Tough Guy 2010 (Year Of The Original Heroes)

Hey everyone, wow!!!

it feels like a lifetime since I last posted on here. Big apologies for not writing sooner but my old lap top finally gave up the ghost last week and I simply haven't been online since. I now have a brand new one and I'm dying to tell my ToughGuy tale to you guys, so here goes.

On Sunday, I took part in the 2010 Tough Guy Challenge up in Wolverhampton, UK. For those of you who aren't too sure what this is then let me shed some light on the matter for you.

Tough Guy is a mixture between a 10k muddy cross country run and an army assualt course. It's a true test of fitness, strength and mental determination. Challengers have to endure sub zero lakes, underwater tunnels and fire walking to have the title of being a "Tough Guy".

Myself and some of my Evolution Bootcamp clients arrived in a freezing cold Wolverhampton on the Saturday evening. We figured that we didn't want to travel up on a Sunday morning. Sitting in a car for 3 hours is not exactly great preparation for an event like this so we went up the evening before.

I'd been training real hard for this challenge and I was feeling very confident about proceedings,as was everyone else. Part of the course involved several steep hills, (I say hills, they were more like muddy banks!!)I'd been doing plenty of hill running in training so I was actually looking forward to them!

The race started at 11am. Our start position wasn't great. We were almost right at the back which usually means it's hard to run at the pace you want due to slower runners infront but once that gun went off I went for it!

I decided that I would try and hit the run as hard as I could. This was to prevent me from cueing up at the obstacles towards the end of the race.

Eveything was going fine. I was steadily making my way through the pack. It was very hard to do this on occassions as the course was very narrow which would cause bottle necking, but I did everything I could to get through as many runners as possible and start chasing down the front squad.

I REALLY didn't want to be cueing for any of those obstacles at the end freezing my ass off!


Next up were the hills and this is where my progress was haulted slightly. Everyone was pretty much walking them which was fine! I don't blame 'em but this stopped me from moving ahead. I was disappointed with this as I had put so much effort into hill running in my training but I didn't let it bother me too much and after they were done, the cross country run continued.

I was happy. I'd finished the main bulk of the running and I was onto the obstacles and it was here when things started to change - for the worse.

Alot of the obstacles involved running in and out of freezing cold water. Sounds easy right?

At first, it's great, wading through muddy water up to your waist is loads of fun but the novelty soon started to wear off when the cold started kicking in.

I cannot describe to you how cold the water was. You would have to do it yourself to appreciate what I'm talking about.

I think someone said that the water was -7 degrees, the coldest Tough Guy on record.

The water was SOOOO cold that the ice was still there, unmelted!

The front squad had to break the ice with their elbows as they waded through the water.

The cold was starting to get to me, it was creeping up on me, my legs were completely numb and all I was focused on now was finishing the course without getting hypothermia.

All I could hear was the constant sound of the ambulance siren in the background. Everywhere I looked, runners were dropping out, stopping due to cramp or being pulled out by marshalls for hypothermia.

I needed to finish...and quick!

I had achieved my goal. The obstacles were clear when I did them. Hitting the run hard had paid off but the cold was REALLY kicking in. I was starting to feel real lonely out there aswell.

I had to finish. Another 20 minutes of this water and I knew I would be in big trouble.

Hypothermia is a huge factor in Tough Guy and if you're not prepared for it then you will fail. I had undertaken some cold water survival training (daily cold showers) in the months building up to it but in all honestly this didn't help me in the slightest with the cold.


Only a few more water obstacles to go and I was fading fast, I had come to the dreaded underwater tunnels. This is where you have to immerse yourself completely under water 4 times.

This was hell, as I swam out of the lake and climbed up the muddy bank I started to feel dizzy and had a severe case of "brain freeze". This wasn't good. Brain freeze is the feeling you get when you've eaten a cold ice cream, but this was like a thousand times worse. My condition was starting to deteriate.

I knew it wouldn't be long before hypothermia kicked.

Needed to finish...

As I entered the final part of the course, I heard from a spectator that there wasn't long to go. Only a few minutes until the finish. This was like a shot in the arm for me and actually gave me a new surge of energy.

Just one more plunge into a freezing cold lake and I was there. Every cell in my body was telling me NOT to go in there but I just carried on.I was in survival mode now. I waded through as fast as I could. I was starting to shiver violently. I was in a bad way.

One final sprint to the line, I had made it but I wasn't great! I was starting to hallucinate which I knew wasn't good, and I was experiencing the symptoms of stage 1 hypothermia. Uncontrollable shivering, unable to pay attention, confusion, feeling afraid, memory loss, drowsiness, slurred speech, slow shallow breathing...yep, I had them all.

I had to get out of my wet clothes and start warming up and fast.

After 2 hours of sipping hot chocolate in my clients car with the heater on full blast I had started to warm up. Hypothermia had kicked in.
At one point I was so bad I thought I was going to have to grab a paramedic to sort me out but I got myself through it- just!

I did it! I earnt my Tough Guy title and didn't let hypothermia beat me. My time was 2 hours and 7 minutes which was in the top 800 out of the 3,500 that finished. 6,000 had started.

My goal is to finish in the top 200 for the next one which I know I will with the right preparation, tactics and determination.

So what have I learnt from my Tough Guy experience?

Well, I have learnt that if I can do do Tough Guy then I can overcome ANY obstacle in my life. Tough Guy isn't really a test of fitness, it's more about mental toughness, it's about the will do go on, it's about how hard you get knocked but keep moving forwards. It's a test of inner strength.

Whenever you're feeling down, or if you're struggling to achieve a goal in your life, whenever you're feeling like giving up, whether it be professionally, personally or spiritually then think back to this story and have the inner strength to keep moving forwards no matter what happens, just like I did.

Rocky says it best in this video:



I loved that little motivational speech : )

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the full account of my Tough Guy experience and who knows, maybe I'll see you at the next one! (if you're crazy enough!)

Peace out : )

Sam

PS - if you're interested in seeing some of the horrors I had to endure on Sunday then check out this Tough Guy link to the BBC's website.

Out of the 6,000 runners that started the 2010 Tough Guy Challenge, only 3,500 finished. 600 suffered from Hypothermia and the rest pulled out due to injury or lack of fitness.

What Do You Believe?

Earlier today, I asked you to believe in yourself so today I’m going to enlighten you with some of my own beliefs.

Those of you who know me these may not come as a surprise.
However for those of you who only know me through print, they’ll hopefully give you a little insight into who I am and what I believe in.

At first, I had to REALLY think about what I believe in and my life principles that I follow but once I spent a bit of time thinking about it, the easier it became to formulate them.

So, in my own words, here are some of the things I believe in, that I want to share with you…

I will find a way to overcome ANY obstacle that I face in life no matter how challenging.

I believe that to achieve any goal in life whether it be professionally or personally, I must overcome the setbacks and problems along the way and not get disheartened when I come across them.

Instead, embrace the challenge that I face and find a way to move through it with the minimum of fuss and continue with my journey and not stop until I’ve reached my end goal.

I will make my mark on the people I meet, the clients I train and the friends and family I love.

Helping others is quite simply, my life. I love helping people hence why I chose my career as fatloss expert. I believe that its my duty to help as many people as I can achieve a healthier, fitter, leaner life however I won’t fool myself into thinking that this is always possible.

I believe that in some cases, people just aren’t ready to be helped, their not ready to change their lifestyle in which case, rather than forcing my philosophy and systems down their throat, I will be there for them for when they DO want to make a positive change.

I believe that if I can inspire and help people to at least make their first step (however big or small) to leading a healthier lifestyle then I’m a happy, satisfied man.

I will be true to myself when all around doubt me.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you’ll know how I have developed a fatloss system with my company that guarantees results. I have researched over a hundred different diets and workouts for over 10 years and now know the most effective diet techniques and training strategies for losing body fat the fast and healthy way. I believe in this 100% and because I know that it works and consistently brings about great results ,will always stand by this.

Along the way I’ve had so-called “critiques” and other trainers questioning me and doubting the systems effectiveness and replies like how can I possibly guarantee results and offer a full money back guarantee?

During which time I’ve stuck up for what I believe in and my systems when all around me doubted and I now run a successful personal training business with 4 trainers working under me. This one rule has kept me in good stead and I know will continue to for future years.

I will demand excellence from myself and I will help others demand excellence from themselves too.

This rule pretty much speaks for itself. Whatever I do in life, I like to do it to my full potential. To coin a phrase “if a jobs worth doing, its worth doing well.” Ok that saying might have sounded a bit dated but you know what I’m getting at right?

I believe in setting a good example and being a good role model to all my clients and like to practise what I preach .Through my lifestyle I maintain a healthy weight, a balanced diet and an athletic physique, however I’m not perfect!
I do drink alcohol, I do eat processed food occasionally and if I’m offered a sweet, then I’m not going to turn it down, but I do know when to draw the line and be sensible!

I believe that if more people did the same then there wouldn’t be so much illness or disease in the world and it would be a much fitter
healthier place to live.

I like to help others demand excellence from themselves as well. I believe that if you want something in life then you have to go out there and get it.
I like to install a positive can-do attitude with all my clients to help them achieve their full potential when it comes to their fatloss goals and I’d like to think that this very attitude can rub off in other areas of their life.

I will take the time to be patient, and not be tired by waiting.

Impatience can be such a personality flaw and something that I recognise within myself on occasions. Impatience like cutting people off mid sentence or making uniformed, quick judgements. Not finding the time to really listen to others. All of which are forms of impatience.

We tend to lose our patience when we’re multi tasking or working to a tight schedule (I know I do!).

In the long run, developing patience requires a change in your attitude towards life but well worth it because it will keep your stress levels down which is vital for your health and fatloss goals.

I will take the time to laugh.

Taking time out to have fun is SO important in my book. Having fun and laughing is the music of the soul and people should include this more in their life. I know I can be guilty of being too serious and over working sometimes but I’m working hard to change my ways!

If you constantly find yourself taking life too seriously and can’t remember the last time you laughed, and I mean REALLY laughed, like it hurt your stomach you were laughing so hard, then ask yourself if it does you any good to take life too seriously? After all, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy!

A very dull boy in most cases.

These are just some of the things I believe in.

Do your beliefs play a BIG part in how you live your life?
Do they set you on the path to good health or do they lead you astray?

Think about your beliefs and ask yourself those 2 questions...