Growing up, I was always engaged in a sport of some kind. From playing for different sports team during my time in secondary – to simply playing football every. single. break time. When I started attending TUS, I wanted to explore the options of sports that was being offered at the time that caught my attention. I tried futsal, volleyball, and badminton – and while I had fun in all of them, I wanted to try something different.
When my first year ended, I decide to try to get back into track casually. I was self-training the days I could (and when it wasn’t raining), then around July, I met the university’s athletic coach. He provided me a routine to follow, and I showed up as much as my body permitted me to. Second year of university came, and I joined the university athletics team.
Intense training days was on Mondays and Wednesdays from 17:30 until usually around 19:00, after attending my last class/lab I usually go home to prepare for training. The first few weeks was intense, my coach was really making me, and my co-athletes push beyond our limits. There were days I would finish a session and would barely be able to walk or even stand firmly – which made cooking and showering a little challenging. But I must say, it did result in some of the best sleeps at night.
Just as I was getting more into routine, I developed an injury on my left knee which made me have to a halt on my training. I used the university’s clinic as beginning that academic year, doctor appointments were available on campus for 15 euros – rather than spending 40 euros on a GP. After all the appointments, physiotherapy (ran by the students in the university with supervision), prescription, and tests – my knee began to recover, and I decided to put athletics on a pause.
Fast forward to second semester, I was back – better than ever. I got back into routine and training began to feel less dreadful; don’t get me wrong it was still hard, but at least which each session, I was questioning my choices less and less. The indoor varsities were coming up early February, and I ran the 400m race; Coach wanted me to aim for 56 seconds. This was my first ever competition in Ireland and I must say – I was humbled quick – I thought perhaps I would be an underdog and well….I wasn’t. I barely was able to keep up with the race, and at the final 100m stretch, I was begging to be done. I finished with a time of 58.30 seconds, 2.30 seconds behind target, but I did not let that discourage me.
I got back into training and started joining the Strength and Conditioning sessions that happens on Tuesdays and sometimes Thursdays at 08:00 – at the university’s high-performance gym. Weightlifting workout was new to me, as I usually prefer to incorporate bodyweight workout with my training. It was a great experience as I learned how to work with gym machines, equipment, and continue my training.
The outdoor varsities came up, and while I was nervous, I was also a lot more confident compared to the indoors. I did the 400m run and was able to get a new personal best of 55.70 seconds which was the highlight of the event for me, from there I could the progress and improvement yielding and I am excited to see what the future holds. TUS offers fantastic sports facilities especially when it comes to track and field, and it is always a joy to perform training in both the indoor track and the outdoor track too (when the weather is decent enough).