I would have entitled this post 'Work hard, play (sport) hard, and blog hard', but that (as well as being slightly less catchy) would involve me having (even vaguely) successfully done so... Sadly, during my first year at uni, I haven't written a single blog post. I suppose I could have made myself write some, maybe late at night instead of going out drinking, but I don't think blogging should ever be forced- if you want to write, then write. If not, don't stress.
But anyway, here I am a year later, blogging again! Let's hope I haven't completely lost it...
Seeing as it's the Olympics at the moment (woo!), I thought I'd share some tips I've learnt this year about how to be involved in a competitive sport at uni and also keep on top of your degree at the same time, preferably without having a complete breakdown. I am, of course, no expert. I'm not at the top of my class, nor at the top of my sport, but then I guess that's pretty much the norm. (If you're a 16 year-old currently competing in Rio, I'd suggest you stop reading now- I think you've got this).
This was actually probably the hardest thing about starting university for me- I wanted my course to go well and to get good essay marks (I know first year doesn't count blah blah) but I also wanted to get really into rowing and train as hard as I could. Now don't get me wrong, there are so many other sports that don't require anywhere near as much commitment as rowing, but me being me, of course I chose the one that involves early mornings and two sessions a day (I'd definitely recommend it, by the way). So here are some tips (from someone who definitely never gets stressed and definitely never eats chicken nuggets in bed as a way of coping, and has certainly never cycled alone to a field with a bottle of wine...)
- Get involved straight away. It may seem like too much to take on a new sport when you arrive at uni for the year and are being bombarded with reading lists and deadlines, but do it anyway. If you don't sign up and go along to meetings in the first few weeks, you might find it hard to ever get round to it once term starts properly and you remember what 'busy' actually feels like.
- Keep a diary. Not for writing down your every thought (although please feel free), but for keeping a track of everything that is going on each week. Work out what you have to do for your course and allocate each task to a certain day, as well as filling in your training sessions. If you've got an essay to write, plan it in for a lighter training day so that you don't suddenly remember about it the day you've got two sessions and an hour in the gym, which just so happens to be the day before it's due.
- Be flexible. Whilst you can have the best intentions (see above), sometimes things just crop up. These might be extra training sessions, extra reading for a seminar the next day, or spontaneous nights out/ naps. Having a plan is great, but if you feel like your life is being dictated by it then that's not really ideal and will probably just cause more stress. As cliché as it sounds, you kind of just have to go with the flow when this happens; do what you can but don't freak out if you don't manage to do absolutely everything you had planned.
- Prioritise your work. I don't mean prioritise your work over your training, I mean prioritise the most important parts of your course. Now this really depends on the type of person you are; if you're like me and feel like you're going to fail if you don't read every single item on the 'suggested reading list' before a seminar, then listen up. Just chill out a bit- as long as you've got a reasonable grasp of a topic before a class then you'll be fine, no one is expecting you to have read everything under the sun on Descartes before a seminar. And if anyone has, then good for them, but they probably didn't do 90 minutes on the erg followed by a water session the day before.
- Look after yourself. Sometimes it seems ridiculous that on top of all this rushing around you still have to find time to feed yourself/ tidy your room/ wash your clothes/ change your sheets/ go food shopping etc. As gross as it is, I often realise that my sheets have turned yellow and my carpet has collected what seems to be an entire head of hair. It's at these times that I remind myself that while I want to study hard and be at the gym 24/7, I can't live in a pig's sty (I apologise to all the pigs out there, I think my room is probably worse). So, try and set aside some time each week to sort out the rest of your life- put some washing on and give your floor a quick hoover, it shouldn't take very long if you give yourself some time to do it.
- Eat well. It goes without saying that if you're training most days then you've got to eat well. So this means making sure you're eating fruit and veg (I find keeping some frozen veg in the freezer works best), as well as carbs (lots and lots of carbs) and protein etc. While you could pretty much eat whatever you want because of how many calories you're burning, if your diet is really unhealthy all the time then it's not going to do you any good and you won't have much energy for getting your work done. Personally, I do a weekly online shop, which means I can plan my meals easily beforehand and don't have to spend time doing a big shop in a supermarket. I also have a cheap and cheerful smoothie maker which is great for whizzing up some fruit before a training session.
- Sleep well. Whilst realistically you will probably be running on not very much sleep most of the time, don't over do it. With a sport like rowing especially, where you have early morning sessions, make sure you at least think about getting a bit of an early night a few times a week. Alternatively, make napping your new best friend.
- Treat yourself. Even if you feel like you have a million and one things to do, it's important to take some time out every now and then. Maybe this is just to watch Netflix for a bit, eat chicken nuggets in bed (which I have definitely never done...), or hang out with a friend. Basically just make sure you're not spending every waking hour either working or working out.
- Be okay with not being a 'typical student'. Not that that's really a thing anyway. But people (mostly older people, I find) seem to assume that all students lie around in bed all day and generally don't do a lot. And of course, you will probably have friends who do this to varying extents, and sometimes you'll be smug, sometimes you'll be infuriated, and sometimes you'll be insanely jealous. There you are making your third meal of the day before you rush off to some lecture or other, and someone shuffles into the kitchen, blinking in the daylight and asks whether you've got 'a busy day'. Before you respond with some sort of insult, remember that you love your way of life (most of the time), and they probably love theirs too.
- Be okay with sometimes missing out. If you enjoy a night out, then I'm sure you'll manage to fit some into your busy schedule, but there will sometimes be sacrifices you have to make. Maybe you've been away all weekend at a competition so need to catch up on work, or perhaps you're on drinking ban during the last two weeks of term (hardest weeks of my life...), but just try and tell yourself that it will be worth it when you get a PB or win a race/match. Your friends (if they're anything like mine) will probably get sick of the response 'Sorry I can't, I've got rowing', but if they're good friends (like mine) then they'll respect what you do.
- Remember you're not superhuman. Sometimes it's impossible to do everything. Most coaches don't want you to jeopardise your degree for the sport, so if you're really struggling to keep up with the work, and you're genuinely trying, then missing a few sessions isn't going to do much harm. As long as you talk to someone and don't just not show up, then no one is going to think any less of you for taking some time off.
I hope some of these have been helpful and that you are able to work hard and play sport hard this year.
If you need some more advice or have any tips of your own, please feel free to leave a comment below!
