'You can go back to training, but take it easy, Chris', said Thom, my physio. I walked out of Roehampton hospital in South West London with a huge smile on my face and immediately called my girlfriend with the good news. It was also my birthday. I’m now 46 years old and this was a great present. I’ve been itching to start training again after being out of action for the whole of 2015 due to a weak upper back and shoulder pains.
And then, only a few days later, I got the call from Sony asking if I wanted to be in their team to take on Tough Mudder. Remembering my physio’s advice, I asked when it was and how long it is? “It’s in 5 weeks’ time and it’s nearly a half marathon.” I was told.
With 'Take it easy, Chris' still fresh in my mind, I thought, Crikey, I’m in, where do I sign?!
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have any reservations over doing Tough Mudder (although electrocution and tear gas does sound a little harsh - I thought I’d seen the last of that when I left the military). But I’m probably at my least fit since I started competing in endurance challenges in 2008, which I did as part of my recovery process from spinal injuries after I was hit head on by car whilst out training for a triathlon (hence the shoulder and back problems).
However, I believe that conquering our challenges is what life is all about and so I’ve thrown myself into this challenge 100%. I’m now playing Tag Rugby on Mondays to get my heart rate going, I’m doing lots of stabalisation and strength work in the garden and in local parks, and I’m running daily to get my endurance levels back up.
As part of my training I’ve been testing the Smartwatch 3 to use alongside my Xperia Z3 smartphone. It’s only been a few weeks, but so far, I have to say I’m really impressed. I love the quality of the watch and its screen, I love the swiping action used to scroll through notifications, and the GPS feature has been great at tracking my runs.
I’m looking forward to being part of Team Sony and conquering Tough Mudder. I’m not worried about the distance - I’ll just put my head down and get on with it. But I do have concerns over the obstacles that require upper body strength. I’m working on it, but I know that 4 weeks is not a lot of time. Either I’ll be going swimming a lot or I’ll be relying on Rick, Joel and the rest of the team to catapult me over the obstacles.
Either way, it’s going to be very muddy and great fun (minus being electrocuted and gassed!)
You can pick up the new Xperia Z3+ at Carphone Warehouse now
