Bulldog and bullet ants

Hello! I am now back from the Bulldog Bash, which dispite the horriffic rain (andf resulting lack of motor sport entertainment due to the slippery raceway) was a jolly good time! However, 4 days of no exercise, TONS of amazing junk food in huge quantities and plenty of booze has got me feeling less than motivated to resume my healthy regieme. That said, last night I went for a swim straight after work, and had a pretty healthy dinner too. Unfortunately today though was a no exercise day (apart from the regular 15 minutes of crunches and press ups in the morning) as had a work BBQ which was also good fun dispite the pissing rain.

I very recently discovered- or rather, faced up to the fact- that I am lactose intolerant. I have known for a while that coleslaw and mayo based dips do the worst things to me, wich hard cheeses being the least offensive (i.e. not bad enough for me to avoid permanently- that would be terrible!) and I figured since I barely have much milk (just on cereal and sometimes in coffee) and when I do it is skimmed, it wasn't anything to write home about. However, I've been feeling so bad lately after dairy type things, and so much better when I avoid them, I've been getting quite excited about it (and probably boring everyone around me also!!). Today I had rice milk on my cereal and really felt great all day for it, so I can add dairy to the list of things to avoid while I'm doing my training and such, since I'm sure it will do me wonders. And for anyone who hasn't tried rice milk, I really reccommend it- it's just like ricepudding only without the bits!!

Yesterday afternoon I had my phone interview with the lovely reporter Chris, from the Cambridge News[paper]. He seemed really keen on the story, and it'll be going to print with the photos shot at work last week, in the next couple of days- watch this space!

Once again, thanks so much to everyone who has been donating, I've had so much support particularly from the lovely volunteers at Shepreth Wildlife Park, it's really wonderful to know everyone is behind me!

Here is the first installment of the terrors that await me in the jungle: Bullet ants! These are 2cm long ants with huge mandibles and a toxic bite so painful it ranks highest for their group according to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index (yes, such a thing exists!), apparrently causing "waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours". They are named bullet ant because it is supposed to be like being shot. The locals from Nicaragua to Paraguay, where it is found, call it "Hormiga Veinticuatro" or "24 (hour) ant", because of the typical duration of pain following a sting. And this is one of the things I have to look forward to! Worth noting is that I am particularly sensitive to ant bites, even here in the UK- I even have a large scar and patch of degenerated muscle on my leg from a bite 3 years ago to prove it! GULP!