Six months ago today I took part in my first Liberte session and half a year on I’ve never felt fitter or more in shape.When I turned up in a dark and muddy Nowton Park on January 10, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Neither was my body. Within five minutes of warming up I was bent over with my hands on my knees wondering quite what I’d actually signed up for.
I reached for the ventolin inhaler in my pocket and took a couple of puffs in the vain hope that it would give me some kind of performance-enhancing boost. It didn’t. The inhaler was about as much use as shoe full of water and if I thought my asthma was hindering me from enjoying Liberte, I was wrong, I was simply quickly realising that I was woefully unfit.
Sure I’d played football for years and always been active, but a combination of a dire work schedule meant I hadn’t really done any exercise for a year or so, apart from regular walking and cycling.
Jogging was never my strong point, so ten minutes in when I was told to start jogging, my body reacted like a stroppy teenager. It slammed the door and went upstairs and sulked.
I stayed with that first session in the Nowton mud and remember coming home and thinking what a bizarre way to spend an hour. I was caked in dirt and looked shattered.
I decided to sign up for a block of 20 sessions and thought it was something I would do a couple of times a month. For the record, between January 10 and April 3 I went nine times. Nine times in 90-odd days.
Every time I went I found it got harder and harder, mainly in terms of the warm up and then the recovery after each session. On a typical Monday I would feel OK, but by Wednesday morning I was still feeling the effects.
After an Easter break of a week in which I started jogging and working out with some friends who I was on holiday with, I vowed to make Liberte a more regular part of my week. I stepped up the session in early April and in the last three months I’ve been at least three times a week every week.
The difference has been immense – from now to January it’s like a new me, but even between April and now I feel my fitness has come on another level.
When I think back to January when I used to stumble around for an hour with one hand on my inhaler to now when I can handle Liberte almost daily (I did five sessions this week, more than I did in February and March combined) inhaler free, it’s such a vast difference.
Sure it still aches and sometimes during a session I have to stop if it doesn’t feel right, but overall I’ve never been faster or fitter.
And in the course of getting fitter the best thing is that I’ve done it with friends, who have also got fitter with me. I’ve worked out in Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Norwich and across all three parks I’ve met some lovely people who really have had a big influence on my life.
The Liberte sessions are great, but it’s also the whole Liberte ethos that I’ve been most impressed with. The people who come to the sessions have such a great attitude, I’ve started to eat healthier, I give alcohol and sugar mean stares whenever I’m confronted with them and I’ve introduced wholemeal foods and things I’m not sure how to pronounce to my diet which must be good!
The biggest thanks overall must go to Gareth for his constant support, good humour and superbly devised sessions and to the awesome Papillon. If she hadn’t had the vision of Liberte in the first place then where would we all be now?
Paps, you’re a legend, there’s always a cup of green tea on offer at my place for you – just not sure I have any biscuits any more...
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