The World Champ

It’s 5:30am. The alarm startles me awake. I’m tired but still motivated to tick off everything on my list of goals for the day. I roll out of bed and tiptoe through the house so as to minimally disturb my significant other who is still blissfully dreaming. It would be nice to crawl back to bed… but no. I’m off to the pool. Sometimes I think I only manage to do it because my body is too asleep to realise I’ve woken up. The swim set is cut short by a need to get to work. Sometimes, work starts at 7.30am. There’s little time to spare. Quick breakfast then off to work.

Darn, forgot the drink bottle today. I know I’m going to spend the rest of the day feeling like a raisin. There are goggle rings around my eyes. I guess everyone probably thinks I’m tired all the time, which may not be far from the truth, but luckily I manage to function pretty convincingly on minimal z’s. Every 15-30 minutes there’s a new concern and life story to listen to, a new face to smile at and a new plan to make. Sometimes, lunchtime doesn’t happen until 2.30pm but on the odd occasion it doesn’t happen at all. The end of the day approaches and I start thinking about the agenda for after work; on this particular occasion a two hour bike ride awaits me. At five minutes to home time, I still have about an hour’s worth of notes to write, three prescriptions to fill and then an emergency walks through the door.

About two hours later than planned, I arrive home. Thankfully I’m not on call for after-hours tonight. It’s 7 something in the evening. I’m so hungry, dehydrated and I have that workout to do. Do I eat first and then do the training on a full stomach, or should I just push through the training, hungry and thirsty, and feel terrible but get it done? This is a frequent battle that I struggle with and I’m sure other age-groupers can relate. I love my job. I am passionate about it and love working with people and animals but often I can’t help but feel that life (or at least the triathlon side of my double life) would be much easier if I worked part time, or had a more flexible position. We age-groupers probably take greater personal sacrifice than the professionals, based on time available.

I tell people that I found triathlon because it helps with my ‘work-life-balance’, and it does, but the truth is, if you want to be a high performing athlete, it is exceptionally difficult to find enough hours in a day to do everything well if you are a full time employee. I work full time and mostly train for half ironman distance races. There is another tier of amazing people out there who work full time and complete full ironman races. I take my hat off to you guys and I honestly don’t know how you do it. There are also a number of superhumans who may or may not work full time, but manage to be a parent at the same time. You guys are absolutely otherworldly. I cannot even begin to imagine how you fit everything in.

I love how within triathlon, people are from all different walks of life. Whether you are a competer or a completer, everyone has similar reasons for being there. To be the best version of themselves. To set and achieve new goals. To push the boundaries of their comfort zone. To finish, to podium or to win. It doesn’t matter how or why you do it. But my advice would be to make the most of it. Make it fun and social when you can. There are so many incredible people out there, get amongst it! If you’re already a triathlete, keep it up. If you haven’t yet joined our crazy world, don’t be put off by the time commitment. It is worth it and if you want anything enough, you will find a way to make it work. You might even enjoy it.

Heather Neill, 26, is a Companion Animal Veterinary Surgeon at Taradale Veterinary Hospital. She’s also quite good at triathlon, the 25-29 age group Long Distance champion at last year’s World Triathlon Multisport Championship in Šamorín, Slovakia.