Life As a Full-Time Athlete So Far...
I'm not really sure what I imagined when I started this year, all I had kinda thought about was training around three or four times a day and just basically seeing what happened. It is fair to say that there is far more that comes into it than I had initially thought about; most days, let alone weeks, bring about huge learning experiences be it actually to do with learning how to row, or what different training sessions mean to do with the importance of sleep and nutrition to then learning how to listen to your body if its not feeling well or hurting...can confirm, needs a lot more work.
One thing I did know coming in is that nutrition was going to be a bit of a make or break as I knew to keep up with the demand of all sessions I had to be giving myself the right fuel, and given my past, this is probably the thing that has had the biggest importance and needed a lot of attention over the past few weeks. My strategy has been to think of treating everyday as an experiment, I am no expert and have kinda come in with no idea about nutrition other than knowing I need to eat more if I want to be able to train four times a day. Intuitive eating is how I've gone about tackling this side of things, which is a new one for me. I have always eaten quite clean and knew I could still do that, the volume of food that I was eating just had to be increased.
I obviously have days in which I still struggle, I don't believe that eating disorder thoughts can just disappear. I really think recovery is very much a journey in which things are continually learnt as different challenges are faced. Taking it back to basics and remembering that most of what I feel are only feelings makes things so much easier to tackle and means that I can still go into my sessions on days that are tough positive and ready to get the most out of that session possible.
The training side of everything, I absolutely love. I have never been more motivated or hungry for anything in my life; I very much know where I want to go and am going to spend this year seeing whether I have what it takes. I have of course had days where I've looked at my programme, been pretty exhausted and very much questioned whether I can get through everything. However, I just look at it all one session at a time. It is so much more manageable and also means that, that is my only focus so I can go in and get what I want to out of that session. I have challenged boundaries and broken through big old mental barriers that this time last year, I wouldn't have believed that I could.
The mental challenge and being in a squad that is so unbelievably supportive of each other is what makes me enjoy what I do so much, and I know that I am very lucky to be able to say that.
Illness and injury...this is something that I have realised needs um, a lil bit of work.
I started out at the beginning of September and slightly believed I was invincible. Injury and illness hadn't even crossed my mind; I don't really remember taking days off training ever. I had been injured in the past, a long time ago, and had fought a few battles, but I felt stronger than ever and just didn't think anything would come and get in the way. Not true, and even less true if you then ignore any pain or illness and try to fight through it. Slightly pointless.
Athletes get injured and that is all part of being an athlete. The affect of this injury will be much less if you listen and address this niggle when you notice it rather than ignoring it...a lovely lesson that I have learnt this week.
An athletes journey is not always upwards, there will be set-backs and periods where rest is the only option. In the long-run though, this will be the most beneficial decision and I think this is something I now realise is what I need to get my head around.
Funnily enough, an asthma attack does actually affect your ribs and the muscles surrounding your ribs, so if there's some pain maybe address that instead of trying to ignore it...note to self for next time😑
This week has again proved further challenges, this time in the face of being told that I cannot train for a few days at all (due to said incident above.) I am not going to lie, it made me feel like shit. I personally do not know how to cope without training, and to be told I've gotta go cold turkey I really really struggled with. Being honest, one of the biggest struggles I think was again, the eating side of things. Learning how to again adjust it to fit with me doing no training freaked me out and slightly made me question all meals I was eating...which is stupid.
I am currently on Day 3 of no training, and as hard as it is to be not allowed to do any form of training I just think about where I want to go and what is going to make me the strongest in the long run. A few days off here is going to be a loooot better than me having to take a few weeks off further down the line...as hard as that may be to admit right now. My motivation and hunger to succeed is very much still there and will be even stronger than ever when I am back up and running...which I am convinced some people in the squad will be delighted to hear...lol.
This is just a little insight into the past few weeks being a full-time athlete; I have learnt so much in so many different ways already and am very excited to see what this year holds. I can honestly say, I have never been in such a good place mentally; I am the happiest I have ever been and get to do something that I literally love every single day. I recognise how lucky I am to be able to say this, and very much have my family to thank to allow me to be able to spend the year taking this time to see what happens within rowing.
Obviously there have been ups and downs, but that is life, and I think the difference here is that I deal with everything in a much smaller in the moment approach rather than treating it all as this huge event that's happened thats going to affect everything and anything down the line.
Breaking things down, trying to get the most out of any situation and thinking of things bit by bit just makes everything you tackle seem a lot more manageable. So next time if you find yourself struggling, just break it all down into little chunks and focus on what you can do...just live your life as an experiment.💛
One thing I did know coming in is that nutrition was going to be a bit of a make or break as I knew to keep up with the demand of all sessions I had to be giving myself the right fuel, and given my past, this is probably the thing that has had the biggest importance and needed a lot of attention over the past few weeks. My strategy has been to think of treating everyday as an experiment, I am no expert and have kinda come in with no idea about nutrition other than knowing I need to eat more if I want to be able to train four times a day. Intuitive eating is how I've gone about tackling this side of things, which is a new one for me. I have always eaten quite clean and knew I could still do that, the volume of food that I was eating just had to be increased.
I obviously have days in which I still struggle, I don't believe that eating disorder thoughts can just disappear. I really think recovery is very much a journey in which things are continually learnt as different challenges are faced. Taking it back to basics and remembering that most of what I feel are only feelings makes things so much easier to tackle and means that I can still go into my sessions on days that are tough positive and ready to get the most out of that session possible.
The training side of everything, I absolutely love. I have never been more motivated or hungry for anything in my life; I very much know where I want to go and am going to spend this year seeing whether I have what it takes. I have of course had days where I've looked at my programme, been pretty exhausted and very much questioned whether I can get through everything. However, I just look at it all one session at a time. It is so much more manageable and also means that, that is my only focus so I can go in and get what I want to out of that session. I have challenged boundaries and broken through big old mental barriers that this time last year, I wouldn't have believed that I could.
The mental challenge and being in a squad that is so unbelievably supportive of each other is what makes me enjoy what I do so much, and I know that I am very lucky to be able to say that.
Illness and injury...this is something that I have realised needs um, a lil bit of work.
I started out at the beginning of September and slightly believed I was invincible. Injury and illness hadn't even crossed my mind; I don't really remember taking days off training ever. I had been injured in the past, a long time ago, and had fought a few battles, but I felt stronger than ever and just didn't think anything would come and get in the way. Not true, and even less true if you then ignore any pain or illness and try to fight through it. Slightly pointless.
Athletes get injured and that is all part of being an athlete. The affect of this injury will be much less if you listen and address this niggle when you notice it rather than ignoring it...a lovely lesson that I have learnt this week.
An athletes journey is not always upwards, there will be set-backs and periods where rest is the only option. In the long-run though, this will be the most beneficial decision and I think this is something I now realise is what I need to get my head around.
Funnily enough, an asthma attack does actually affect your ribs and the muscles surrounding your ribs, so if there's some pain maybe address that instead of trying to ignore it...note to self for next time😑
This week has again proved further challenges, this time in the face of being told that I cannot train for a few days at all (due to said incident above.) I am not going to lie, it made me feel like shit. I personally do not know how to cope without training, and to be told I've gotta go cold turkey I really really struggled with. Being honest, one of the biggest struggles I think was again, the eating side of things. Learning how to again adjust it to fit with me doing no training freaked me out and slightly made me question all meals I was eating...which is stupid.
I am currently on Day 3 of no training, and as hard as it is to be not allowed to do any form of training I just think about where I want to go and what is going to make me the strongest in the long run. A few days off here is going to be a loooot better than me having to take a few weeks off further down the line...as hard as that may be to admit right now. My motivation and hunger to succeed is very much still there and will be even stronger than ever when I am back up and running...which I am convinced some people in the squad will be delighted to hear...lol.
This is just a little insight into the past few weeks being a full-time athlete; I have learnt so much in so many different ways already and am very excited to see what this year holds. I can honestly say, I have never been in such a good place mentally; I am the happiest I have ever been and get to do something that I literally love every single day. I recognise how lucky I am to be able to say this, and very much have my family to thank to allow me to be able to spend the year taking this time to see what happens within rowing.
Obviously there have been ups and downs, but that is life, and I think the difference here is that I deal with everything in a much smaller in the moment approach rather than treating it all as this huge event that's happened thats going to affect everything and anything down the line.
Breaking things down, trying to get the most out of any situation and thinking of things bit by bit just makes everything you tackle seem a lot more manageable. So next time if you find yourself struggling, just break it all down into little chunks and focus on what you can do...just live your life as an experiment.💛
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