Moving
It was kind of a BIG deal moving to Scotland in April 2013. But I can't say I have ever regretted it. I'd got a job in sport science and had moved from Loughborough where ALL my best friends were to Colchester to work for the Human Performance Unit at the University of Essex. But it was elite/high performance that really motivated me so when I got the job as a junior exercise physiologist in Scotland there wasn't really a decision to make (apart from what was I going to do about my boyfriend who lived in Bath!). I am pretty career driven and ambitious so moving so far away wasn't exactly a problem; in fact, it was something I expected to have to do.
My Dad and I drove all my stuff (two cars worth) to Scotland on the Saturday before I was due to start work on the Monday. I'd found a room in a house in a small village called Fallin which I thought was close to where I would be working. Well small it was! Although my view was beautiful and it was so warm that weekend - who said Scotland was cold?!
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| The view from my new bedroom window! |
I actually settled into my life in Scotland much better than I settled down in Colchester. I started work straight away and was working in a large team of physiologists and then wider teams of nutritionists, physio's, strength and conditioning coaches as well as administration and sport governing body staff. There was a lot going on a a big buzz about the Commonwealth Games. I was also really excited about the sports I'd be working in and project groups that were set up. Another big factor was going to meet my new coach and training group. Because training is so ingrained into my life I wanted to keep that going up here and I'd made contact with a good long jump coach who coached out of Meadowbank; a track in Edinburgh. The coaches and group were lovely and it was great to be working in a big group; it helped me make friends quickly. The only hitch was that it took me an hour and a half to get there from work - but I wanted to train so I made the journey 2-3 times a week for a year until I moved to Edinburgh.
Stirling
After about three months or so I'd had enough of living out of the way in Fallin. So I moved to Stirling city centre (I'm being generous with the use of the word city). I moved in with a colleague who a mutual friend introduced me to because she was also looking to move! And that's how the T Dawg (Tracy) and K Dizzle (me) friendship began!! Cringey nicknames aside we had a great time living together. Living in Stirling was better than Fallin, I mean dominos was just around the corner and there's a castle :) Tracy is like a big sister/BFF, she'd listen to my stresses and gossip and then often be dragged off out by me! Then she'd provide fajitas and Doritos for recovery. She also makes a cracking chocolate cake.
Promotion
Work was going well. I was keeping busy working alongside more experienced colleagues and was also responsible for the lab/equipment maintenance. I was also leading in a sport - netball; a bonus being as I was a junior. I was happy but didn't think I'd last two years being a junior as I wanted to be working in the sports more than the technician stuff. The problem with me is I always want more and quickly. Patience isn't my strongest characteristic. My bosses always used to tell me to slow down, calm down and take stock of what I'd already achieved in a short space of time :) in November 2013 so 8 months after starting I applied for a level one position that came up because someone left. It was maybe a bit ambitious but I wanted the chance so I just went for it. The interview was ok, I wasn't as strong as is been for the junior role. Two vacancies were up for grabs, one permanent and a one year fixed term. I was offered the one year fixed term. I came 2nd. Although disappointed I took it because I wanted to time to develop and gain experience in that type of role and one year was better than no years. A few weeks later, on my 25th birthday to be precise my boss called and offered me the permanent position. The original candidate had turned it down! Needless to say it was the best birthday present ever! I'd be physiology lead in rowing and ... Athletics. Over. The. Moon.
Reality
November 2013 to July 2014 flew by. Commonwealth Games fever took over. I tentatively started working in my new sports. It wasn't as glamarous as I'd hoped to be honest. It really takes time to embed into a sport, gain their trust and establish how best to work with them. Late into a quadrennial is not the best time. But I did what I could with the sports and it culminated in being in the prep camp for Scottish athletics and then a part of Team Scotland working in the commonwealth games village. That right there is why I wanted to do this job. Working alongside teams and individuals wanting to achieve on the international stage and helping them do so is literally the best. The only thing better would be if I was the athlete not the support staff.
Edinburgh
I couldn't live in Stirling anymore. Driving to and from Edinburgh for training was a nightmare and very time consuming and I was spending weekends in Edinburgh too with friends. So in July after doing my best to pack Tracy in my suitcase and take her with me (she didn't want to move with me) I moved to Edinburgh. It wasn't the best time, I spent the next month in Glasgow so drove even more than usual, but it was 110% worth it. I love Edinburgh. It made training a lot better, and there was so much more to do! I moved in with a guy called Chris who I didn't know and then a student called Lizzie also moved in. We are all totally different people but get along very well. In particular Chris and I get on really well, bonding over game of thrones, food (mainly Mexican) and an unwillingness to grow up and conform to societies norms.
Sport and me
I competed in long jump again in 2014. After two years away. It was really really hard. I hadn't completely eliminated problems that caused me to stop in the first place and I wasn't the athlete I was in terms of ability. I drifted into other events to help out my clubs and realised I could run a respectable 400m! This i (weirdly) did enjoy!! In my first race I beat my pb and it was into a headwind. I then raced myself sort of fit and entered the double (200/400) at the Scottish championships in August. This was extremely ambitious as I'd spend the month before doings very little training due to work. The 200 wasn't great although I did make the final. The 400 however went ok. In typical Scottish weather (cold, wet and windy) I broke my pb in the heat and then again and 58 a in the final coming 5th (I think). I had a new event :) I was never going to be national standard like I'd been in the long but I was ok with that as there was room to improve. I couldn't improve in jumps anymore and that's what put me off.
But then skeleton took off so my 400 plans never got to materialise!
Winter 2014/15
The weirdest and best winter ever. Spent most of it sliding head first down an ice track when I should have been at work. Skeleton is on. Work is quiet and I feel like I'm stagnating because everyone is being reviewed so demand has been lower than usual. But I'm grabbing the skeleton opportunity with both hands and going with it. My blogs about this are elsewhere I'm not going to drone on about it all twice :)
Spring 2015
Work has picked back up! And it's busy!! I have been away on camps with Scottish rowing which is great development for me and also for their programme which is growing steadily. You can get so much work done on camp because you're with coaches and athletes 24/7 rather than in and out at home. I'm enjoying being stuck in again. Netball is busy too as we are preparing for the a World Cup which takes place in Sydney, Australia in August. We want them to be best prepared so there's a lot of planning and work to be done before they leave. The athletics season has also started so results are coming in which is exciting although it's also making me miss athletics a lot! There will be no athletics competitions for me this year - I am committed to skeleton now.
So as always it's all go. If the past two years have flown by the next two look set to be a whirlwind as I try to balance a career and the demands of being a full time winter sports athlete.
