''I've got Gaelic Football fit!''
How is it week 6 already?! That was the main thought running through my head as I laced up my boots and took to the pitch at Athlone GAA for the final training session of my Get Gaelic football fit challenge.
This was the big one, the one I'd been working towards and the main organiser Trisha had gone all out to make sure it was a good one. I even got to don the Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others jersey and was made captain for our training match, which by the way was 15 minutes a side, so they definitely weren't letting me off lightly for my last training!
Garry came along to watch us play and I have to say he had nothing but words of encouragement from the sideline, particularly during the warm up which was one of the most strenuous I'd done. I slotted into the forwards for the match and Garry has informed me I scored a grand total of 2-4 so I think that's a good return!
However I have to give a big apology to Rachel and Sheila as Rachel bore the brunt of my studs on her legs and I accidentally pelted a ball at full force straight into Sheila's chest - thankfully it wasn't her face or I could have been in real trouble.
My team ended up on the winning side for once so it was a nice end to my journey with Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others. I'm so glad I got to play with this team which is full of brilliant women who combine their competitive streaks with a desire to just have the chats and a bit of a laugh every week.
My fear of team sports has been well and truly put to bed and it's so encouraging to know there are groups like this all around the country, ready to welcome new members and help them get a bit fitter in a fun way. I have to say a huge thank you to Sona Vitamins for their support across the six weeks, while I'm also massively grateful to Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others and Athlone GAA and all their players.
Thanks and goodbye!
I want to give a special mention to Trisha, Seamus and Denis who were more than willing to get involved in my challenge and have fun with it.
The past six weeks have put me well on my way to improving my fitness and my hand/eye coordination and I'm very happy to say I came through without any injury, so I can boast that I've got Gaelic football fit!
Week 5 in the bag!
I asked my current co-host Dave Duke (who's filling in for Garry this week) if he had any advice for me heading into week 5 of my Gaelic football fit challenge. He decided it was time to get back to basics and gave me what sounds like a very simple tip - get stuck in!
With just two training sessions left I was motivated to put my best foot forward and try to be a help to Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others, instead of being a hindrance, and to try to get stuck in as much as I could.
This week in our training match I ended up being a back (not sure of the exact position I was meant to be in to be honest) and the woman I was marking was more than well able for me!
She generally beat me to every ball and got a good few scores in but I did manage to get away from her at one point and belt it up the pitch before scoring a goal so I'm happy with that level of progress.
There was a good bit more running done than last week and as a result of that there was a good deal more wheezing on my part but I stuck with it.
I'm proud to have week 5 in the bag and I'm looking forward to getting Garry involved next week, when he'll try out his Gaelic football skills and be put through his paces by Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others.
Getting fitter, getting better! Fionnuala's Gaelic football fit challenge continues
No stitch and no worries ?♀️
Preparation is key so I had all my gear sorted and was good to go for another week with Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others.
My main goal for this week was to be able to run for at least a few minutes longer than usual in our training match so I was determined to achieve that, come hell or high water (or crippling stitch). I was also mad to put in a successful tackle at least once!
Once we were warmed up we were straight into passing drills, which are much more difficult than they sound, at least for me. Judging a proper hand-pass is something I found fairly hard to do and as for the kick-passes, well the less said about them the better!
We then got stuck into a hand-passing game and while I found it tough to keep up with the others I didn't get a stitch - the first time that ever happened in training!
I'm taking the positives from that and feel I'm getting fitter as the weeks go on so that definitely helps the motivation levels. Again it was so much fun being back with Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others and it's obvious how much the other players enjoy the weekly training session, getting to have the chats, work on their skills and keep their fitness up without a scary gym session.
I'll be back on the pitch again next week, let's hope the (slight) improvement continues!
Halfway, and heading in the right direction! ?
Garry gets involved
Getting to the halfway point of my Get Gaelic football fit challenge without injuring myself seems like a real achievement!
I've been having great craic with Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others over the past couple of weeks but I decided to change things up a little bit for week three and get Garry involved.
Since his sporting experience is pretty much limited to soccer, I wanted to get him to broaden his horizons and do some training with me.
He was only too happy to get on board, provided he could set a challenge for me, and while I was apprehensive about what he was going to choose I agreed to give it a go.
Cut to us in a pitch and me struggling to get the ball either over or under the bar - that was all Garry wanted me to do but it is definitely not as easy as it looks! As you can see in the video, the ball doesn't always want to travel in a straight line for me. I'm also not a fan of my running style, it's not looking that athletic yet!
Still, I'm optimistic that there are some signs of improvement, Sona Vitamins are spurring me on and I'm happy that I'm now at the half-way mark.
Roll on my return to Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others next week!
Week TWO: ✅
Sniffles and Slices
I thought I'd be a bit more confident heading into my second week of training with Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others, after surviving my debut last week...
But, I didn't count on being struck down with the sniffles in the run up to training.
A runny nose is no fun when you're running around a pitch!
I also neglected the stretching over the past week so I knew that was going to come back to bite me, however I was determined to get the second session in the bag... so I laced up the boots once again - admittedly they weren't as clean as they were last week.
Again the session started off with some stretching and jogging and I was feeling the burn in the throat fairly quickly. But what was even worse, is that when we started a hand-passing game, I was quite frankly, absolutely terrible at!
I also discovered how difficult it is to consistently kick a football in a straight line, when you're targeting it towards one of your team-mates or the posts. For some reason the football always connects with the outside of my foot and slices terribly to the right so that's definitely something I have to work on.
I also have to get over my fear of tackling and being tackled as I lost count of the amount of times the football just went sailing past me as I tried to intercept it.
However I'm happy to say I'm still enjoying it, everyone in the group is so sound and doesn't seem to mind when I make a 'hames' of a drill or send a ball skew-ways despite being right in front of the posts.
SONA Vitamins have also sorted me out with a few bits to fight the head-cold so I'll be back to full fitness asap, bring on Week Three!
Week one: Complete ✅
The nerves were definitely niggling as I prepared for my first training session with Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others, as part of my 'Get Gaelic football fit' challenge, which Garry had set for me.
I had bought a new pair of (quite comfortable) football boots and I was excited about starting the challenge, but I was also massively apprehensive about what lay ahead.
Would I end up tearing a hamstring, breaking an ankle or just passing out from exhaustion? Thankfully, from the minute I arrived at Athlone GAA club, Trisha and the other players gave me a huge welcome and were just so sound.
I was given a run-down of the Athlone Gaelic for Mothers and Others club and assured that while they took it seriously, there was also plenty of fun to be had!
Firstly the all-important warm up had to be completed, with a few stretches combined with hand-passing drills.
This wasn't the worst way to start the session as it gave me a chance to get used to actually playing with a football (which I hadn't done in years) but fairly quickly I could feel the exercise catching up with me and I was struggling for breath, much to my embarrassment.
We moved onto to some faster drills, involving mini-hurdles and sprinting, which I found even tougher but at least we were doing them one by one so I got a break while the others in my group were completing their stints.
We were asked to practise soloing, which required all of my concentration but after a few attempts I managed to get the hang of it.
We were then divided up into two teams for a match and that's where it went fairly downhill... The constant running had me absolutely floored and it wasn't long before the excruciatingly painful stitch set in.
However I did manage to kick two points so I'm choosing to focus on that!
All in all I had a really enjoyable first training session and I'm looking forward to improving my fitness levels and Gaelic football skills over the next few weeks.
Hopefully with the help of Sona Vitamins, and their tips and tricks, I'll fly through the next five training sessions... here's hoping anyway!
