{"id":3070,"date":"2018-04-24T09:14:13","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T08:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copyright.lboro.ac.uk\/students\/?p=3070"},"modified":"2018-04-24T09:18:50","modified_gmt":"2018-04-24T08:18:50","slug":"but-im-bad-at-sports-will-i-fit-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/students\/engineering\/but-im-bad-at-sports-will-i-fit-in\/","title":{"rendered":"But I\u2019m bad at sports, will I fit in!?!?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This month I got rid of the Lboro imposter syndrome and I ran (rather, crawled) a half-marathon. But don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s not quite a requirement to graduate!<\/p>\n

Loughborough sport<\/h3>\n

A large part of March in my student ambassador job was spent talking to lovely prospective students all worried about the same thing, whether they will \u2018fit in\u2019 if they don\u2019t like sports. So, let me start with a famous phrase – you don\u2019t need to do sports to go to Loughborough\u2026. Yes, you REALLY don\u2019t have to do sports. It\u2019s true, there are too many other activities to get involved with that don\u2019t require a bead of sweat!<\/p>\n

However, don\u2019t blame me if you inevitably get pulled into a friendly dodgeball or beach volleyball game (yes, we have a free Beach Park<\/a>), which is the perfect alternative to studying for your June exams! I speak from experience \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Before university, I was reasonably active and even skated on the Czech national synchronised ice skating team as a junior, which seemed to be a sufficient achievement! Yet Loughborough turned out to be a completely different animal.<\/p>\n

The collective level of sports is unparalleled, from the high-end facilities and research to the engagement with the general student body. The number of elite athletes that the university produces can be seen on the Loughborough Sport website<\/a>, and you will definitely end up meeting many a successful sportsperson during your time here \u2013 it\u2019s in the water we proverbially walk on*.<\/p>\n

Yet my biggest admiration for Loughborough comes from the opportunities that Loughborough provides for those who aren\u2019t as focused on the shiny medals. At the start of the year, there is a wonderful AU sports bazaar<\/a>, where you can find out about starting a sport as a beginner or continuing one you pursue already. In my second year, I joined the Ultimate Frisbee<\/a> team, which was an incredible addition to my university experience and an entirely different blog post<\/a>\u2026!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Would you just like to get fit? Make use of your massive student discount at the two campus gyms, which include unlimited access to fitness classes and the Olympic-size swimming pool<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Interested in trying new sports? Check out the free MyLifestyle<\/a> classes. They are absolutely amazing, as they are student-led and you will often get taught by a future world champ, or as in the case of the Kickboxing class I went to, my friend the four-time national university heavyweight champion.<\/p>\n

Finally, there is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED to get involved in sports AT ALL. You will be kept blissfully busy with all of the societies<\/a> that the Students Union runs, volunteering and other activities we have on campus. DON\u2019T WORRY, those eight Student Experience awards<\/a> don\u2019t come from nowhere!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Prague Marathon<\/h3>\n

Now finally about this running deal, I mentioned. This New Year\u2019s Day (January 1st<\/sup>, 2018) I decided that I\u2019d had enough of liking others\u2019 proud Instagram photos of sporting achievements and signed up to the Prague half-marathon. Yes, that 21km run that actual marathoners do for practice. In the Loughborough bubble you hear about people running marathons and Ironman races on a daily basis, how hard could it be?<\/p>\n

Apparently pretty hard, said my body, as it tried to remember how long a 5K was after a year or so of no running… Thankfully, soon after it managed to pull itself together and proceeded to complain about training for another 3 months under the guidance of my incredibly sporty friends, multiple astonishingly awesome members of staff and the internet. I would sing praise to myself for the many early morning runs, but honestly, there weren\u2019t any. In fact, there weren\u2019t many runs at all, which I dully regret\u2026\u2026 Ha! You wish! There were lots and lots of runs and I even think I\u2019ve been tricked into almost enjoying it now!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It paid off in the end and I endured the 21km last week in Prague, where my family lives. It was a surreal experience, with thousands of spectators and 12,000 runners filling the streets and cheering on. I would definitely recommend the couch-to-21km journey to anybody, as I\u2019ve hobbled away a significantly stronger person than before.<\/p>\n

As for running in Loughborough, there is a weekly running club associated with Loughborough Sport, a fantastic Triathlon AU club<\/a>, which many of my friends are part of, many charity runs to get involved with and a Map-My-Run community to help you discover new routes and picturesque areas.<\/p>\n

*\u201cLufbra walk on water!\u201d is a chant every fresher has learns within 3 minutes of being on campus and recites every day at sunrise.<\/em><\/p>\n

Honourable mentions of other ways to get active in Loughborough:<\/p>\n