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.

We had our first visit to Ultimate Ninja, a Ninja Warrior style training centre which has obstacles inspired from the TV show which originates from Japan (Sasuke).

The centre itself is very close to Hythe train station but as its a smaller stop the trains are less frequent. We decided to instead get an earlier train to Colchester Station (a bigger station with more frequent stops) which allowed a bit of buffer time. If there were train delays we had an option of a taxi from Colchester, but trains were good today so we opted for a forty minute walk instead.

The centre itself was good fun and it had a lot of obstacles to keep us occupied for the hour for a reasonable price of £10. (Best to book in advance). Having had a go at everything I have new found respect for successful contestants of the show who are doing these obstacles back to back.

As the title suggests we will be back again as we really like what they are doing. It will be interesting to see if they update some of the obstacles occasionally to keep things fresh. The journey time and train fare (£20 return approx) from London however stops this from being a regular venue for us. We envy the locals!
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It took a couple of attempts but was very happy to have 'beat the wall!'

Today I rediscovered the fun of bouldering at the Arch Climbing Wall's Building One and Biscuit Factory centres. Both locations are a few minutes walk apart with my preference being Building One just because of the peg wall which I got to try out for the first time. Tough Mudder used to have an obstacle dubbed 'The Liberator,' which was much easier because the wall inclined meaning you can rest your body against it. No such cheats on the peg board giving you a proper upper body challenge. My new favourite obstacle!

Would also love to able to do the under hang boulder routes one day. My finger strength and techniques aren't ready just yet..