New to triathlon or taking on new challenges in the off-season? Find out how your other sporting loves can impact on your triathlon progress.
Jacqueline Wood played on the wing for Richmond Ladies in the 1980s, when women’s rugby was relatively new. After several seasons in triathlon, she now competes in duathlon.
Benefits: When the team went on fitness runs we used to dodge lamp-posts, road signs and litter bins at the last moment, to simulate dodging tackles. Years later I still do it while out training because it helps build core strength on the run.
Baggage: A dodgy foot from an injury sustained during a tackle! It always plays up when I’m doing long runs in the winter and I have to ease off for a few weeks. In some ways it was a price worth paying though. I loved the abandoned physicality of rugby - charging at someone to knock them down, or running at top speed with the ball. Triathlon is far more restrained.
Biggest difference: I wasn’t a very good team player because I couldn’t think fast enough on the run to link up with other players. Triathlon suits me much better because I just have to worry about myself.
Verdict: Hindrance - that foot injury has never gone away.
Picture credit: Bernd Opitz/ Getty Images
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I was a squash player who turned to Triathlon for fitness, now its Triathlon that's my main sport and only play squash in the winter months, the extra fitness and stamina has made me a better squash player even though I have a 6 month break each year!!
