London’s Latest Fitness Craze – The Urban Tri

This weekend I was up at the crack of dawn in order to check out the latest fitness trend taking the city by storm – the Urban Tri.

This mutli-disiplianary event is run by Boom Cycle, Sweatshop and Yotopia has you  taking part in a 45min hot yoga session, 5km run and 13km spin class all before noon. We had been told it’s the triathlon anyone can do so of course I had to put this to test.

The morning started at Yotopia in Covent Garden with a 45min hot yoga session, and proved to be an incredible way to get stretched out and warmed up for our next two challenges. The instructor focused on poses and  stretches particular to runners, covering  hips, hamstrings, feet, and bums. As with all yoga classes, it was as challenging as you wanted it to be, and the instructor was great at offering various adaptations to the poses for those newer to yoga.  By the end of 45 min we were sufficiently sweaty, and rushing downstairs to pull running shoes on and a few warmer layers to face the torrential rain.

In typical London fashion as soon as we headed outside for the 5km run segment of the event,  the skies opened and we were greeted by torrential rain. In some ways it was refreshing after the heat from the hot yoga studio, but definitely made this segment a bit harder than we were expecting. The run took us by some of central London’s most iconic sights, from Trafalgar Square, St James’s Park, Buckingham Palace and the River Thames.  Again there was no pressure to keep up with the group. Guided by Sweatshop marshals, there was always someone to show you where to go with a great big grin on their face and encouraging words. The last km of the run took us up  Kingsway Road and into Boom Cycles. When we arrived we were greeted by cheering from the Boom Cycles team, immediately raising our spirits again.

They handed us a pair of cycling shoes a bottle of water and into the darkened studio we went. Some of the faster runners were already in the studio cycling, so the energy was electric.

This was my first time at Boom so took me a few minutes to figure out how to set up my bike and accidentally reset the computer on my bike so lost the first 3km of my ride, but quickly got settled and into the flow of things. We monitored our own 13km led by the incredibly energetic and inspiring Hilary Gilbert, founder of Boom. I have heard so much about Boom over the last few months, and finally understand what all the hype is all about. The sound track was immense, and my fellow urban triathletes were whooping with joy throughout the class. I had been pretty exhausted before entering the studio, but the atmosphere was so infectious I accidentally went over the 13km without even realising it.

The verdict –

So is it the triathlon anyone can do?

It is designed to be a challenge so you do need to have a basic level of fitness in order to do it, but as the event was set up in a way that allowed you to take all three stages at your own pace, it is definitely a ‘triathlon’ most people can do. Overall I found it to be a fantastic, fun fitness challenge, and will definitely be signing up for again next month.

The Urban tri will be taking place the first Sunday of every month and costs £40 or 40 Boom Cycle credits. See you there next month!