Finding Strength in Unexpected Places: My Hybrid Games Experience
Finding Strength in Unexpected Places: My Hybrid Games Experience
Over the past few months, my training has looked a little different than it used to. I’d spent a good chunk of time focused on weightlifting, but more recently my routine has been a lot simpler: half a mile in the pool every day, with only a couple of days off this month.
In July my focus was face yoga daily, for August it was body brushing daily, and September, it’s been half a mile daily in the pool. 25 metre pool, 32 lengths.
This started the last time I was home in Aberdeen and I found out there was a swimming pool less than a 5 minute drive way, a new one opened a couple of years ago. I have kept it up since then. I am definitely a happier person when I have been in some kind of spa setting at some point in the day.
Swimming has been a game-changer for me—not just physically, but mentally too. There’s something about the rhythm of being in the water, the quiet focus, and the way it resets my headspace that has kept me coming back day after day.
My pool local to me is Bellahouston and since it re opened following a refurbishment, it’s rammed. So busy! There is also a waiting list for adult swimming lessons too. At this point in time I can only do breast stroke but really want to be able to the crawl! It’s envious watching the kids in swim club ploughin up and down the pool. They make it look sooooo easy!
So anyway…. when I got a last-minute invitation to take part in the Hybrid Games in Glasgow, I had zero functional training under my belt and no plan other than to show up and see what would happen. Honestly, I didn’t know what I was capable of.
To my surprise—I managed it.
My friend Fiona and I teamed up, and we found our rhythm quickly. We divided up the exercises, supported each other, and kept moving forward. The hardest part for me was definitely the running, my feet just don’t enjoy the long distance anymore. I didn’t push too hard there, but I kept going, and that was enough. The rest? We handled it as a team.
What I took away from the day is this: you don’t have to punish yourself with endless circuits or force yourself into a rigid training program to be capable. My swimming, which I do because it makes me feel good, ended up giving me the endurance and the mental clarity I needed to get through the challenge.
Sometimes we surprise ourselves the most when we stop overthinking and just trust what our bodies can do. I didn’t train specifically for the Hybrid Games, but the movement, the consistency, and the joy I’ve been finding in swimming carried me further than I imagined.
I walked away proud of what Fiona and I achieved, not because I crushed every part of the course, but because I showed up, gave what I could, and discovered I was stronger than I thought.
Absolutely not doing it ever again though.
I did it to support my pal, because another friend was ill.