WALK THIS WAY walk this way by ANEL OOSTHUIZEN
Back to School
For most of my life , I ’ ve been an athlete , so everywhere I go in athletics circles , I am surrounded by people who know me as “ Anel , the athlete .” The few times that I have gone to a race as a spectator , some people who I know well have walked right past me , obviously not recognising me without my athletic clothes on . The same goes for me in my professional career , because being an athlete has never been my ‘ job ,’ and yet , very few people actually know what I do for a living .
and enjoying a more relaxed ‘ student life ,’ while training for the 2016 Olympics , which made it possible to make my training schedule top priority . And that made it easier to achieve the goals I set myself .
Sometimes you just need to get around the next corner …
Juggling Work and Training is about knowing when to drink from which bottle
The other day I was chatting to a dear friend that I ’ ve trained with many times over the past few years , and somehow we got to talking about what we do for a living . We were most amused to find that we had both just assumed that the other one would be doing something related to the sport . This made me realise that I often don ’ t look at athletes as people who ‘ just ’ have ordinary day jobs , even though I know there are only a very few lucky athletes in SA who can say that their sports career in athletics pays their salary and expenses .
I don ’ t think that I would have been able to qualify for the Olympics if it was four years later and I was already working as a teacher , especially not now , at the beginning of the academic year . ( Teachers will understand what I mean !) The amount of time spent on a job that pays your bills is time-consuming enough , and to add training on top of that makes your ‘ workload ’ a lot more stressful .
Life Lessons
I also thought about the things I ’ ve learnt over the last few years as a race walker competing at national and international levels , specifically on juggling work or studies with training . The most important thing for me is having a balance . At least , whenever possible … Some days allow me to be more dedicated to my training , but other days , work just takes over and I only get half an hour to train . As a result , there are still some days I feel that I have failed completely , but trying again the next day is the most important thing .
The point is , you need to utilise the time you have , even if it is just 30 minutes , because sometimes less is more . And that brings me to my top three tips on balancing work and training :
1 . Focus on one thing at a time . When you are working , focus on work . Don ’ t stress yourself out thinking of the huge training session you still have to fit in . You ’ ll only add to your stress .
3 . Ask for help . Whether you have a physio who can help you recover quicker , a dietician who can help with a meal plan that is less time-consuming , or a partner who can help you with daily tasks that can give you more training time , utilise them in order to optimise your training time .
Top Priority
Remember to focus on being the best athlete you can be , while still cutting yourself a little slack on the days when life just seems to steamroller over you . Most importantly , make sure you enjoy what you do . Life is way too short to spend time on things that you don ’ t fully enjoy !
… and sometimes it is about fitting in training whenever you can !
Images : Courtesy Anel Oosthuizen
It is very different in Europe or the USA , where it is almost a given that if you are a national level athlete , you are likely to be a professional athlete , but in SA we rarely hear that . So , besides the fact that I am an athlete , I studied B . Ed Foundation Phase teaching at the University of Johannesburg ( UJ ), and lived in Joburg for four years to pursue my studies . I am now a grade one English teacher at a primary school in George .
The whole discussion of juggling a career and being an athlete is not something that I think is discussed nearly enough – and in my opinion , not enough credit is given to athletes who juggle top level training on top of a ‘ day job .’ I was fortunate enough to be a student ,
2 . Take the good and the bad . Accept the fact that not every day is going to be the best training session you ’ ve ever had . Even in my varsity days , when I sometimes had no classes on a given day and could just focus on training , I still had some days that just didn ’ t go as planned . Be okay with the fact that some work days are just more tiring than others , and will affect your training .
About the Author
Race Walker Anel Oosthuizen is a multiple SA Champion and Record Holder , and represented SA in the women ’ s 20km at the 2016 Rio Olympics .
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