LUCY GOSSAGE
In her last column, Lucy assesses her new work/tri balance
As we bid farewell to our resident pro athlete, Lucy takes the opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months and looks at her new work/tri balance
Moral strength is about making a conscious decision to be a person who doesn’t give up when it would be easy to…. None of us get out of life alive. So be gallant, be great and be grateful for the opportunities that you have.”
This was the quote with which I started my first column just over a year ago. It came from Jake Bailey, an 18-year-old head boy who had just been diagnosed with an aggressive and life-threatening cancer. He’d been allowed to leave hospital just once during his treatment, to make an extremely emotive speech at his final school assembly, and this quote was his take home message.
One year on and Jake Bailey is in remission. In a recent speech, when talking about the lessons he’d learnt from his experience, his motto was ‘Embrace each day’. Simple words. Yet when taken in context, these words have meaning, and perhaps we can all learn from them. When I look back on my battles over the last year, and my two and a half years as a full-time athlete, I’m proud of the way I dealt with obstacles. I made the most of every single day and honestly don’t have a single regret with how I managed this time.
I’m now back working three days a week as an oncologist. People ask me if it’s depressing. And surprisingly it’s not. Sad at times for sure. But no matter how bad a day has been, every day when I get home I know I’ve been useful. And in many ways it’s a life-affirming specialty to work in. Working as an oncologist makes you appreciate the small things in life because every day I’m reminded how short life can be. So when I leave work in the evening to run home, rather than bemoaning the fact that it’s dark and cold and I’m tired, instead I appreciate how lucky I am to be able to run home and embrace the fresh air, endorphin rush and tired legs that I get at the top of the hill.
Yes there are frustrations working for the NHS. But for me it’s nice to be doing something useful again and I’m enjoying using my brain. And training wise, so far it’s working well. It’s incredible how much less faffing I do on my three workdays than on my four non-work days. Only having 90mins to get a 90min session done is a brilliant motivator when it comes to getting started.
I’ve been using my commute to train – running to and from work and cycling to and from a different hospital when I have to do a clinic. Run commuting gives me a huge sense of satisfaction in light of its time efficiency. In effect I get a 90min session done in 45 minutes (take off the standard commute time). There’s nothing quite like fitting 18-19 hilly miles in around a day’s work and having all your training done and dusted by 7:30pm. And I’m not going to pretend I don’t enjoy the kudos I get from people at work telling me they saw me ‘galloping’ past the queues of rush hour traffic on the ring road and beating them in their cars! Last week, when clinic finished early, I told the nurses, ‘Brilliant, I can cycle the long way home.’ The look on their faces was priceless as they told me to ‘Go and lie on the sofa Lucy with a glass of wine.’ I think if they realised that my version of the ‘long way home’ was 40 miles they would have had a heart attack.
I’m also learning what food I can and can’t run with. It turns out most things turn to mush with a run commute and you need tough Tupperware to survive the onslaught of off-road running with hills! One day I turned up with an explosion of chicken and onion in my rucksack, all over my work clothes. And running with a stethoscope and ID badge in the same compartment was a big mistake. Somehow they ended up so entwined that I could only separate them by cutting the ID badge lanyard!
Logistically, I’m remembering how important planning is in order to train around work. Getting the right bits of kit in the right places is a nightmare and I’ve had to run in cycling tights and go without underwear on at least one occasion. But perhaps the biggest change for me on my workdays is the time spent preparing and eating food. As a pro, eating used to take up a large proportion of my day. When I’m working I simply don’t have that time. Finding healthy meals that survive a run commute and give you good calories in an easily consumed format is challenging. But I’m getting there! Nut butters, rice cakes and the new High5 protein balls are saving the day in terms of healthy snacks to help avoid the endless supply of chocolates and biscuits that are lying around.
For me, the last month has been one big learning curve. Learning how to be a doctor again. Learning how to juggle triathlon with something else again. Learning to have a bit more balance in my life. But perhaps the biggest lesson for me has been the daily reminder to make the most of life. It’s short and we need to live it.
This is my last column for 220. After more than a year of my waffling, I hope I’ve been able to provide an insight into the life of a pro. So thanks for reading and I’ll see you at the races! 220
There’s nothing quite like fitting 18-19 hilly miles in around a day’s work and being done and dusted by 7:30pm