Muddy March! Back 2 the Trenches Vs. Rock Solid Race

After a decent brake since Tough Guy, I'm nearing my next two events on two consecutive weekends in March.

Back 2 The Trenches in Redhill Surrey, is run by Priory Events and held on the same site as the Spartan Sprint that I did last July. There are 5km and 10km options, and I'm signed up with a team of 10 runners for different experience levels, most taking on their first mud/obstacle runs. We're going to have a great day, good laughs and finish the race as a team.

The Rock Solid Race near Exeter takes place on the following weekend, which again has 5km and 10km options. The Wife was signed up for this as her first run by our son as a Christmas present, with a place for me to run with her to help out. Again, we're not going for time but to enjoy it and to help the Wife get some experience before she tackles Tough Mudder in May.

New kit- Inov-8 TrailRoc 245's

Now I'm starting to think that I'm becoming a bit obsessed with buying Invo-8 trainers. Between Christmas presents to each other and the January sales, The Wife and I added TrailRocs, RecoLites, F-Lites and Road-X to our collection, resulting in quite a full utility!

When the Wife's TrailRoc 255's arrived, it was the final push I needed to buy some myself. They looked great, though I knew I wanted the slightly lighter 245s. I've been trying to decide between a set of TrailRocs and TerraFlys for a while now, the reason being that there are a lot of trails locally that are short and linked by roads. My Talons, whilst amazing in the soft stuff, absolutely ruin my knees if used on hard surfaces and likewise my Road-X leave me on my arse when taken through wet grass or mud. So, after seeing The Wife's and seeing even more trail races being won in TrailRocs, my mind was made up.

Event review – Winter Tough Guy, Midlands, 27th January 2013

Well, the time has finally come- Tough Guy is here for the first time since I started obstacle racing last May. The stories that I have heard about this event paint a picture of freezing temperatures, physical and mental torture and provide many with the firm belief that this is THE toughest obstacle race on the planet. I can’t wait!

I’ve been waiting to tackle this event since running the Tough Guy 10K in September 2012. The 10K was good fun and great starter event for the guys with me that hadn’t run an obstacle race before. Lots of lovely mud, deep water and purpose-built high rise obstacles made for a fun and challenging day and only heightened my desire to take on the full 10 miler in winter J