Early November I was sent some information about wheelchair clinics in Leeds by Rebecca at British Triathlon, so I duly booked on and Judith from Lincoln Tri Club kindly drove me there. The clinics are at John Charles Sports Centre which has both an indoor and outdoor track-what a luxury!
Run by UK Athletics and organised by Leeds Athletics Network and Leeds City Council, the sessions are three hours of track work plus using static rollers to improve technique. Everyone was very welcoming and I even got to chat to Hannah Cockcroft, a rising paralympic star in wheelchair racing.
The best bit of the day was being given a racing wheelchair and a pair of gloves ( these are £120 a pair!!) on loan until February next year. It was an interesting exercise getting it into Judith's car though.
The very next day, I was off to Sheffield's English Institute of Sport to be classified in wheelchair racing and be coached by Pete Wyman, Shelly Holdroyd's coach. Although I only got to sit in a racing chair for the last half hour, Pete from Cleethorpes A.C. and I picked up a lot of tips by listening and watching. I also came home with a T54 classification for wheelchair athletics and 'completely normal from the waist up' ringing in my ears! Thank goodness they didn't test my brain...
looks like a fast crew!
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