In July we saw two tragedies in our area during triathlons only one week apart. First there was the death of a 32-year-old man in the New York City Triathlon on July 20. The following week 52-year-old John Hobgood of Princeton Junction, N.J., died in the New Jersey State Triathlon.
An outdoor workout for singles is a healthy, sober
alternative to the dating scene. It’s a fun way to meet new people, get to know
the ones you like and break up the gym monotony this summer.
A workout for singles. If I were you—and I was—I would be rolling my eyes thinking, “Ugh, how can getting sweaty and gross in front of potentially attractive people sizing me up be anything but awful?” In theory this idea of bringing singles together to work out is awkward at best. But in reality, what trainer Erica French has put together is so relaxed and so much fun you don’t even really remember that it was billed as a “singles” workout. It just feels like playing in the park with your friends. It was easily the most fun I have had while getting in a workout since high school.
French, who was a national champion triathlete at the age of 12 in her home country of Australia, has always had a gift for sports. She studied sports science and coached the Australian swim team in 2000. While you don’t have to be ready for the Olympics, French asks that those who sign up be pretty fit—meaning you already work out 3-4 days a week.
French, who started Fit2Date in Sydney, was single and in the dating scene for years, “and I was dating all these wankers,” she says “and thinking ‘How is alcohol conducive to to meeting decent people?’” And so it began. French wanted to make it possible for fitness- and health-minded folks to have a way to get to know each other and do what they love and be outdoors in the nice weather.
The workouts are all manageable, but you do have to go all-out, so your cardio level above all else should be pretty solid. The reason you’re balls-to-the-wall the whole time is that you’re competing in two teams, which French has chosen ahead of time. You want to win because after each event the losing team has to answer a personal question about themselves. Which again, while potentially awkward, is mostly hilarious and more ice-breaking than embarrassing. My workout included multiple relays with medicine balls, a game of freeze tag, and of course tug-o-war. French says each workout in the 4-week series (which costs $200) gets progressively harder, with more interval training, core work, and the dreaded potato sack races, which French says are so hard that they make her feel sick.
French has only been in NYC since May and has launched three sessions of Fit2Date to add to the seven already in place in Sydney: Battery Park, Central Park and, beginning in July, Upper East Side. “This isn’t just a gym workout,” she says. “There isn’t a lot to do in gyms that’s social where you can have a conversation while you work. This is all about people sharing an experience. I want to bring the social aspect to physical training.” Learn more and sign up at www.fit2date.com.
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Recent deaths make people wonder if they should keep running. 
