University of Limerick Sports Arena

The University of Limerick Sports Arena is Irelands largest indoor sports complex. It truly is impressive with four indoor courts, a sprint track, a 400m athletics track and a 200m three-lane jogging track, not to mention the 50m swimming pool. The building also has a state of the art gym, an aerobics studio and a weight-training room. 

So for my assignment I decided to go and see what the UL gym is like. Naturally I dragged my friend along with me! 

Outside view of the Sports Arena

So off the two of us went early on a Friday morning. We paid our entrance fee and left our bags in a locker in the changing rooms. Then we got lost trying to find the gym.. However 10 minutes later we finally found it. We went inside, handed our tickets in and stood there looking around in confusion. Now I have been to a gym before, but its a much smaller gym and not quite as professional looking. The UL gym is MUCH bigger and to be honest I was quite intimidated! Firstly we couldn't figure out how to use some of the machines as they looked different in our local gym. 

So we chose the easiest option. The treadmill. 

5 minutes later and I was beginning to get the hang of this whole gym thing. The treadmill was fine and I hadn't fallen flat on my face (which is always a bonus).

Next thing however a man in sleek running gear stepped up on the treadmill beside me and proceeded to sprint like there was no tomorrow.

So there I was, walking along at a fairly average pace whilst the man beside me was sprinting away without even breaking a sweat. He was also wearing proper running gear, whilst I was wearing tracksuit bottoms, a wonder woman t-shirt and shoes which have seen better days.

The Indoor running track

We spent about an hour in the gym, doing weights and trying to work the machines. Next we decided to go out to the running track to cool down. There we were laughing away over something nonsensical when who did we run into but Gerry Flannery from the Munster Rugby team. We were shocked and this only served to increase our giddy state. After this we walked outside and nearly collapsed when we saw the whole Munster Rugby team training. Being a huge rugby fan I was delighted at the prospect of seeing them train. My friend, being a huge fan of rugby players, was also delighted by this prospect!

First thing we saw when we walked outside!

We walked around the outdoor running track for a half an hour, whilst also watching the team train. 

However it soon became quite cold and windy so we decided that we'd had enough exercise for one day so we collected our bags and went to the Stables to get food.

Overall my first time visiting the UL Sports Arena was quite eventful! We met some rugby players and I figured out how to work a cross-trainer machine! Result!

Vanessa O'Brien (11140399)