Road cycling: Lucy Garner discusses life as an athlete at Christmas
Monday 15 December 2014 15:08, UK
For most of the year there is a distinct lack of sympathy for professional athletes and the lives they lead.
Yes, they work incredibly hard to be in the best shape possible and compete in their chosen event, there are early morning runs, gruelling gym sessions and incredibly strict diets but, ultimately, these are people competing in the sport they love for a living and, at the very highest level, it is often a rather handsome living too.
However, when the Christmas period comes around the sacrifices made by elite athletes are brought into sharper focus. Even footballers, usually dismissed as pampered and overpaid, earn a mite of sympathy as they are dragged away from their families to train on Christmas morning.
Everyone is different but I know a lot of cyclists will take three easy days around Christmas time to spend it with the family
So while the rest of the country will be tucking into their turkey followed by Christmas pudding we asked Sky Academy Sports Scholar Lucy Garner how she would be spending the festive season.
The Team Giant-Shimano cyclist is in the midst of winter training at the moment and things look set to continue full steam ahead up until 25 December and beyond, meaning that Garner will be spending Christmas away from home for the first time.
“It’s pretty much going to be the same. I think I might have a slightly easier week. I’m going to be spending it in Holland so I will just be training up to it,” she told Sky Sports.
“I’m back over in England at the minute and so this Sunday all my family are getting together and we’ll be having our Christmas Day then. But then I’ll be back over to Holland and it’ll just be normal training. They obviously celebrate it over there but it isn’t as big and my boyfriend’s season is now and he has a race on Boxing Day, so we can’t really celebrate it on Christmas Day anyway.”
There may be no celebrations on Christmas Day itself but at least a day with the family should provide a chance of a traditional Christmas dinner, something that Garner has no intention of depriving herself of.
Home comforts
“I will never say no to a Christmas dinner,” she said. “Everyone is different but I know a lot of cyclists will take three easy days around Christmas time to spend it with the family.
“I know a lot of the track guys and they’re all based in Manchester so they get a week off to go back home and enjoy the time. I think for me, I’m not going to completely stuff my face with rubbish food but my mum does a very good roast dinner, which isn’t too unhealthy.
“You get three days where you don’t go completely crazy and eat whatever, but if your grandma’s homemade cake is there then you have a small slice or something like that!”
Of course the biggest challenge for Garner this year will be spending Christmas, not just away from home, but in a foreign country for the first time. With Giant-Shimano based in the Netherlands, there was little choice as she prepares to start her 2015 season at the end of January in Qatar.
“This will be my first year away from home and it is going to be strange because I do love Christmas,” added the two-time world junior road race champion.
“It is nice to be at home with your family and friends so it will be different not being in England to celebrate it. I’m hoping that we can do something in Holland, if it’s not on the day then maybe the day before. We’ll see.”
Before that though, she will make a very brief return to track cycling at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester on Thursday at a Sky Academy Sports Scholarships event. So will the 20-year-old Leicestershire rider be showing her fellow Scholars how it is done out on the velodrome track?
“I hope I can! I’ve not been on a track for ages,” Garner laughed. “I’m looking forward to it because obviously that was a big part of my past. I did a lot on the track and I did enjoy it so it’ll be nice to get back on there and just see how it goes again – I’m looking forward to it.”
While her competitive focus remains on the road, at least a day on the track is something Garner can look forward to ahead of what promises to be a training-heavy Christmas in Holland.
