Renegading on Promises

I swore I’d never do anything like this ever again. I promised myself, as I plunged through icy water, crawled through pipes on bruised knees, heaved logs around and ran through torrential hail, that I would never, ever do anything that even remotely resembled an obstacle/adventure race as long as my legs could move.

And yet, here I am, having parted with £50 that could have been happily spent on books, theatre tickets… food! Anything more enjoyable than what I’ve actually just spent it on, which is an entry to Tough Guy in January 2015. January! 2015! That’s a very cold month a year away. What on EARTH am I thinking? You saw my review of Tough Mudder last year right? Don’t be fooled, the smiles are merely a reflection of how happy I am to still be alive.

Happy it's over

It turns out that I’m an easily influenced and suggestible soul when it comes to running and events. Even more so now I’ve got a couple of marathons and some back-to-back triathlons under my belt. My brain takes one of two routes; either “I’ve done those”, I say to myself, “I can easily do this” or “oh sod it, what’s the worst that can happen?” The latter usually when someone else is suggesting the event. I’ve got a reputation to maintain as “the crazy one” you know.

Part of the Tough Guy course. Photo by Tough Guy.

I actually entered Tough Guy a few years back, in its Nettle Warrior incarnation. However I didn't go through with it because I had to go to a wedding in the States. And this isn’t the first time I’ve been swayed back into entering something like this. Last autumn I was entered into The Major Series with Anita but she got ill and I was damned if I was going to do another event like that alone so I bailed.

This time it’s Alex who’s suggested the event. Soon-to-be-running-her-second-marathon Alex. Fire-walking, 10-miles-carnival-du-Nice Alex. Do I have any sane friends? The night before we flew to Nice we went online and entered the Fresher Mudder, a paired down version of the Full Brutal Jacket that fits 180 obstacles into about 12km. You miss out some of the biggies that the full course has but still get some kudos. In return she’s entered the Equinox24 event with me. I think she gets the better deal.

We have a whole year to pretend we’re not doing it, which is some comfort. Now I just need to quiet the voice in my head that’s saying “You should have entered the full event… how much more pain can an extra 3km and 20 obstacles really be..?” At least this time I won’t be alone.