Session #2

This week we head to Migym, where Rachael Voyce and the team will lead us through a three set rotation of Spin, Stretching and Core Strength activity. All you need to wear is comfy/stretchy clothes like T-shirts and trackies/shorts (just make sure if they are long in length that you can fold them up or tuck into your socks when you get onto the spin bikes). You will also need comfortable footwear and bring a water bottle too.

When you enter Migym at 6.30pm on Tuesday, please ensure the first thing you do is put a cross next to your name on the Register Clipboard. I need to keep records of how many attended each session for statistical purposes in my reporting back to Council, along with evaluating each session and also as part of Health & Safety.

If your name is highlighted then it means I don't have a medical form or photo (or both) from you, so please come and see me and we'll sort it.

I will also have the photo sheets from last week - can you please tick next to your name and photo if they are correct. There are a few blurry photos in there - so I'll take another one if this is the case for you.

Looking through the 'fear bottles' it was interesting to see the number whose main concern was swimming related. 13 people had concerns with swimming and getting in the water, and 12 people had concerns with swimming in the sea. I will talk more about these sessions later in the series, but for now, rest easy knowing that when we do the sea swim session we never go deep enough that you couldn't stand up and put your feet on the bottom (we swim parallel to shore). And for the pool sessions we split into three ability level groups (group 1 being those that wouldn't be able/comfortable to swim a length, group 2 being those that could swim 1 or 2 lengths and group 3 being those that could swim many lengths comfortably).

So - you're not alone!

It seems a number of you are also concerned about injury - please remember, that you are the only one who knows how your body is feeling and what is normal for it to handle. If you are at all worried about performing a certain activity or continuing a session, then let the instructor or myself know. It is really easy to do too much too soon when you are filled with enthusiasm and motivation, we want to be active in the long term, so look after yourself and take it slowly.

Another similar fear is being left out, or being the worst. This isn't a competition, however, I know how it can feel when you perceive yourself to be the worst at something. When I first started road cycling, I used to get dropped from the bunch every single time, and it wasn't much fun. Yet, I also knew that to get better, I had to stick to it, so each week, I lasted a little bit longer and a little bit further until eventually I was able to last the entire ride. Please know that we won't leave you behind in this series, there is no racing, and with all the different sports involved it is unlikely you are going to be the 'worst' or the 'best' at every single one (however you may judge it). And also remember, that you are faster, fitter, better, stronger, ..... etc etc then all the people that didn't have the courage to sign up to the series.

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night.