After five years it's great to be back on the Tough Mudder course, even more so with the pandemic stretching out the break. Super happy with my Funky Monkey run, especially when looking back at the pace and technique of my first attempt in 2014.

We had a blast at Electronic Theatre, an interactive experience developed by the same people who host Tough Mudder events. However this digital physical experience is much less strenuous than its muddy counterpart. 

You wear these somewhat nerdy hats in a room which tracks your physical position and maps your movements to a cursor on the big wall in front. All four walls are screens, but for the most part it's the front screen which you're focussed on. Up to six people can partake in the 30 or 60 minute session, but note that some games are single, or two player games so you'll be benched for those moments.

Currently there are two game experiences, we went for Alien Aptitude. The games itself were very primitive and reminds me of those basic web Flash games with simple graphics. However it works well and we had a lot of fun. Just as you're getting used to the controls they change up the rules and keep you on your toes. At the end you get a ranking so if you're splitting up into teams it's a good competitive element to battle over.

If you fancy a go then take advantage of this 30% discount on Sundays with this coupon voucher code:
MUDDERSUNDAYS
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A much smaller medal hoard than previous years. I'm still enjoying the races but I've reduced my participation with race events as I wanted to focus on other on other life events besides active ones. Yet I still had the opportunity for new experiences such as the original obstacle race Tough Guy, 6 hour Endurance Race at Gravesend, Make the Future Live eco event, a Ninja style competition, 6 hour Endurance race in Paris and finally got to roll along for the annual Skate Fresh Party.

I hope to keep active in 2018 with lot more fun, exciting, active experiences however they may be.

Without trying to sound egotistical, the London Skate Marathon trophies are taking a bit of space but I don't want to throw them out. So to make a compromise I got the hacksaw out! I've kept the base plaques of three of the trophies and combined them together! 

This may have been at the Queen Elisabeth Olympic Park for some time now but just spotted some amazing exercise machines today. Not only is it a free way to pump iron but it also generates energy which goes straight back into the grid, or you can charge up your USB device right there and then!

LFNS and the London Skate put on another fantastic spooky themed street skate on the streets of London. As always the skaters pull out all of the stops with creativity!

Back for its second year but even with Time Out's entry offer of £33.00 it really failed to draw in the punters. All of the obstacle builds were of a significantly smaller build quality. Very little was going on in the event village which was one of the highlights of last year. Because of these reasons I will be very surprised if this event will run again.

Having said all that we enjoyed what the event offered, its just a shame it did not live up to its inaugural event. 

Every year Asha Kirby the founder and owner of the skate school SkateFresh throws a party to celebrate another year of rolling. The party is an open invite to all skaters whether or not you have been a past pupil or not. I some how have managed to miss it every year but was glad to have finally made it today. Asha held the party today on the promenade in Brighton.

​​We took the 10:00 Eurostar train from London St Pancras and we were in Paris by lunch time, ready for a long skate weekend.
 
Our accommodation was at the Three Ducks Hostel. Nice place, it had all the usual things you'd expect. Universal (USB) plug sockets seems to be becoming more common which is always handy.

​After an afternoon of sight seeing we were ready for our first ever Paris Roller, a three hour officially organised street skate which legend has it inspired London's own skate scene. The difference here is that as well as the volunteer marshals they also have police motorbikes and an an ambulance keeping everybody safe. They however have much more continental start time of 22:00 which would be around the time London finishes their night street skates!
 
Saturday was a day of indulging the sights and culinary delights of Paris.
​Venturing with some off skate culture.

​Sunday however was the main reason why we were here. The 6H Paris Skate is an annual endurance Le Mans style relay event. It was held in Muette Park to the west of central Paris. The 2.5km closed road circuit winded through a forest which felt like a Centre Parks experience.
 
Our four person ESS team were non competitive, meaning we weren't going to be too hard on each other with any hiccups such as baton drops or missing your change over. We did have a little structure, with each of us doing two laps at a time. A close eye on the timing of each other's laps also allowed us to gauge how long our breaks were between shifts.

​Unsurprisingly our first lap was mostly the fastest. The heat drained us as the hours ticked by, even though it was cooler than usual for August.
Just out of curiosity I used my recreational skates (80mm wheels) instead of my speed skates (110mm wheels) for one of my shifts. It felt noticeably slower. To keep a decent pace it meant I had to focus on my technique more and making every push count. Which makes me think maybe I get a little lazy with form on the speed skates... So although I really had to work on these two laps I did have one of the most memorable moments of overtaking a Lycra clad speed skating paceline! That felt brilliant!
 
I missed out by twenty seconds on the six hour cut off for another lap. However it turns out that attempt was also my fastest lap. (05:00:533 ms) I guess it helps when there is some motivation!

​At the event there were skate stalls. One in particular is Ligne Droite where I got some spare parts. They were very friendly and were keen to point out that they are happy to create custom skate packages as well as the ability to ship to the UK as well as other parts of Europe. Will keep them in mind for the future.

The 6H Paris Skate  event was such good fun! Whether you're pro speed skaters or recreational rollers it was a good track for an afternoon of rolling. It wasn't too difficult to get to and we were able to catch the 20:30 train from Gar du Nord, allowing us to be back home in London the same evening.

Thank you Christine Dumouchel for the photos.

I had a fantastic day at the Ninja Warrior competition at the Arch Climbing Wall. This was the first ninja style competition in London. Twenty competitors duke it out in three obstacle heats where you are ranked based on your course time or the obstacles completed.

Jacob Peregrine-Wheller (Ninja Warrior UK contestant), the organiser from West Coast Parkour was incredibly welcoming regardless of ability, for both regulars as well as newcomers like myself. The session started with a fun icebreaker warm up. All through the day everyone was very supportive of one another's performances. It was a great creative use of the space with regards to the obstacles and it was just as enjoyable to have an opportunity to try out these new contraptions! The whole day was brilliant and inspiring. I would definitely recommend West Coast Parkour for ninja and parkour training.

As for my performance I was a little disappointed  with messing up with some of the balancing obstacles. I feel I should definitely be a lot better at this considering I'm a skater! An area not to overlook!

Watching the others perform feats which sounded impossible was incredibly inspiring though!

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