Surviving Sells.

I wrote a blog, Sellout with a Capital M, that outlined how Mark Brunett let the Eco-challenge franchise die. This in favour of truck loads of money for creating the boring and mind numbing show Survivor. Hey who knows what I would do for a truck load of money but I do believe that with his broadcasting might he could have paid someone to keep the race and its coverage ongoing. I don’t look forward to much on TV but Eco-challenge was one thing that I did.

But the reason for this is not to complain about that as I already did. Nope this is about the fact that people attempting to survive is a seller. Shows like Survivor Man continue to sprout. One that gained both popularity and criticism is Man vs. Wild/Born Survivor. This series showcases Bear Grylls a British mountaineer, author, and ex-military soldier.

The criticism comes from many individuals stating that the show is scripted -obviously any show of this kind has to be. Also that he often spends most of the nights in hotels and not always in the wild. What broadcasting company wants to take a chance of allowing the main character to die and lose money? It is a show! To the people that watch the show and complain that it isn't real enough and want reality, real nature and applying survival techniques then I suggest leaving the couch and creating your own adventure.

In the show Bear eats live snakes, towels off with snow after he jumps into ice covered water to show the viewer how to survive if it actually happened. He also squeezes elephant dung into his mouth for water, rips raw meat off a zebra with his teeth. These -among countless others- are all tactics that can be found in survival manuals just set in real time.

But I am not here to defend the show as I don't watch it and have only seen a few clips on youtube. For me the true inspiration and amazement are his actual life’s adventures. After his education Bear became one of the highly regarded, tough and extremely proficient military group the British SAS. Alas it wasn't long that he would have an accident honorably discharging him from the service. During parachute drills in Africa, Bear's main chute would tear and he plummeted 16000ft and land directly on his parachute pack breaking three vertebrae. He spent 12 months in rehabilitation.

What amazes me is that the fall occurred in 1996, he had rehabilitation for 12 months during which he dedicated his mind and body to the idea of attempting Everest. In 1998, less the 2 years from his accident, at 23 he completed his task and summited Everest -then the youngest Brit to have done so.

Following Everest he applied his skills, determination, and brawn to new challenges such as; leading the first team to circumnavigate the UK on jet skis. Led an unassisted team across the North Atlantic in a rigid inflatable raft in massive waves surrounded by icebergs. He paramotored over Angle falls and on another outing he flew slightly over the height of Everest while flying in the Himalayas. From what I have read he works closely with many charitable organizations that all -or close to all- of his adventures are a means to generate donations for these charities.

To keep himself fit Grylls trains 5 days a week utilizing many different disciplines. To keep in good health and provide the energy for his training Bear sticks to a strict but delicious diet including; fruits and veg, wholegrains (pasta, rice), potatoes, soya, nuts, avocados, honey, lentils, beans, quinoa, and masses of oats! He tries to avoid, as much as he can, animal produce, ie: dairy, eggs, meat, and white sugar, white flour, processed or junk food. He has a cheat day a week which is neccassary. Side note; when running a great deal red meat is just as important as pasta and I could not go without it once or twice a week.

All-in-all he seems rather modest and was asked several times before saying yes to do the TV show. He has said that his late father was his biggest inspiration and role model. And when asked about life he stated that to him "life is simple, you get out of it what you put in."

Training update: the speed training continued yesterday with the brutal 5's. I can say that it was amazing to see that I was strong for each one and was able to push my pace a little more with each interval as did Tracy as she blew her's out of the water. Afterward our appetites' were huge and there was only one thing that could cure it; BBQ steak, BBQ veggies and a glass of vino...hmmm so good.