On September 16th I will be taking place in an OCR (Obstacle Course Race) called Nuclear Blast, here in the heart of the Essex countryside.

History

I have some history with the event, I have completed the Nuclear Blackout twice (same race, but at night!), here is me thinking the photographer can see my Prostate Cancer shirt

In my first race I lost one of my trainers in deep sticky mud, its still there I expect! I completed the course in pain, tying shoes on really tight is essential.

Race Format

As many 5KM (3 miles) laps as you can get around in under 2 hours, if you cross the line in 1H 59M or less, you can go around again, its an endurance event.

Sounds Easy

Yeah 5KM I can run in 25 minutes, but this is entirely different, most of the course is either muddy (some of it waist high) or through water or over obstacles, 45 minutes for a lap is a pretty decent time on this kind of event, and three laps starts to get you into elite racer territory. Fatigue and injuries are some of the challenges people dont account for, mud saps your energy and falling over is to be expected.

Fear

One of the biggest obstacles on the event is fear, the size of some obstacles is overwhelming when you first see them, a 5.5Meter (16.5 feet) high wall, slides into lakes, and if its on the event this year, down into the Secret Nuclear Bunker. Part of the course actually does down into a disused cold war bunker, that the UK government would escape to in the case of nuclear war, the place is pretty big and sparsely lit, you feel as if one wrong turn might leave you lost for eternity... if you are a gamer you might think you just ran into Doom, except its much darker!

Training

Im 44 years old and have a few recurring injuries, a back injury a cracked T10 vertibra has stopped me completing more than one lap of the race before, but thats not giving me too many problems right now. I also have a torn achilles tendon that flares up periodically, but as this isnt really a running race it should not be too bad on the day. That is the excuses filed, lets hope they dont need to get aired again!

Goal 1

I need to lose some weight, Im 5ft 11in (180cm) and currently 13st 7lb (189lbs or 86kg), to get in good shape I should be aiming to lose 1 stone (14lbs/6KG) but without losing any strength. I train six days a week now, but food and booze have been a bit out of control :)

Goal 2

Additional upper body strength is going to be very useful, as there are many things to climb up, climb over or dangle from, this isnt about looking good so much as lifting my own body weight/agility. Grip strength is also a weakness I have, and the muddy conditions make hanging on quite difficult. Im pretty fit, my average resting heart rate is in the mid 50's

Goal 3

Win the race, obviously. Well lets be honest, it aint gonna happen, but completing two laps this time is really my top priority. Im accompanying a friend on lap 1 (she is a noob), so time isnt important, but once I get her over the finish line, I want to push on for that second lap.

Goal 4

Have fun! Despite this being a crazy event, it is a lot of fun, racers help one another over some of the really tough stuff and there are plenty of great supporters on the day.

Follow My Progress

Each week I will give you updates on what training Im doing, (hopefully) how my weight has decreased and my strength is improving! Any tips or tricks are welcome, Im far from an experienced OCR competitor.