In the latest installment of Spotlight, Maddi Howell made the trip down to the Triathlon club, to try her hand at one of the University of York’s newest sports.
Thursday: With the prospect of a 10am morning run at the athletics track on Saturday and a 7:30am swim on Sunday, I’m feeling ready to be challenged, humiliated and severely out of breath. Although to my (incredibly sporty, member of senior rowing and owner of a ‘proper’ bike) housemate’s amusement I do possess a pair of goggles. I hope my green flowery bikini will make the cut. In terms of fitness, I’ve only been to one yoga class since before Christmas, so I have to say I was
slightly worried.
Saturday: Having managed to resist the temptations of Phat Fridays, I was up and ready for the morning run. When I arrived at the athletics track the sun was shining and I found a friendly bunch of people ready for action, identifiable by their ‘TRIATHLON’ emblazoned kit. We took a route around the Fulford Golf Course, and I enjoyed the supportive and sociable training atmosphere (a contrast to the dreaded cross-country runs I remember from school!).
It was brilliant to start my weekend on a feel-good high, and the President of the committee, Sam Davies, and Press and Publicity Secretary, Stuart MacGregor, helpfully pushed me to keep going with their motivational approaches. Sam encouraged me to pick a goal such as the next landmark and then choose another one as I got to it, which seemed to be a trick into carrying on that fitness-improving a bit further! Although I managed to complete 8km without collapsing too badly, one runner lapped me completely; so there’s still a lot to improve on!
Sunday: Luckily, our photographer Jack failed to make the early 7:30am start for B group swimming, so I have avoided any action shots of my limited swimming technique. The sets of strokes were recommended on a board (a warm up, pre-sets, main set of twenty lengths of front crawl and a warm down). The lanes were closed off for us and I was largely left to get on with my lengths, although Stuart helped out with my breathing technique and partially forgotten front crawl form!
Once again, it seemed like this is a club where members help each other out and egg one and other on to improve and push on. This early morning swim was a great way to start a Sunday. If you are time limited, this is the sport to go for, as the combination of running and cycling mixes up your workout and the swimming gives your joints a good massage (with the benefit of a sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi available on a Sunday morning with a membership at the Sports Village). In addition to the sessions I joined, the club runs a weekly evening run, spin sessions, and a road cycle.
It’s an adventurous mix and it means you get a chance to get out and about away from the seemingly endless cycle of revision, essays and the campus bubble. The bonus is the opportunity to work towards Triathlon competitions in the spring season and I have no doubt that the adrenalin rush at reaching the finish line is well worth the slog!