Lockdown athletes rising to challenge
WHILE lockdown has temporarily halted all group training activities, the Boyne AC seniors have made sure that they are staying fit by taking on a variety of different activities and challenges over the past few weeks.
Multi-eventer Amy McTeggart has taken full advantage of her time off, now that she has finished college. In the very short season that was the 2020 Indoors, she won the high jump at the AAI Games, and followed this up with another win in the Leinster Seniors high jump and long jump.
She also found time in her busy schedule, before the pandemic hit, to receive a Leinster Star Award for her achievements in 2019.
At the moment she is training at home to maintain her speed endurance and adding in a couple of 3k runs a week to help keep her fit. She has reported that the runs are very good for getting out of the house and clearing the head, leaving her feeling very positive.
Amy has developed some home body workouts for plyometrics and strength that she also incorporates into her week, often posting them on social media to encourage others to try them too. Another added bonus to having some more free time, Amy says, is that she has become much more organised with her time, giving herself tasks and challenges to do, such as clean an area in the house, which her mum will approve of!
Also setting themselves new challenges over recent weeks, Nicola Veale and Rebecca Carolan have been clocking up the miles by taking part in the Donadea 50k series of virtual runs. With distances up to 100k spread over four to five days, the two ladies are making sure that they are keeping their endurance training up.
With no end of virtual runs to take part in, Edel Durnin has made a great return to running following injury, completing several charity runs over the last few weeks, and with all this training she’ll definitely be ready to get back to racing when the time comes.
The Boyne AC seniors also set themselves their own challenges over the last few weeks, encouraging and motivating everyone to get out and keep fit. Split into two virtual teams, all the members have been recording their distances as they get out every day, with the highest scoring team claiming victory at the end of the week.
It’s really just a bit of fun, but there is some serious competitiveness in there too!
The seniors also accepted the challenge laid down to them by Colmcilles GAA Club to run 250k between them all in one week to raise much-needed funds for Pieta House, as their annual Darkness into Light 5k could not take place this year.
Not satisfied with the 250k distance, the two teams clocked up an amazing 1,700km between them in one week, and also donated more than €500 to Pieta House.
While it’s great that everyone is still keeping fit, it’s the social side to the sport that most are missing at the moment, the chats with friends as you jog along the road, the joy as you cross the line after a tough race, delighted with your performance, hugs and high fives from your teammates, cheers from the crowds, the sore legs after a hard training session, knowing you’ll feel better after it.
While social media keeps people connected, the Boyne AC seniors are really looking forward to being back together again soon.
With restrictions starting to ease now in line with the Government’s roadmap for reopening, the seniors are hoping to restart some small group training very soon, and are always happy to welcome new members. If you would like to try it out, you can contact them on Facebook.