Lahinch Seaworld is hosting a new ‘aqua kettlebell’ class which is already making a splash.
Organised by Ennistymon woman and marathon runner Theresa Murphy, the idea came about when she brought her kettlebell to the swimming pool.
“I was curious how exercising in the water would feel like since there is less chance of injury and a quicker recovery time when you train in the water,” Theresa explaiend.
“Whenever I used the gym and regular weights I would be too sore to run the following day and since running and keeping up the distance I ran was important the gym didn’t work for me. But, in the water with the kettlebell, it felt great heavy-weight lifting and I wasn’t sore the following day. My running was undisturbed and I started to research aqua kettlebell training,” she added.
“I come from an athletic back round I began running 5 years ago when my youngest son was diagnosed autistic. I joined the Clare Crusaders running club to fundraise for them it was my way of thanking them for looking after my son with free speech language and therapies,” Theresa said.
“I did a few 10k races then signed up for their annual big fundraiser, the Dublin city marathon. I absolutely loved the running and took to it very quick. It was my therapy and helped me cope with stress. After I finished the Dublin city marathon I did something out of the norm and signed up for another marathon just 3 weeks later I was hooked,” she added.
To date, Theresa has run 18 full marathons and 7 ultra-marathons. Two years ago she ran her biggest race, a 100 kilometre distance.
“I ran this 100k with pneumonia not knowing I had it and I scarred my lungs and gave myself athletic induced asthma,” Theresa said.
Theresa decided to take a break from it all but she missed it too much.
“I decided to set a new goal and challenge I started swimming with the aim of doing a sprint triathlon. I found the swimming really helped the asthma and it turns out that swimming was really good for helping ease asthma symptoms. I was interested in how our body’s function and cope with all this stress so I decided to do a personal training course and see if I could train endurance athletes this was my new goal college,” she explained.
“I had to find a kettle bell heavy enough to swing but soft not to break the pool floor and eventually I found them and had them shipped over from the states. They are a soft kettlebell filled with sand or water that weigh 8kg and up and safe for pool floor. I approached Joe from SeaWorld and put my idea to him and he was very supportive and gave me the go ahead and pool time my first class,” Theresa added.
The classes take place on Wednesdays at 10am and Saturday afternoons at 4pm at Lahinch Seaworld swimming pool.
Anyone with an interest can just can drop in or phone Theresa at 085 8354582.