We turn the spotlight on national duathlete Yong Man Yun, a two-time Southeast Asian Games Athlete who is also the head coach of Garmin Run Club Singapore, to find out how sports can build resilience in women and the importance of a support crew as an athlete
In recent years, the landscape of sports and fitness has evolved significantly, with women taking centre stage in what was once a male-dominated arena.
Podcasts have emerged as a powerful platform to amplify these voices, and to celebrate the achievement of women in sports, SportPlus.sg is pleased to provide a space for women to share their experiences, challenges, and triumphs.
Our new podcast series "Fit Talk" features two female SportPlus creators and hosts - Chermaine Zhou and Haw Jiaxuan - both of whom share a passion for running and fitness. Join them as we share the latest fitness trends, invite you on a wellness journey and chat up the coolest athletes from Singapore and the region.
In the first episode of "Fit Talk", we turn the spotlight on national duathlete Yong Man Yun, a two-time Southeast Asian Games Athlete who is also the head coach of Garmin Run Club Singapore.
We discuss the challenges of being an athlete in Singapore, juggling training with work, and how sport has a capacity to help women become more resilient overall, qualities that are transferable even outside the sporting arena.
Sharing that she first stumbled into the sport of duathlon under the influence of another national athlete - Loh Guo Pei - before falling in love with the sport.
Triathlon and Duathlon, a Form of Cross Training for Runners
Man Yun also elaborated that contrary to popular belief, adding swimming and cycling is sometimes less taxing on the body.
"As a pure runner we can sometimes clock up to 100km weeks - that is a lot of impact on the body. Now I run a lot less, perhaps 40-50 km a week, as I have swimming and cycling too in my training. But swimming to me is a form of recovery, and I cycle too and the impact is not there but the cardio is still there," says Man Yun.
"But it is definitely very time consuming and also a very financially taxing to be training across three sports."
Handling Pressure and Obstacles as an Athlete
Host Jiaxuan asked: "What would be some of the biggest challenges you have faced as an athlete?"
To which Man Yun replied that there isn't one particular thing but the stress and pressure that comes with performance at the highest level and juggling work and daily life is sometimes difficult to bear.
"When I first started off as a national athlete I was given a new role at work, so that year was crazy and the learning curve was so steep."
"How can athletes / runners overcome plateaus if they have stopped improving?," Jiaxuan added.
"A change in environment can definitely help," said Man Yun. "I was stagnant in running - so the change helped. I changed the way I trained, I changed my coach. The programme was also different. And that actually helped me break a couple of my personal bests even though I was training less."
Chermaine asked: "And what advice would you have for younger athletes or give to your younger self?" To which Man Yun said with a laugh, "When I started I was pretty old already."
"Jokes aside though, the younger athletes now they should be true to themselves. About why they want to do personal sports. They shouldn't do it for someone else, for a brand, not your parents or boyfriend / girlfriend because the journey will be long, the journey will be hard. What you see on social media - all the happy stuff is just 40 to 50 per cent. So in order to survive and sustain in the longer run, you will have to remember your purpose."
On the Importance of Support Crew to Avoid Burnout
"I feel everyone should have friends outside of their sport. I am in triathlon but most of my friends are from other sports," said Man Yun. "We need support from our secondary school friends, uni friends, poly friends or whoever. It reaches a point where your support crew needs to be very strong - they don't have to be in the sport and don't have to know the sport at all. My group of girlfriends know nothing about triathlon at all but they are great and they keep me sane."
Watch the full first episode of Fit Talk with Chermaine and JX, now available on sportplus.sg/watch/podcasts or listen to the full audio version now available on Spotify.