Hey, I’m Ruth! I have written a few posts for several blogs now and I’m big social media fan but for those who haven’t stumbled across me before, I’m an 18-year-old dental student in my first year at Leeds university. Oh, I LOVE to run too! I was really excited when Grace asked if I would write a guest post and even more so when she suggested If I would discuss my life juggling running and a dental degree- my two greatest passions! So far my time being a student athlete has brought about so many fantastic opportunities from representing the university in some amazing races to already being let loose on a real dental clinic! Ofcourse, uni as an athlete hasn’t been without its tough times either. I can work or train far too hard and feel incredibly tired without my parents or coaches right at the side line to help me through. At uni I often feel like I’m forced to make the choice between fully committing myself to running or being ‘half in, half out’ (training hard and partying hard). Full commitment means missing out on a typical uni social life but knowing you couldn’t have worked any harder towards running. The ‘half in, half out’ choice entails experiencing a rigorous running regime alongside a student life but neither of them to the fullest. With aims in marathon/ ultra-running at a much older age I opted for the later. Despite choosing the half in half out option, with parties for students most nights you tend to feel like the odd one out. You have to discipline yourself to go to bed before your race the next morning and at that point it’s so easy to only see the good in other people’s lives. You can start doubting your intention to train and question ‘what am I doing?!’ To me, that’s just about where the self-doubt stops. Everytime I wake up in the morning and train, I realise why I do just what I do. I get a sense of accomplishment every time I tick off a challenging session, whether I felt good or not, I woke up and I did it. Through my sports at uni, I feel like I have made some of the best friendships. It’s a strange sort of bond where you share your blood, sweat and tears every session. Your training friends are there when you are struggling to pick you up and tell you to keep going. There’s an indescribable level of desire everytime you toe up the start line to push your body to its absolute limits, to be quicker than last time, to beat your records and then to beat someone else’s records. Whether you run well or not, there’s something inside of you telling you to keep pushing and to get faster. It a hunger for more that you can’t describe or understand unless you’re a competitive sportsperson. Going to university and bringing my running commitment with me has been a huge process of learning my own personal balance between study, sports and social life. It’s about establishing individual limits (not someone else’s), how many hours of study, training and how much time can you spend with friends and then still find time to get enough sleep as well! All this with being happy in what you do and without (too much) stress! And when you can’t quite fit everything in, what do you prioritise and what do you choose to compensate? Being a student athlete is tough, but trust me, the benefits far outweigh the negatives. My passion and commitment towards my athletics is what, I believe has got me to where I am today. Its conveyed through to my academics and my athletic achievements have given me the confidence to aim high at uni. With the support of my friends, family and coaches so far, life as a student athlete has been extremely rewarding. As I approach the end of my first year at uni as an athlete here are some lessons to take away from my experience so far: -My family, friends and coaches are more important than anything else in the world. -Sleep = success. Get it and try to get lots of it when you can. -Halls are LOUD. When people say, they are loud, they’re not joking. -Bikes will get stolen, so A. Choose an old rusty bike and B. Purchase a D-lock. -Wilkinson’s is the most important shop on the high street. Don’t forget that. -Carrying your weekly food shop home is like combing the toughest strength and conditioning session with extreme weight lifting. -Running means a lot…but not everything. You don’t have to sacrifice your exams on Wednesday morning so you can fit in your Tuesday evening track session. It’s okay to say no sometimes. -Whatever the weather, bring a waterproof wherever you go. -Fruit is expensive! Except the 9 pack of satsumas from Morrison’s. - Self-love and confidence go a long way. -Taking time out and doing absolutely nothing now and again is important physically and mentally. -Don’t be afraid to try new things. -18 year olds are definitely not adults yet. -You will create some interesting new recipes- fajitas with bagels because you have no tortillas? -You can’t afford the new Nike pro’s. Don’t even bother to look. -Believe you can achieve and its crazy what you will accomplish. -Sell by dates are all lies -Whether you have a good race or bad race, the world will go on. -Runners = All the fridge and freezer space. Apologise nicely. -Procrastination = More stress later. -Every messy situation you get into, it will get sorted in the end. -Wherever you go, you will meet some amazing people. -Being a student athlete is 100% possible no matter the uni course, the level of competition, it can be done. All the best,
Ruth x
0 Comments
Hi everyone! It’s Ellen here, over from TeenRunner. In short, I’m a teenage runner, fitness-lover, and blogger who lives just around the corner from Grace, so naturally we often link up for runs, bike rides, and ridiculously hard gym classes (my stomach still hasn’t recovered from the last ‘abs attack’ session!). However, if any of you have been following me on Instagram (@teenrunnerblog) or Twitter (@teenrunnerblog) recently, you’ll know that two months ago I was diagnosed with a stress fracture on my second metatarsal. To put it simply, it was (and still is) a nightmare. Now, I understand that the mere thought of a stress fracture is a worrying prospect for ANY fitness enthusiast, and so reading about my experiences for the entirety of this blog post probably isn’t the best thing you could be doing on this Sunday morning…but I think you should give it a chance. Not just because I’ve written it (although that’s reason enough to continue), but because at one point everyone is going to be pushed down by an injury, so I want to give my opinions on rehab for you to bear in mind in the future. Phase 1- Acceptance This injury recovery process has been a roller-coaster ride. Metaphor yes, but I can promise you there’s no exaggeration here. Therefore I’m going to pick out a few aspects of the last two months, because even I don’t have the patience to go through everything…and I’m the one that’s actually got the injury! For the first two weeks, I found myself in a boot and unable to do anything aerobic. With tendon and muscular injuries, it’s true that you can cross train straight away. But with a bone…well you’ve got to let that have some complete healing time. Okay, so the boot did have its positives, but on the whole those 14 days were extremely hard for me. I’m used to being outside, going to the gym, heading out for a session, so when I was limited to basic arm and core work it took a LOT of getting useful. Taking this into consideration, the best way to deal with it is to accept the injury. Yes, I was angry, sad, frustrated at first (especially since I qualified for the English Schools the day before), but after a week or so I guess the process of recovery had set in. This may sound mildly insignificant, but it worked for me! I really did feel a pang of sadness every time we drove past the track, but I soon became focused on the beginning of rehab. Roll on Phase 2. Phase 2- The Long Middle Ground I’ll let you know now that I’m currently in phase two, so this is hot off the press. From four weeks onwards the doctor gave me the all clear to start cross training. As you would expect, I went a little crazy on this. Tuesday saw me racing up and down the pool, Wednesday on the spin bike, Thursday with the aqua-belt. But unfortunately my foot did not react too well. It hurt a little, and kept swelling up. Hence why I’ve now restarted the training programme again- it’s coming up to week 7 and I’ve only been managing about 40 lengths kicking at one time. I guess what I’m trying to say is that even when you think rehab will go smoothly, it quite often doesn’t. For example the week before last I had been spinning every day, but over the past few days I’ve had to stop as it has been aggravating the foot. Spinning is go-to option for most injured runners- but not for me. I’ve personally found the uncertainty really difficult. Truth to be told, I’m constantly worrying about my foot, and am always spending extra time at the gym to keep some level of fitness up. But it’s not all bad, I promise. I can’t wait to get back running, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed going to the gym. It has provided me with an aura of self-confidence, and it’s always reassuring to see yourself progress. Once I reached the stage where aerobic workouts were possible, things got a lot better! Phase 3- Heading into the unknown And here I reach the end of my scrawl. Phase three indicates the slow start to ‘proper’ training. The jogs, the elliptical, and of course, at one point the training session. I’m a good five weeks away yet, but I do know that when I return it will be very gently. Injuries don’t last forever, and if any of you are unfortunate enough to be suffering with one at the moment, I bet that you’ll be a thousand times stronger (both mentally and physically) when you return. Good luck! I would just like to say a huge thank you to Grace for letting me write on her website. If you do fancy following me, the links are below. Grace’s Sunday post is up on my blog right now- definitely worth a read!
www.teenrunner.co.uk Instagram- @teenrunnerblog Twitter- @teenrunnerblog |
HelloI'm Grace, a 18 year old runner, and fitness fanatic. Join me on my crazy journey through life, squeezing in an adventure in every second of spare time I have. Archives
February 2019
Categories
All
Latest Instagram's: |