When you have run a London Marathon, you could be forgiven for thinking there is nothing you can do on the streets of the capital to beat that as an exercise experience. Maybe not, but Urban Tri is a close second. What on earth is Urban Tri?! It is a new stretching, stimulating combination of yoga, running and cycling for city boys and girls in need of a good Sunday morning sweat. 45 minutes of hot yoga in Covent Garden is the starter. The main course is a 3-mile run across town to Holborn. And for dessert, why not another 8 miles in the saddle at a famous London Spinning class? Got the appetite for all that before Sundaylunch?
I dragged myself from beneath the duvet on June 7th to give it a try. Even the sunshine came along for the ride during the middle part of the adventure and dressed from head to toe in Lorna Jane, and fuelled by Fresh Fitness Food, I was as ready as a girl could be for these three steps to hell.
First point of call was Yotopia, just off Long Acre close to Covent Garden Tube. It was time to release my inner yogi guided by Yoga Queen and Lulu Lemon ambassador Emily Claire Hill. Now, I’ve got a confession to make – Yoga is certainly not my ‘go to’ activity and so a spot of posturing in sauna temperatures was not necessarily the part of the morning I was looking forward to the most, but I really enjoyed the session and left the Yotopia studio feeling (certainly) warmed up, stretched and ready to run!
Clambering down the stairs while attaching headphones and trying to put my shoes back on left me as breathless as my yoga performance, but there was no time to waste and I was soon trotting alongside the boys from Sweatshop running clothes in their co-ordinated yellow kit. Yellow is for ‘race leader’, right? The run was actually my first encounter with the tarmac since I limped away from the Mall in April with my Marathon medal around my neck. It felt surprisingly good to be back and 22 minutes later I had completed my fastest 5k to date J. Must have been the yoga… or maybe the yellow!
Now, that’s not to say I wasn’t exhausted. I was blowing and a peaky shade of red! But the static bikes were calling in the Boom Cycle studio just off Holborn and I was chaperoned to my favourite seat and clipped in for action. No matter how tired or exhausted you think you feel, once the lights are turned on and the music is pumped up your legs know what to do. Boom Cycle classes are intense and concentrated. There is no time to think, only to pedal. The sounds are part of the experience but midday on Sunday is no time to head out on the town and throw a shape or two. You just got to get your head down and pound!
Sustenance and fuel came in the form of Pip and Nut and Rebel Kitchen to revive the tired and sweaty limbs filing out of the spin room. I finished my Sunday morning with body and soul revived and refreshed and another tick added to my Bucket List. Better than a bacon buttie and a Sunday newspaper? Certainly better for me!!
If you haven’t yet given Urban Tri a go yet I can strongly recommend it! They are held the first Sunday of every month and details of how to book, what to wear and what else to expect can be found on the link below. Who’s joining me next time?
