Triathlon2Win

One of the main reasons I like triathlon, is the fact that you are not just focused on one particular sport.  Training is varied with athletes participating in running, cycling and swimming.

I like to add touch rugby and hockey as part of my fitness schedule and every now and then I like to mix it up with something different.

A friend of mine introduced me to the sport of kiteboarding a couple of year ago and he regularly visits the Princes Club, located just west of London to hone his skills by going wakeboarding.

I had never heard of the Princes Club, so I was very interested in taking up the wakeboarding opportunity when the invitation arose.  To my surprise, the venue allows open water swimming on the weekend mornings between 6am to 8.55am and Monday evenings between 5pm to 8pm.  Perfect for triathletes, this location is ideal to practice long distance, open water swims.  However, on this occasion, we weren’t there for the swimming.

The sport of wakeboarding is very good exercise, with the arms working overtime hanging on during the cornering or wide turns.  Similar to snowboarding the torso muscles get a good workout.  Wakeboarders often get towed behind a boat, which is a service available at the Princes Club.  However, they also have two lakes with a cable system in place allowing wakeboarders to be towed in their own time.  We chose the cable service and it exceeded my expectation, with five corners on our lake it provided a great challenge for complete novices like myself.  We also seen a number of pro wakeboarders on the same lake pulling off some stunning jumps and flips.  It was nice to know that the cable speed stays the same for everyone and you make your own speed and fun depending on how wide you make your turns.

It was a very professional service with helmet, wetsuit, lifejacket and wakeboard hire available.  Beginners also view a briefing and safety video to ensure you know what to when you inevitably fall into the water.  Overall it was a very enjoyable afternoon and at £20 for two hours plus £12 board, helmet and life jacket hire makes it value for money and a fun training session too.  The location is conveniently placed very close to Heathrow airport and only 14 miles from central London.  For west London based triathletes, cycling to the venue is also a good option.  The return leg with a wet wetsuit on your back would make for a tough journey home.

The club also has kneeboarding and waterskiing available and with a restaurant & bar you can make a relaxing day of it.  For more information visit: www.princesclub.com

This article is written by Mike Kirkman. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included. For more information on training tips and creating a winning mindset to achieve your triathlon goals, please visit http://www.triathlon2win.com