There are so many of us in sports today that we’re all familiar with the difficulty of balancing school and sports. Each day offers a different workout or pain athletes have to push through during practice, and the more sports students participate in, the more difficult it gets to prioritize other things.
Although it may seem difficult to find balance, it’s definitely possible. TuHS senior Brady Klein talked to The Wolf about the subject with his own “Day in the Life” of training for an Iron Man.
“The day starts at 5 a.m. I go to the pool, or do some cycling or run, and then I have to eat a lot of food,” Klein said. “After I go to school and do all of that, then it’s off to work. I’m at work until 8:30, and I do all of my homework while I am there. After I work, I go to the gym and lift some weights. After, I go to bed and do it all again the next day. Also during the whole day I have to eat a lot.”
An Iron Man is a triathlon consisting of three parts: a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a full marathon (26.22 miles). In total, each day takes a lot of effort and discipline. It’s not a simple task to train for all of this in one day. That’s why it’s very important for Klein to have a schedule that he can follow to make it a real part of his daily life and routine.
Making a simple step by step for the day is how student athletes can improve their athletic, work and school lives so that things don’t take too much time out of each other.
But training like this, day in and day out, means athletes have to make some real sacrifices to achieve their goals, giving up things such as video games and hanging out with friends or even sleep to make it work. Klein shared how he spends his time.
“I have no free time,” he said. “I do all of my homework at work and spend all of my free time working out.”
Enjoying things like exercise and school can be a major help when athletes don’t have the time to do much else. Keeping that positive attitude and striving to make the best of the time they have available is what can make or break their discipline and ability to achieve their goals, especially in a difficult routine such as this one. But taking breaks is also important to one’s general health. Taking a well-deserved week or two-week break can help an athlete recover mentally and physically from the difficulties not just of training for an Iron Man, but for regular life.
From training for an Iron Man to working every day and going to school five out of seven days a week, the life of an athlete is a struggle to maintain. Although finding balance may seem difficult, there are people that can put their mind to the mission and make something that seemed impossible possible. With lots of hard work, dedication and patience, student athletes can reach their goals.
