Blog
What if I could train as a full time athlete?
2nd Feb 2016
Have you often wished you could live the dream, but believed this is just a fantasy - reserved for the elite few?
For so many aspiring athletes, the idea of training and racing full time means living their ultimate dream - certainly this was the case for me! Even though it was something I thought I would never have the chance to do. Having read so many athlete biographies, it seemed all the successful ones showed early promise - winning junior titles and sports scholarships to university just to compete! By the time they left education, most already had impressive race CV's and were making enough out of sponsorship to go straight into full-time sport as a career.
(Chrissie Wellington is the obvious exception to this rule, but her book came over a decade too late for me!)
The athletes I idolized seemed a world away from my life as a mediocre (county level) runner, studying hard for a science degree, and then a full time office job. I always trained hard, but never seemed to have the talent to get anywhere.
It was not until I discovered triathlon (aged 28) and got my first coach (aged 30) that the environment allowed for my mindset to change. I had guidance on how to train properly, and make the most of the potential I did have. And triathlon definitely rewards hard work and dedication! But most importantly, working with a great coach and sports psychologist meant they challenged my long-held beliefs.
I thought I wasn't good enough to justify taking time off work to train. But how could I expect to be as good as the elites (or the top age groupers) if I wasn't training like them?
I thought I was too old to get to the top now - but how would I know how good I could be, unless I tried? There is always the risk of failure, but if I never even tried, I would never know, and always wonder what if? Suddenly, I wondered - what am I waiting for?
The next challenge was how to approach my employer, and how would I afford to do it? I could not have been more fortunate - as they agreed to a 4-month sabbatical, working 1 day a week so I still had a small income. This was in order to train for a specific goal - the World (Age Group) Duathlon Champs in 4 months' time.
In my next blog I will go into what it was actually like training full time - at least in my experience - which is not quite how you might imagine! Not swimming, cycling and running all day, every day, for sure, nor living in the sun on a permanent training camp!
Nevertheless, I loved my first taste of being a full time athlete, back in summer 2011. I'm sure it played a big part in my winning silver in the World Duathlon Championship! My best result at the time in a very competitive age group. Especially since in those days, there wasn't a choice of two distances which dilutes the fields!
I had to return to work afterwards; at that time I needed the money for a lot of life events! Buying a house in 2012 and getting married in 2013 would not be possible without a regular income! But all the time that feeling was there in the background - I have unfinished business that I would love to return to one day.
By 2014 (now 33) I felt - surely I don't have many years left to achieve my dream of racing elite? Sometimes life has a funny way of sending you a message in ways you can't predict. There are no silver linings without the clouds!!
Car accidents and disillusion with training/racing on the road meant I was getting much more into offroad triathlon. And what an exciting new adventure! I had a new coach, who believed I had what it takes to race Xterra as a Pro. I was trying to save money, hoping to take time off work again - after my request for another sabbatical was declined.
But the real turning point came when my auntie died. A wake up call that life is too short to waste! She had left me a small amount of money - what would she have wanted me to do with it? Pay off an insignificant amount of the mortgage? Or take this one chance to do something meaningful? She loved her sports, and I remember admiring her collection of medals ever since I was a toddler. So on the flight home from Malaysia, where I'd just finished 5th in my first ever Pro race (my dream was coming true!) there was no decision to make. I composed my resignation letter there and then!
I can't pretend it wasn't scary, quitting the office job I had worked in for 8 years! Especially without the security of being able to come back. I didn't know how long I would get to live the dream - probably until the money ran out! Yet I could never have predicted the adventures it would lead me on. Travelling the world, making friends all around it, the race successes and failures are in some cases incidental! The most important thing was the life experience that I never would have had by staying in my comfort zone. Suffice to say - no regrets!
I managed to train & race full time for 2 seasons, before finances and circumstances meant I have had to return to work. But who knows what the future holds - I would definitely do it all again in a heartbeat.
The one thing I hope people can take away from my experience is that you only live once. You never know how long you have got. I wish I had had the confidence or the opportunity to do this sooner, but at least I got to do it eventually! The greatest shame would be to look back at unfulfilled dreams that you never attempted - wondering what could have been.
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