A FIRST for team STIX & STONES

It’s official…

As a challenge to get me fit again after injuries (ankle, back, and recently cellulitis in the elbow – yay me!), me and my physical trainer cousin Wendy are going to be taking part in the Grim Challenge at the very end of November.

The Woo: Tougher than the Grim Challenge itself.

The Return of the Black: What doesn’t kill me better be able to outrun me…

Dirt, rocky roads, gravel, mud, man made mounds, obstacles, water holes, more mud, more hills, ditches, more muddy wet holes… 8 miles of tough challenge. She’s not used to the Nordic style which I really enjoy, and I’m not used to straight running… Hopefully we’ll learn the right things from each other…

We’re doing it for Cancer Research UK, and just to make it interesting we thought we’d attempt to do it using Nordic X-country poles.

Like it wasn’t going to be tough enough in the first place…

The thing is, the Grim is technically a run, although some folk do end up walking as it is a very tough course. We didn’t know if actually starting out ‘walking‘ was going to be a problem (albeit Nordic Walking, which is a different ball park to hiking or normal walking – especially how I do it…).

The organiser is not in favour of people who turn up just to walk the route… but in the organiser’s own words when I suggested about us using Nordic X-Country poles: “… I know all about Nordic walking and suspect you guys are not the strolling type!”

Team Stix & Stones.

Our TEAM PAGE is STIX & STONES – (Stix due to the poles and x-country, and stones, because it’s both off-road, and you need figuratively two of them to do the challenge…). Please visit it to make donations.

It turns out that we are officially the first people to attempt the Grim Challenge using the Nordic method. I wonder why?

Course (taken from the Grim web page):

This land is used to test Army vehicles so expect it to be interesting!

You will reach a long hill shortly after the start before descending again eventually reaching a water filled ravine.

You will run on over puddle-strewn paths before having to crawl under camouflage netting.

You’ll eventually reach some man-made mounds before arriving at and running through some rather large puddles.

Expect to get very wet!

You’ll run on to the fast vehicle driving circuit where it is rocky underfoot.

This brings you to some more large areas of water and the finish area.

Sounds delightful!

A little gift to my blog followers

The Tortoise and the Hare running specialists (see link in top of left hand column) have come up with a great deal for followers of my blog!

Expert advice comes as standard from these people that have just celebrated ten years of being in business. But besides the free advice you can now print any blog page from my blog – Sometimespace – and present that to the staff, and you’ll get 10% discount.

Yes, just print off a page from my blog and present it to The Tortoise and the Hare staff to get your discount. Don’t say I don’t do good things for the readers of this blog!

Besides having a great range of quality sports products, the team will make sure that the gear you buy specifically suits your needs.

Running shoes and Nordic poles etc, aren’t just things that fit all people perfectly, and the expert help at Tortoise and the Hare will ensure you get the right gear for you. Many sports shops are only concerned with a shoe being roughly the right size – but Tortoise and the Hare make sure it suits the way you physically walk and the shape of your foot – and unlike many main stream “sports shops” they actually get you the correct size (half sizes too), rather than trying to sell you whatever they still have in stock.

Proper gear doesn’t cost the earth either. I found that the correct running shoes for me were a lot cheaper than the “fashion” trainers that the high street sports super stores sell.

So, expert advice, great quality products (from major named manufacturers), and now 10% off. Can’t grumble at that!

A Peaceful Walk

I went out for a gentle potter on my Nordic Poles today. I have noticed a problem with these autumn/winter walks…..leaves.

The bottom of the pole is fitted with a special metal tip. This allows it to dig into loose gravel and dirt, but isn’t so great on paved areas and roads. There are attachments for the pole tips to fix this though – curved rubber boots. These quieten the tap tap tap of the pole and give better grip. They work quite well on unmade roads and firm packed dirt too.

Due to my route I generally use the rubber boots, as they are better suited for most of the distance – but now the leaves are on the ground the boots have a tendency to slip (not great for a bad back).

So, I’ve had to go out with just the spikes. This is okay now I’ve got to grips with using the spikes on Tarmac, but not ideal. Luckily LEKI have bought out a new innovation that should solve this problem. I’ll be getting some of these new feet and will review them for the blog.

As for the walk today, it was taken at a much reduced pace as I had slept awkwardly. I’m still glad that Nordic Walking is allowing me to at least get away from laying on my back all day, but I am getting a bit depressed about my reduced abilities. I want to take my exercise up a notch, but I just can’t right now.