Student Athlete Life | balancing training and school in Sedona
The past week I’ve ridden my mountain bike more hours than I ever have and explored what’s seemed like every trail in Sedona. It has been physically and mentally challenging but the work is also always so rewarding. Sedona has held a special place in my heart ever since I first visited. Every other weekend of my first two years in college, I would come down here with a group of friends to escape the snow and put in some hours challenging our skills on the Sedona red rock and training in the warmth. Being good student athletes, we’d be finishing our school work in the car, and would first drive to Phoenix on a Friday night to race the MBAA series mountain bike races before coming to Sedona. We would camp out at our “spot” - up a dirt road just outside of Sedona - and then be up the next morning preparing for a full day on our bikes. Now, three years later it looks a little bit different with a van instead of a tent and missing the original gang, but now with a fully online school schedule I’m taking advantage of the area as the perfect winter training ground.
Being a professional mountain bike racer and a student is a major balancing act. It’s a skill I am continuously working to perfect…tips welcome! Between bike training, finding a gym, schoolwork, and trying to get enough sleep and recovery, I stay pretty busy, but I’m lucky to be able to make a career out of what I love and get an education at the same time.
My days as a student athlete right now go a little bit like this:
Wake up, and breakfast of: Waffles (or pancakes), fruit, yogurt, PB, maple syrup, and coffee
After Breakfast: school basically until I’m digested enough to get on the bike
Ride: almost every ride this week has been over 3.5 hours - my biggest challenge when I get on the bike is to let the “student” part of me go and be present with my training. It’s easy to let the stress of school/life consume me, but I’m learning to make my time on the bike as deliberate and present as possible.
Once the riding is done, first things first - food. Usually it’s whatever leftovers are in the fridge, but I try to eat a meal or recovery drink within 30 minutes of finishing my ride.
After “lunch” - I put this in quotes because sometimes it’s at 2pm, sometimes it’s at 5:00pm - I pull the school work back out and try to get some work down before it’s either time for my second workout or dinner. Somewhere in between I shower, and right before bed I get in as much rolling and stretching as I can. This week, the day has wrapped up around 11:00pm, and I am exhausted. Time for bed, until we do it again the next day!