I am back!!

2010 is going to be the best year yet… watch this space

BIOG

Carla Terry is a  Personal Trainer/Race Reporter with a hunger for adventure and challenge. Her background in health and fitness and her passion for living a healthy lifestyle is combined with a desire as an athlete to compete in adventure races, triathlons and half marathons.

Beautiful Sunny Autumn Days

Wow… hasn’t the weather been amazing for the last two months?
I have taken a break from the crazy world of racing events since August, but am now back on track with my first race booked for November.

Trainers, hat and gloves at the ready… time for some long beautiful stunning runs. I feel very lucky to be able to literally run from my back doorstep into some beautiful wooded and green areas, with so much nature surrounding me.

I find running a form of meditation… my mind wonders as my feet are pounding, and I feel that I can achieve anything I set my mind to.

“Wherever the mind will go the body will follow”, so make sure you choose the good thoughts only.

ITS’ A WRAP……..

So…. Unbreakable is coming to an end. My training is back on track for the G4 Heats at the end of the month and I am feeling much more human again…

I would just like to say a huge thank you to lots of people… TJWB for doing my website, Romilly for the pictures, Seb for the graphic design, Lou for her amazing voice, all my friends for supporting me all the way through, all my class member’s who have been kept guessing for all this time as to exactly what I have been up to…, Paula my neighbour for cat sitting whilst I was away, Tim for training me to near death and for actually getting me to put my head under water in the first place, and most importantly Ricochet for giving me the experience of a lifetime…..

I’m off to enjoy the rest of my life, but lastly I would just like to thank you whoever you are for taking the time to read about my crazy antics….. whether you know me personally, or only know my name… We’ve been on some journey haven’t we?

Bye for now x

HAPPY EVER AFTER…

Apologies for my disappearing act… I have been and am still under the weather… I seem to have picked up a virus of some sort and it’s driving me nuts. For someone who likes being active, and is currently trying to train for my next challenge Landrover G4… it is now starting to get to me.

I have stayed in all week, except teaching a few classes…(which is obviously the wrong thing to do) as I am not recovering!  but I guess sometimes your body needs to just rest and let the virus take it’s course.

I am sitting with my cup of tea, staring out the window reflecting on my Unbreakable experience…my body hasn’t been the same ever since. I have been ill loads since I got back in June. I have taken myself beyond exhaustion…, to the point of collapse.. have been on an emotional rollercoaster… have seen some amazing places and have done stuff that I will never experience again. Would I do it all again?  Absolutely…

I have no regrets…I now train differently, and do loads more outdoors stuff… it’s so much nicer than being in the gym. If you want to get fit, seriously fit… start going outdoors. There is so much more to see, brave the elements and get out there.

I look at life differently now… I thought I was all heels and handbags…and since I’ve got back I’ve worn my stillettos once. I detach myself from idle gossip… going out without make up on doesn’t bother me… I see the positive more so in complicated situations…I appreciate simple pleasures…I am less stressed… I see situations with a new set of eyes.

People ask me if I now want to settle down after my incredible experience… it’s actually had the opposite effect.. now there is so much more that I want to see and do.

So it just goes to show doesn’t it?  If you take a different course in life, do something different, go against the flow of “whats normal”… follow that gut feeling of wanting to do something outrageous, something scary, something off the beaten track… then you never know who you’ll meet or what it might lead to…

Finally before I wrap up my Unbreakable experience… If you have any questions you would like to ask me, please feel free to drop me a line… either write in the comment box below, or email me at carla@carlaterry.com

Bye for now x

THE NAVY SEALS WERE MORE HARDCORE THAN I EVER COULD IMAGINE

Deary deary me… I sat watching last night’s episode shivering at all the memories that came flooding back. I cannot even begin to describe what I went through with the Navy Seals… they were tough with a capital T.

They really turned up the heat with this one. Being with the Navy Seals was full on day and night, with or without the camera’s rolling. There was no forgiving because I was a girl(although I didn’t expect it) but this really was a man’s world that I was in.

I had to fight back the tears on many occasions(as quite clearly seen on the show last night) they are constantly in your face, swearing, shouting, hosing you with water, humiliating you and every wrong thing you do there is a punishment of more and more physical exercise. It just never ends…

I have no idea why a man would want to be a Navy Seal… I have never been spoken to like that by anyone…It’s just punishment after punishment, day and night, sleep deprivation all the way. Apparently this all adds to making you tough… Tough? try wearing 5 inch stilletto heels on a night out in London, chuck in some dancing for good measure, a walk on cobbles to get the bus home, and then sitting on the night bus back to Kingston for  an hour and a half whilst falling asleep on the passenger next to you’s shoulder… now that’s tough!!

Seriously…I was watching last night thinking how hard all that was… the Seals are properly out to cane you. I was most definately at my thresh hold mentally, although I did bounce back after the half marathon… and I kept going even though my body was in pain, I was aching so much, I could barely move.

The log lifting was ridiculous, I couldn’t even reach the log to be able to help hold it with the boys, because as soon as they lifted it up above their heads I could only jusy about touch it… we were doing thousands of press ups/ sit ups per day… running here, running there… get in the water, get out the water, chaffing trousers, freezing cold, tired, mentally drained, emotionally close to breaking down, physically wrecked, stupid fighting and I didn’t enjoy any of it one bit. Not even any part of being with the Navy Seals. In fact the best part was leaving.

However…  I took myself somewhere I have never been before. My body still kept going, because my mind was strong at the start(seriously after that 15 mile race, I could barely move, and we had been doing physical exercise all day before we had even started that race) I kept up with the boys… ok I was slower and not as physically strong, but in my eyes I learn’t the most.

I learn’t that you can really do anything you want to as long as you want it enough.

When the body gives up the mind can keep it going, no matter how exhausted you are feeling.

I feel privileged that I have had the experience with the Navy Seals… how many people can say that?. I didn’t agree with their bullying way, and had much more respect for the French Foreign Legion than the Seals.

The Navy Seals may have broken me, but in my eyes I am clearly a winner… no one can take away the experience of a lifetime from you, or the development of  your mental and emotional strength…

I started Unbreakable as a different person, and through all the experiences of the challenges, I have come out the other side as someone new , someone stronger than ever…….. and that to me is winning.

Bye for now x

PS  below is a video from a US documentary following ‘Class 234’ through the actual US Navy Seals Training.  This episode follows them through the greatest challenge which lies in Week 4 of Phase One. A grueling 5.5 days.  The continuous training ultimately determines who has the ability and mindset to endure.  This is the infamous ‘Hell Week’.

EPISODE 4: MY 5 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS(PART 2)

I went for a long run yesterday in the woods and park… It really was lovely to be outside even though it was freezing cold! I am now in training for my next challenge… The Land Rover G4 Challenge. I have been selected out of 400 applications along with 59 other people to take part in the national heats at Eastnor Catle at the end of the month…

This will be full on, mental and physical crazy stuff… like getting up at 2 am to go for a run, and then cycle another leg etc… it sounds absolutely crazy… but equally enjoyable in an odd kind of way! They will be looking for 1 male and 1 female to represent the UK next year in the actual challenge which involves “racing” across the Gobi desert in a Land Rover… along with performing physically and mentally draining challenges along the way. My fingers, legs,and everything else is crossed. I want that place!!

Anyway…part 2 continues..

4. Camel Spiders

Oh my god… these are horrible. I would never want to kill one of god’s creatures, but I really do not like spiders. I absolutely freak out if one of those big hairy ones run across the floor. I am literally a hysterical wreck, shouting, sweating and almost on the verge of mental breakdown if I come into close proximity of a big spider…Funnily enough I saw tarantula’s in the Jungle, but they didn’t bother me. Anyway, in the desert I saw Camel spiders. In fact one of them was on my shoulder!! . They are very quick, and they kind of look like scorpions… vicious and a bit angry. The one I saw was pretty small, but they grow to be pretty big… and they absolutely just give me the creeps… apparently they bite you and leave a hole in your skin?… nice!

In fact I became a bit obsessed with them when I got back, I was researching them on you tube, and just watching the footage made me squirm in my seat(I don’t know why I did it to myself!)

In fact there is a video on there of a girl eating a massive one… it is really disturbing!!

Let’s move swiftly on to…

5. That poor little goat.

Oh dear… this was so hard for me. I used to be vegetarian many years ago and for quite a few years. I’m not really sure why I started  eating meat again but I did, but only chicken and fish. I Knew as soon as I saw that goat exactly what was going to happen.. and I was really digging deep to try and keep myself calm, but the tears were pouring down my face before I could even hold them back. I just felt so sorry for that little bleating goat. Unfortunately, It will stay in my mind forever, completely for all the wrong reasons. It actually really made me feel angry and annoyed, and almost stroppy because I really didn’t mind what they did to me, but please don’t kill an animal for entertainment.

I have lots of vegetarian and vegan friends who say that at least it was quick, there are animals in this country that are killed in far worse conditions just so people can eat them. We’ve been killing animals for years to eat, it’s part of the survival chain I guess, but I hate seeing animals suffer. It’s made me think about going back to being veggy again, I don’t really enjoy eating the meat that I do anyway.

I also beg to differ that anyone else would not react in a similar way… but I tell you what I have found out. Having spoken to guys and girls about the goat incident, pretty much all blokes have been completely non emotional about it, whereas all the women have shown how emotionally upsetting it was.

Which makes me come to the conclusion that women are feely, touchy, emotional creatures… we look to our fellow sister’sfor support, encouragement, praise, and emotional help and guidance., we rely on each other and want to lend a helping hand by listening to problems. Guys on the other hand, are sole hunting creatures… they do not need the support of other blokes, they want to be the winners, they do not need to be in a pack, they do not rally round in times of hardship or crisis… they want to muddle through their problems on their own.

Hence…Men are from Mars and women are from Venus… it all comes back to caveman days surely?

Women are not scared to ask for help…Men do not need help.

Women can multi task… Men can only do 1 thing at time(try it… see how confused they get)

Women cannot fix things… Men thrive on mending and finding solutions.

Women want to be listened to… Men choose selective hearing.

Women check themselves sideways on in a mirror on a daily basis as to whether they have put on weight over night…Men don’t seem to do that sideways check in the mirror… Why is that?? (or is that just me?)

I could go on… the list is endless…

Bye for now.x

EPISODE 4: MY 5 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS

Where do I even begin this one… as I mentioned in my previous blog, the Sahara is just simply stunning. I did alot of soul searching in the desert. When you are stripped back to your core… it’s just you and your soul(or as I call it the little you inside the big you)

1. Keeping Watch.

I remember having to stay awake to keep guard… no one else around, just you and the the Sahara desert as your home. Being forced to stay awake and sit still is near on impossible. If you are moving around doing stuff.. that’s different, but sitting still keeping your eyes peeled left and right was really hard. I had no idea what the time was… therefore I had no idea how long I had to sit there for. I kind of mentally chopped the sky up into 6/7 chunks and decided that when the moon got to a certain star… that it must be time to switch over night duty. The moon is stunning. I felt guilty that all these years I had never appreciated how wonderful and amazing the moon was… always taking it for granted that it will just appear when night time does… It is huge, so huge that I could almost reach out and touch it… and it was so bright, almost too bright like a light that had been accidentally left on when everyone else has gone to bed. I thought about alot of things up on that sand dune, and this is going to sound odd to some but I felt like that calmness, that quietness and stillness of the surroundings all around me gave me immense inner strength… and it’s that inner connection with the little me that made me realise there’s more to me than I originally thought.

2. Sand Dune Sprints

This was so hard. One of the hardest physical challenges I think I have ever done in my life. I actually felt like my heart was going to stop beating. However, I absolutely loved it!! Those sand dunes are so tough, so energy draining, the heat is slowly sapping energy from your body bit by bit. Putting the gas mask on was even more ridiculous… breathing was super difficult. I try to run, but about halfway up, it becomes too tiring(not just wimping out tiring but kind of like passing out tiring!!) I carry on with walking up, slowly putting one foot in front of the other. My heart is absolutely going like the clappers, my breathing is hard and noisy… a reminder just exactly how much I am pushing myself. I get to the top, manage to touch the line, and start running downhill. I can’t feel my legs at all, I feel like I am about to fall over, balancing precariously on the top of the dune. My legs now feel that they do not belong to me, they are moving but I am not in control of them. Then I get a sudden burst of energy as I fly downhill. I am tired yet exhilirated at the same time, my heart feels like its going to stop at any minute, but my adrenalin is pumping. I get to the bottom and collapse… my recovery is quick and within minutes I am ready to go again… some may hate that exhausted feeling. Me?  I love it, and I thrive on it because it makes me feel alive.

3. The drive to the Sahara

Driving from Marrakech to the edge of the Sahara took all day. Roughly 10-12 hours, maybe more. We drove via the Atlas Mountains, skirting around the edge of them… through so many villages along the way. Morocco is beautiful, very poor but beautiful.  I saw so many children out playing in the roads, all laughing and looking like they were having fun. It is always very humbling to see people living in worse conditions than yourself. You realise how “easy” you have it, not having to worry  about food or heating etc.

It kind of got me thinking how living in london kind of spoils you a bit. We expect everything now, we complain if things are not good enough or quick enough. People complain alot in London… start listening to the conversations around you… it’s full of people being unhappy, almost like people thrive on it. We aren’t happy unless we are moaning. Since my experience in the desert… I no longer buy magazines that have useless information in them, I watch far less TV than I did before, and I now get outdoors, enjoy and appreciate nature far more. It’s the little things in life that keep me amused.

A good friend of mine once said to me ” Carla, the people that have the least have the most”

I shall carry on with my next 2 tomorrow. The sun is shining and I want to enjoy it.

Bye for now x

Sandcastles in the Sahara…

The desert is the most beautiful place I ever have been to. I have always wanted to go to the Sahara and feel very fortunate and lucky that I have experienced what most people will probably not. How can I begin to even explain what the Sahara is like? Grap a cup of tea, sit down and get comfortable… let me take you on a journey.

Most people in the world have an opinion of the beach. Why…? because of the sand…it seem’s to either irritate or bring out the fun childlike sandcastle building in you. I reckon that probably as many people love the sand as hate it.

I sit clearly on the fence… I don’t mind it. Living in the Sahara for 4 days mean’t that I couldn’t afford to strike up a bad relationship with the environment, my only choice was to embrace it. The sand get’s everywhere, I mean everywhere. I still find sand in my rucksack pockets. Fortunately I loved the Sahara and would go back there tomorrow at mearly the mention of a bucket and spade. The desert is a very powerful place for any soul searching individual.

Have you ever been anywhere that touches your soul…? Where you have felt totally connected to nature and felt the power it has and how you are just a small part in it. Have you seen the sun go down, the moon come up and the stars twinkling like silver christmas decorations in the clear dark sky?

If not… get to the Sahara now.

The scenery is stunning, the heat is immense, but the sheer scale of it is mind blowing.

The blazing heat when the sun comes up about 7am is scorching. There is zero shade, no where to get out of the heat to cool down. Temperature’s get up to 45 degrees in the midday sun. It is hot hot hot. I was constantly sweating, just from the heat yet alone all the exercise I was doing with the French Foreign Legion. The Sahara was challenging but I loved it(except the goat situation which upset me). I thrive in the heat…I always have done. I suit hot climates, give me hot over cold any day!!

Night fall is about 6 or 7pm… the sun goes down and the moon comes up and it is just simply stunning. It sounds really stupid but the moon is so bright! It really is like a huge big lamp that lights up the sky, casting an all night sheen of light over the vast sand dunes like a dimmer switch that has been accidentally left on. Night time is cold…not Norway cold, but still cold!!

There are snakes and camel spiders erverywhere. At one point during a conversation with the boys about camel spiders, one appeared on my shoulder!! It was like the spider had been hiding behind me waiting for it’s opportune moment. I would not wish those on anyone, they are horrible!!… they are like scorpion’s, very vicious, fast and just look angry!! I slept wrapped up in my blanket so tight, almost to the point of not being able to breathe, but I didn’t want those things getting anywhere near my body.

The desert made me feel delirious, actually the sleep deprivation made me feel delirious. One hour on… one hour off… all through the night, I hardly knew whether I was coming or going, but one thing I did know was that the Sahara opened my eyes to something I had never felt or seen before. It was like a lightbulb moment in my head… I just kind of felt that I understood more about me and what was important to me. It made me look within myself rather than looking out. I discovered many things about me in those 4 days of the desert, I felt really strong there…

You may be reading this thinking ” yeah whatever?!” but take yourself out of your usual environment and your mind begins to truly open like a parachute of feelings and emotions that you had forgotten about, or even worse… have never experienced because of being on the treadmill of daily habits, work, chores and life.

So if you have never been anywhere that has truly awakened something inside of you(I’m not talking Canary Islands package holiday here, although each to their own and it may do it for some) I suggest you get off the beaten track… and go explore…the world awaits you.

Where do you daydream of going?

Bye for now x

BREAKING NEWS: THE OMM-WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

For those of you who enjoy reading my blog, this one comes hot of the press and straight out of the blue. So as you know, I was taking part in the OMM over the weekend (The Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) was founded in 1968 and is recognised as one of the world’s toughest tests of endurance and navigational skills) and as you also know, the OMM ended up being breaking news over the weekend because of the absolutely awful and dangerous weather conditions.

How strange that in my last blog on Friday, I talked about fear, and the difficult and akward times making you stronger… as this was about to be my hardest challenge yet.. even more fearful than The Royal Navy!!

The OMM is a mountain marathon, better described as a survival, endurance, climbing, orienteering event (a bit like an adult version of a really tough treasure hunt!). It is an extreme event and not for the faint hearted. Some people run it, some walk, but the aim is to basically get from checkpoint to checkpoint as a team of 2 people up and down the mountains before night fall, camp out over night and then resume the race the following day.

Around 4000 people took part (2000 teams), and everyone sets off at different times.. a staggered start. The horn went and it was our time.  It had just started to rain, and the wind was high.. off we trek , map in hand, heading for checkpoint 1. It now starts to rain harder… so much so that you cannot even open or spread the map out without it being blown away.

We start climbing ( I repeat CLIMBING) up a mountain next to a running waterfall… 2 men overtake us who are bounding up easily. Our climb takes us higher and higher, although there is no time to stop and admire the view, not that you could see it…you can’t see anything. By this time the rain is torrential and the wind is galeforce… we make it all the way up to checkpoint 1, having falling over about 20 times in the process.. I was not enjoying myself.

Coming down from checkpoint 1 and heading towards checkpoint 2, we have to cross streams that had turned into raging rivers… heading towards a craggy face. We climbed up rocks and down rocks, waded through more water and found checkpoint 2. I was still not enjoying myself.  Its now difficult to stand up in the strong winds.

Now we head down a very very steep descent, I fall over countless times, and this time I slide some way also. The mountain rescue are at the bottom and running up towards the top of the mountains. We head for checkpoint 3 and the weather is slowly knocking the stuffing out of me.

We pass people who warn us how dangerous it is up at the top, and to be very careful… we got up this mountain quicker than the others as the wind was behind us… but at the top of that mountain things were looking bleak. The rivers were even worse.. they were becoming uncrossable and extremely dangerous, currents were strong, we were soaked, muddy, and patience was starting to wear thin. Are we just being wimpy if we bail out, or is this just stupidity to continue? I am most definately not enjoying myself and am now shouting it from the top of the mountain.  We have been out in these conditions now for nearly 6 hours with no stopping.  No food stops… you just eat on the go.

No one else is around… its just you, the elements and your ability to make a decision to quit or continue. We wonder if anyone else has quit, we have absolutely no idea about the flooding we were about to encounter.

We decide to get down the mountain as quickly and safely as possible. I must admit, I felt that we were starting to put ourselves in danger. You do not mess with Mother Nature. However this was just the start of things to come. We started to come down, and it was only then that we saw the sheer power of what had happened. The whole of Borrowdale was pretty much under water.

As we approached the road we met other competitors who had said the event had been abandoned and to make our way back to the HQ of the event. This was where our car was. As we walked along the road towards the car… we hit a massive flood across the whole of the road (see the video below). Cars were flooded. Water was up to the windows of the cars.. our car was on the other side. We made the brave and risky decision to wade through the water which was up to my chest… I was scared.. the water again!!

We got through the flood and thank god our car was safe, but for about 20-30 cars.. they were not so lucky as the water was window level and rising. I’ve not seen anything like this other than on the news.. It was so surreal.

We ended up sleeping in the car overnight and then made progress out of Borrowdale the following morning. The police had shut the village, it was so flooded. Cars were abandoned and had been swept down the roads, trees were knocked down. I did half expect to wake up and be somewhere totally different!!

As we kept driving and tried to get out of the village, more cars were abandoned, more floods… water everywhere.. fields had now become lakes, houses were under water, roads shut off etc.

We managed to get out safely, and it wasn’t until we had phone signal again, that we realised the impact it had had on the rest of the UK. Texts and phonecalls came flooding in from friends and families checking that we were ok.

At the time…I didn’t enjoy it. My partner tells me that this was a “one off extreme weather” case. It’s never been cancelled in all of the years it has taken place… that normally it’s “FUN”.

But… in hindsight something made me enjoy the experience in an appreciative and humble way. It was nothing like “Unbreakable.”  This was different. This was complete survival in an uncontrolled environment. Nature has such tremendous power… you do not mess with the elements.

The more and more crazy stuff I do ( like the OMM and Unbreakable) the more it makes me feel alive… really alive. I am not just going through the motions of everyday life, I am getting amongst it. I am not just staring out the window wishing and wondering what to do with my life.. I am taking life with open arms and squeezing as much out of it as I can…

So who’s joining me next year?

Bye for now x

PS Some of the below may interest you:

Hot news on the BBC

Missing runners?

The 2008 OMM:

OMM Weather:

Some of the highlights from the OMM below:

To give you an idea of what the start of the event is like: