! In celebration, I am doing no exercise whatsoever and eating lots of junk. In the words of the great Sun Tzu: "When the front is prepared, the rear is lacking, and when the rear is prepared the front is lacking. Pre...
Continue reading ...This week, I was meant to do a 5km run and a 10km run, in preparation for my half marathon (21km). As fate would have it, however, I ended up spending a lot of time on trains and driving classic cars instead. Poor, poor Ed. When it got to Thursday night, therefore, I was ashamed when I realise...
Continue reading ...As a qualified personal trainer, I fully understand the progression of physical fitness. The concept of gradual, progressive overload is so engrained into my psyche that I do it just about everywhere in my life. Every week, I get to work 10 seconds faster than the week before. Every time I go dri...
Continue reading ...Today I managed to make contact with Bret King from Longridge Outdoor Centre. He has kindly agreed to find some time to teach me the noble art of rowing. I am, however, on holiday from next Thursday to the following Tuesday, at the Download Festival. My training will, therefore, have to wait un...
Continue reading ...To celebrate the start of June (any excuse for a party), I went for a run. With my dad...('Iron' Steve Gamester). Luckily he understands that, when it comes to running, I am the worst of men. He therefore set a moderate pace and helped me keep it up for around 5km, which took about 30 mins. Alth...
Continue reading ...I went for a run on Friday (20/05/2011). A real run. Outside, in the world... It didn’t go very well. Or rather, it went very well for the first ten minutes or so. Around about then, however, I noticed a growing pain in my lower back. A mile or so later and the pain started getting wors...
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