SportPlus.sg finds out how endurance sports influences romantic relationships in this episode of the Fit Talk Podcast
Studies have shown that participating in sports together within a romantic relationship can significantly boost connection and satisfaction by creating shared experiences, promoting teamwork, building mutual support, and enhancing positive emotions, leading to a stronger bond between partners; essentially, "sweating together" can strengthen your relationship by providing a fun, challenging activity that fosters shared goals and deepens intimacy.
But what are some of the challenges for athletes from the same sport who don't always train together? In this special Valentines' Day episode of the Fit Talk podcast, hosts Chermaine Zhou and Haw Jiaxuan catch up with multi-sport athletes Cedric Chua and Eunice Tan to find out how they juggle trainings with their relationship.
Having met each other at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) through a common friend Bryce Chong (national triathlete), the couple first got into multi-sport at different stages of their lives. Eunice started from aquathlon (Swimming and running), and will be attempting her first duathlon and triathlon this year. Meanwhile, Cedric who has been running for most of his life, picked up cycling in secondary school before transitioning to triathlon at 17 with a group of athlete friends.
JX: Since both of you are so into endurance sports, how do you think it influences your relationship?
Cedric: We try to plan our week around each other as much as possible - we try to go out together at the same time, train at the same time. We may not be running at the same pace or doing the exact same workouts but there is still a way to spend time together - and sometimes if I have an easy run scheduled then I will just run with her too.
Eunice: Training for multi-sport races is very time consuming - some days its pool, some days you'll bike and some days you run. So at the start of each week we will share our schedules with each other and find out which days we can ride together, which days we can be at the track together.
It's not as flexible for me as I was already working, and right now he is doing his internship - so there was a lot of accommodating to do but after a while we got into the routine of trying to merge your schedules together.
JX: Outside of these days where you meet to train, do you all still go out on dates?
Eunice: Of course, we don't consider these as dates haha.
Chermaine: Do you all train on your anniversary as well or important dates like birthdays?
Cedric: Training only takes up at most an hour or two hours of the day so it's not so hard to fit it in. I remember her birthday last year, we did a run and this open water swim, and since we were at the beach already we did a picnic.
Chermaine: In what ways do you think having an athletes' mindset is beneficial to your relationship?
Eunice: An athlete's mindset would be to set very personal but also achievable goals - when it comes to relationships I think it's the same as well.
I have my personal goals and he has his personal goals. It's the same for sport, career as well. We would have our personal goals but we still support each other through these personal goals - and its seeing each other through not just the times we hit our goals but also when we don't hit them. Still showing up at the worst times for each other.
Cedric: An athletes' mindset for me is about perseverance, commitment and patience. Those are the things that I have learned from the sport that I can apply back into life and my own relationship.
The sport has made me a very patient person, in the sense that we won't always see immediate results. I believe when it comes to handling relationships it's the same.
JX: So who confessed first?
Eunice: He did *laughs*
Cedric: I texted her first, but why I texted her first was because I was talking to Bryce (the guy who got us together). I was asking Bryce if I should text her, and Bryce was convincing me I should text her. I didn't know she was right beside Bryce - so Bryce showed her every single thing we said. I was on the bus on the way back to school at the time.
Eunice: You asked Bryce what to text, and I told Bryce what to text and then Bryce told him what to text. *laughs*
Chermaine: Ohhh, so that's the athlete's mindset. *laughs*
JX: Any advice for couples looking to get into sports together?
Cedric: One which I had a challenge with was to be mindful and prioritise your partner over the sport. As much as you love the sport, and you want to complete the full week of training, your partner is still more important. One of the most important things I have learned.
Eunice: I would say always eat together. If both of you are already training, you will always need to eat. So always come together eat, and have a good time together. You may not run at the same pace or do things at the same pace but everybody has to eat.
Catch the full discussion via Spotify or watch the full episode in video format now available on SportPlus.sg/watch/podcasts #FitTalkPodcast #SportPlusSG #ValentinesDay
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