Tough Mudder is an endurance race in which runners face fire, ice and electric shocks along a 12-mile obstacle course – and for some reason I’ve signed up for it.
As well as promising my mum I will have my heart assessed by a medical professional before competing, I’ve enlisted the help of a personal trainer to get me in shape.
Last week, Adam Stevens welcomed me into the brand-spanking-new Pure Gym in Skimpot Lane to assess how difficult it will be to get me Tough Mudder-ready.
I play five-a-side football once a week, and have just started going on non-regular 5km runs, but Adam wanted to test me on press-ups, weighted squats and pull-ups.
I completed 40 squats holding a 12kg kettlebell without breaking sweat, a ‘not bad’ 25 press-ups, but only one measly pull-up – “we’ll need to work on that”, said Adam.
Adam – who is also a mixed martial artist – will be taking part in Tough Mudder as well, so he knows what it will take to be prepared.
I will have to work hard on various muscles for the myriad obstacles I will face – including upward monkey bars, log-carrying, underwater tunnels and a 15ft-high quarter pipe that I must scale.
I’ve got less than two months to prepare, but with the help of Adam and Pure Gym, I’m hopeful of getting through the gruelling course.
Held in Kettering, Northampton on the weekend of May 4/5, Tough Mudder is a race designed by British Special Forces soldiers to test strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie.
Launched in 2010, Tough Mudder has raised millions of pounds for various charities, with more than 700,000 participants to date, running events in Europe, South Africa, Australia, Japan, USA and Canada.
For more information, visit www.toughmudder.co.uk.
For details about the new Pure Gym in Skimpot Lane, visit www.puregym.com.
I am taking part in Tough Mudder in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital - please donate at www.justgiving.com/richardredman.