Encouragement for strangers in training

From now on if I ever see anyone training hard for anything I am always going to throw some encouraging words towards them!

When I'm in the middle of a tyre pulling session and things are hard it is a welcome distraction to have people show an interest and ask what I'm training for or to say well done for the obvious effort - and my effort probably is very obvious with my bright red face and sweat dripping freely off my nose!  I can even raise a smile for the 1 in 5 that tells me I have a flat tyre or that something has got caught on my backpack - I forgive you wannabe comedians as at least it stops me thinking about what I'm doing for a second.  Or as just happened today, cheers of very enthusiastic encouragement from a mixed group of mountain bikers as I was half way up a fairly steep hill.  I don't know if it was just the exhaustion but the cheers of support actually moved me.  Being a cynical Englishman raised in a country where it seems uncool to support each other I always suspect some of the shouts may be a little sarcastic for the 'nutter in the forest', but I use them for positive energy so I don't care either way.

Today was the first day I've gone out and trained with a lot of other people out - as it's Saturday afternoon - and I was really pleased by the general reaction of people.  I genuinely appreciated the support and it definitely helped get through some of the harder parts.  I even took 15 minutes off my last time over the rather hilly 5km, this time pulling 30kg of tyres in a time of 1hr 5mins.

I am not sure that always training up and down hills is the best method but the nearest space for me happens to be quite a lumpy bit of forest so it will do for now.  I will research a bit on the web to see what experienced adventurers advise.  I'll also try to gauge a consensus on the best type of terrain and also body positioning whilst pulling, in order that I best prepare for and mimic the pulling of the pulk on the ice cap.

So thank you good people of Bracknell and Swinley Forest for an enjoyable session today!

TYRE PULLING in Swinley Forest

HAVING JUST RETURNED FROM MY FIRST TYRE PULLING SESSION I AM WONDERING WHY MORE PEOPLE DON'T JUST DO THIS FOR FUN!  What a fantastic way to get a full body workout.  At least it would be if I had some ski poles to aid me in order to bring the arms and shoulders into play (something to scour ebay for shortly).

For those who may not know tyre pulling seems to be the staple training for Arctic expeditioners.  It apparently mimics closely the motion of pulling your pulk (which is the Scandinavian sled I will be pulling with my equipment on).  The recommendation is that you can pull up to 1.5x your bodyweight.  I am currently 95KG and my body weight is rising so I could potentially pull over 150KG, though I think we are aiming to pull no more 120KG each.

I picked a selection of old tyres up from Bracknell Tyre & Battery.  Most tyre places will be greatful for you taking their rubbish away, though you may want to just check with them first prior to helping yourself!

I don't have a harness at the moment but fortunately I had an old metal cable lying around which served as an easy way to secure the tyres to me.  Firstly I just tied the tyres together at one end, then the other end to me.  In order to spread the load a bit I wore an old rucksack and tied the cable to that.  This worked perfectly well for me and I was please to have a free rig ready for use now so I can start getting some time pulling under my belt and begin to progress the weight.

Onto weight, I began with two tyres weighing just under 30KG.  I was thinking that would probably be very light but as much as I dare test my makeshift harness with.  As it turns out I think the harness is capable of carrying plenty more - at least until I can get a proper harness - and the weight was plenty for my first time!  I ended up walking the firetrack in my local forest.  By the time I got out it was 8pm and pitch black (ah the great British summer months!).  My good friend offered to walk with me this first time out and the company was appreciated though I will soon have to get used to being alone in the forest in the dark, cold winter months as the training hours required increase.  It is fairly strange (dare I say scary) being in the forest, not only alone when it is dark but also when you are pulling a weight behind you which makes loads of noise and alerts everyone to your presence - who knows what's lurking in the trees, especially as the forest I train in contains the notorious high security broadmoor psychiatric hospital! :)

We ended up walking for 45 minutes taking in a long slope up to begin and a short sharp climb midway through.  The steeper pitch certainly got my heart rate up and I the sweat was pouring off me - which could potentially be a problem in the Arctic - but it was a very enjoyable bit of training and I look forward to getting out again very soon.

The next time out will be for a length of time - probably 2 hours, just to allow the body to start familiarising itself with it, probably with the same weight.  I would like to think that very shortly after that I will begin targeting specific distances and with double the weight, all the time keeping in mind a rough target of pulling 120kg for 40km a day when in the Arctic.

I am now going to rehydrate, refuel and rest all the time whilst musing a world where more people really do tyre pull as a means of training.  I imagine a Dickensian style Christmas scene where instead of lots of people ice skating they are all tyre pulling.  What a great way to train!