Tuesday 21-03-2017 - 14:52

Cymraeg

What sport/activity do you part-take in?

Dance and running.

 

What’s the best thing about being active?

The feeling you get after you finish a long-distance run or mastered a particularly hard dance and knowing you’ve pushed yourself beyond what you thought you could do.

 

Have you ever faced any barriers to get involved in sport and how did you get over them (if any at all)?

One of the main barriers is getting over what other people will think and worrying that you aren’t good enough/that you can’t do it. The best way to get over this is to find somebody who will exercise with you; whether it’s a running partner or just a friend who’ll go on weekly walks with you. This way you can motivate, help and encourage each other and is especially helpful during the times you don’t want to continue.

 

What sport or activity would you like to try out but have never had the chance?

I’d love to try boxing as it’s meant to be a really good workout, especially for upper body strength!

 

What would you say to others who would like to get involved in sport but are scared or worried to start?

The hardest part about getting active is starting; once you’ve done that you’re already passed the first hurdle. Don’t be afraid to try a new sport – take it at your own pace, start slowly and build it up. No-one is expected to be able to run long-distance in their first run or be able to remember a whole dance at their first dance class. Start with what you are comfortable with and take it day by day, you’ll never know what you could achieve if you don’t try.

 

Why did you choose the sport/activity that you currently do?

I danced for seven years before coming to University so I already had a background knowledge of the sport but running, however, was a completely new sport for me. I chose running because I wasn’t happy with how I felt about myself and my best friend from back suggested it to me, as a long distance runner herself.

 

Have you had to overcome the fear of being judged to participate in sport or your chosen activity?

Yes, for both running and dance. Dance is a different fear to running because you’re in a room of dancers of all different abilities and obviously don’t want to embarrass yourself or fall on your face attempting a leap. However, at the dance society in Lampeter we all encourage each other to try new things and it’s an extremely comfortable environment so I know I can trust everybody in that dance studio to support me.

Running is slightly harder because if you live in a small town like Lampeter, it’s difficult to find routes that don’t go down main-roads. This was an issue for me in the beginning as I preferred to run at night and needed well-lit roads for my route. I was anxious that people driving past would judge me or think I looked silly. To overcome this, I started to run with my friend and this helped massively as we both motivated each other to not give up, no matter where we were running

 

Do you feel like there have been any benefits since starting your chosen sport/activity?

There have been a ton of benefits since I starting running; I feel so much more confident with myself, my mental health has gotten so much better and this has been mirrored in my University work, as well as in my social life. I have more energy which lasts throughout the day, a better sleeping pattern and an overall healthier and happier outlook on life. Being active is choosing to spend time focusing on yourself and increasing your fitness; we all need time to work on ourselves and be the best people we can be!