Just a week to go until the second race of the Shropshire Mud Run Series at Eaton Mascott Hall in the beautiful Shropshire countryside. Cave camp is excited and ready to go for next Saturday, but mainly hoping it`s a bit warmer than the `Baltic ` conditions we braved at Hadley Farm in February. The main discussion centres on what colour the race T-shirt will be this time and the content of Tom`s poetic safety briefing.
So how is my race preparation going? As Rhys Ifans stated in Notting Hill, “not bad, not bad at all”, like a pair of well-chosen briefs! The school holidays at Easter enabled me to pack in an extra Boot-camp and Caveman session or two at Salop Leisure. I did sense some antipathy though from the 6:15 am Shrewsbury Boot camp crew when I mentioned I was going back to bed after training,as they prepared for work!
The holiday also gave me the opportunity for some morning runs along the beach at St Helens on the Isle of Wight, beautiful views and a range of running surfaces as standard. Five or six Kilometres along the beach setting me up for an Old Moat cider in the sun overlooking the grandchildren on the sand!
The good weather has changed the Caveman training sessions a little and a number of old favourites have made a reappearance alongside the newer stations. The rope run carrying a considerably drier battle rope has returned alongside some kettle bell work and an `old school` double tyre flip session last night.
The training is tough and relentless but there are moments when you realise what a pleasure it can be. Last night watching the sun beginning to set over Shropshire to one side and the Wrekin in silhouetted splendour the other, was one of those. Feeling good about being outside and putting in a good session, whilst the thud of my sledgehammer against the knobbly rubber of a farm tyre eased away many of the stresses of the day. What could be a better way to get fit?
The comradery is great and we enjoyed some of the tales of the Kickass endurance race at Buildwas that Ash, Duncan and Super Ted had taken part in last weekend. The T-shirt, always a talking point, had been an ultra-bright orange. Could it be again next weekend? We`ll have to wait and see!
Bring on the weekend and feel the Mud pumping in our veins!