Meet the Yoppers - Lucy
Tell us a little bit about yourself…
I’m a 48 year old mum of two teenagers. I love riding my bike, but only discovered training and racing in my late 30’s / early 40’s - now it’s a huge part of my life!
Do you have a sporting background?
No. Hated PE at school. At school you were either sporty and on all the school teams - or not. I was definitely not! I just wasn’t ‘sporty’.
When I left University I needed to meet people and fill in my spare time. I joined a rowing club and loved the social side.
We moved to the North East and I carried on rowing and started mountain biking.
After having 2 children I then started running (as it was easy to fit in) progressed to triathlon when I met people in the tri club. I enjoyed it, but got frustrated with my swimming. I was then introduced to Cyclocross and absolutely loved it.
What's your biggest sporting achievement?
Winning the Vet 45+ category at the National CX Championships this year.
How did you become a Yopper?
I was racing and training well on my bike, but my coach kept telling me that strength was the thing I needed to incorporate. I hadn’t a clue where to start with strength and how to learn technique.
What do you enjoy about being a Yopper?
I love the structure, the coaching, and constantly being able to correct and check technique. And most of all the results! The social element of a small group session is important as training to a plan is mostly fairly solitary. Its much easier to haul yourself out of bed early in the morning for a group session with a bit of banter.
How has YOP helped you?
Immensely. I was at the point of not being able to ride my bike any more to improve – I was doing as much riding as I could, but incorporating 3 hours a week of structured strength training has made huge improvements. Its not something I could initially see, but as my last season progressed into the winter and the courses became harder suddenly I was gapping people that I had been previously been evenly matched with. I always struggled off the start line and usually fell behind after the initial sprint to then come back through the race. This season I surprised myself a few times being in front after the start sprint, thinking ‘how did that happen’!
What's the best thing you've learned whilst being a Yopper?
Strength, technique, confidence in strength work and mostly that you need consistency over a period of time to see results.
What goals do you have for the year?
World Masters CX championship – 50-55 category Podium, but would love to win Gold.
At YOP we are creating BEAR athletes - Balanced, Empowered, Adaptable, Resilient.
What does that mean for you?
Empowered is the main thing. In the past I had no idea about strength and was scared and intimidated by the weights section of a gym. Now I could confidently go in and do a workout and feel confident.
Resilient: since starting YOP I have not been injured at all, so in addition to being more powerful I think by body is in hugely better all round shape and more resilient.
Focus for this year:
Having the seen the benefits of strength training…. I now want more! Focus on more strength and short power bursts.
Favourite YOP Exercise
Mmm, such a difficult one. I like Flamingos, but get the most satisfaction over squats and deadlifts – seeing the increase in weight over a few weeks/months is such a great feeling that you don’t notice on a day to day basis.