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What is it like training full time vs working full time?
16th Feb 2016
Living the life of a full time athlete is many people's idea of 'living the dream'. If you're trying to juggle training and work, it's tempting to think it will be the answer to all your problems!
There are lots of advantages - but it is not a magical path to podiums and success!
I always imagined that full time athletes have the luxury of living in Lanzarote / Australia / Boulder or travelling on a permanent training camp. An idyllic lifestyle of swimming, riding and running all day long with training buddies, stopping only for scenic coffee breaks or the occasional massage! Maybe some of those elements happen if you're part of an elite squad, but in reality - those are probably just the Instagram highlights ;)
I was fortunate enough to spend two seasons training and racing full time, but my experience was nothing like the above - apart from travelling abroad for lots of races! For myself, and I would guess for the majority of full time athletes, the reality is much more “normal lifeâ€! I was still based in Reading, in the same house, with the same coaching and training setup, same British weather, same old household chores... But no more nine-to-five!
Life as a full time athlete
It may surprise people, but I found myself just as busy every day when I wasn't working full time! My typical day might look something like this:
7:00 Ignore the alarm as I'm too tired to get up!
8:00 Get up, eat breakfast (spinach and eggs), do the household chores
9:00 Physio exercises (which I seem to spend my life doing!) Get ready for training
10:00 Cycle 3 miles to track for run session
11:30 Recovery shake in the shower while running late for
12:00 Physio appointment
13:30 Collect bike bag from Mountain Trax which I'm borrowing for my next race. Pay off some of my account. If I have time I will bake cakes for the shop guys but there's no time today!
14:00 Swim session. Ask to take photos for Twitter but we can't while other people are in the pool.
15:30 Drop off laptop which I borrowed for freelance work
16:00 Lunch (not getting round to it until 4pm was fairly typical!)
17:00 Normally in the evening I'd do a couple of hours freelance work, but I'm off to race in Portugal tomorrow, so I need to pack
19:00 Cook dinner, eat, catch up on the day's calls & emails. Try & do some sponsor social media
22:00 Finish packing and go to bed ready for 4:30 alarm!
The pros and cons I found while not having to work -
The best part was having recovery time, and almost always the luxury of enough sleep. If I felt tired after a morning session I could take a nap instead of having to be on the ball at work.
The biggest lifestyle difference was not being limited by annual leave - so I had the freedom to go to as many races as I liked! This meant in race season I was abroad racing every other weekend, and sometimes extended trips like 4 weeks on the continent to race in Switzerland, France and Germany without coming home. It also meant I could book a flight to South Africa at 2 weeks' notice when a race invitation arrived.
In terms of training, the volume doesn't increase as much as you might imagine - you still have the same physical limitations with injury and overtraining. But you can recover from it all better and maintain the quality.
Also I now had time to visit the physio, get a massage, or do all the normal appointments like dentist and haircuts without sacrificing a training session!
On the flipside, the most difficult part is having no guaranteed income. I estimated if I got the results I expected, I could break even on my race trips through prize money, but would not actually make any profit.
This meant living on something like a student budget, plus taking on freelance web design work - trying not to eat into the savings too quickly. Freelancing I find more stressful compared to working for an employer (dealing directly with clients) and harder to motivate myself. But the massive advantage is the flexibility and fewer hours.
In fact almost all of the 'pros' I've met on my travels work part time - e.g. as coaches, supply teachers, or working for a family business. It is not possible to earn a living from off-road racing alone, although a few can make it work through financial sponsors.
I am extremely thankful to my own sponsors - Mountain Trax, Zone3, David Lloyd and Drummond Clinic who have supported me for many years - although not financial sponsors, they have been a great support network as well as saving costs. There is no such thing as “free stuff†though - any meaningful sponsor relationship needs to benefit both parties, and this means investing time in promotion. It's easy to underestimate the effort that goes into blogging / social media, attending trade shows, photoshoots or lectures, even though it is time well spent!
Finally - what are the risks if things don't go to plan? I was lucky I never had any major injuries or illnesses over the two seasons I raced 'full time', but if you're contemplating doing the same, this is a big consideration! Practical concerns like getting no sick pay, and how will you cope psychologically?
Life as a full time office worker
All good things must come to an end, and in October I had to go back to my job as an Analyst Programmer. Now my typical day looks something like this -
7:00 No snoozing - get up and eat breakfast (Smoothie - quick to make!)
8:00 Foam roller exercises, cycle to gym
8:30 Swim session before work
10:00 (Hopefully) Arrive at my desk after a mad rush to get changed and cycle to the office in time!
10:30 Breakfast #2 at my desk (porridge)
14:00 Lunctime training, either run or gym session
15:30 Eat lunch at desk (always salad, plus bread & soup or a rice salad from M&S)
18:30 or 19:00 Finish work, cycle home
19:00 Cook (if it's my turn), eat, wash up, make lunch for tomorrow
21:00 Deal with the day's dirty washing, repack bag for tomorrow, ready to do it all again!
22:00 Hopefully - bedtime :-)
The advantages and disadvantages of working in a 'normal' job probably look more familiar:
Salary is the obvious benefit, and all the stability this brings. But there are other more subtle advantages - it was nice separating work from home (unlike freelance) and I missed having a set routine and structure. If I know I have to be in the office by 10, I get up and do the training session, no procrastinating till midday! (On the flipside it means if I'm running late, I have to cut sessions short).
I also missed having colleagues for daily conversation - sometimes I wouldn't speak to anyone all day when training from home. Colleagues who think you are crazy also remind you that what you're doing is not most people's idea of normal!
Getting all-consumed in pro athlete culture may not always be healthy - when most competitors, by necessity, have to be a bit self-centered. It's not a balanced view on life, and I found there is very little chivalry in the elite echelons; most see their own race as the number one priority in the world! Yes, I met some amazing people, but you do have to be prepared to look after number one when nobody else will!
As far as disadvantages coming back to work, the biggest one is time commitment - not having enough rest and recovery after sessions. I have to be much more careful with training load not to get run down, ill or injured. You are more likely to get all the bugs going round the office, as I have found out to my detriment lately! (2.5 weeks off training and counting...)
The second big issue is not having as much holiday allowance as I would like, I have to ration my use of the days that I have! Now I need to pick and choose my races. It also makes it difficult to choose to go away on training camps because it will mean one less race this season
So in summary?
There are more perks to working in a normal job than you might realise! But on balance if I ever have the chance to train full time again I wouldn't hesitate!
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