On running and recruiting: A personal account of triathlon and business

Achieving and maintaining a work-life balance is the goal of most professionals. Balancing work commitments, time with friends and family and other personal commitments can take dedication and planning. Scheduling some downtime from your work throughout the week can positively impact on your professional life and increase motivation.

When did you start competing in triathlons? 

I have been participating in triathlons since I started working at PageGroup in 2007 and started taking it more seriously two years ago. I now compete in Sprint (500m swim, 20km bike and 5km run), Olympic Distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run) and Half Ironmen (1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21km run).

My training regime can be quite intense. During the week I do one session before work and then a second, either during lunchtime or after work, every day. I try to split my training between swimming, cycling, running, weights and some form of recovery like bikram yoga. On the weekends I’ll do a two to three hour session on Saturday and Sunday.

The early mornings are the hardest part. I’m up between 5.00am and 5.30am Monday to Friday and that never gets any easier, especially in winter when you’re out swimming and cycling.

That said I find the morning training gives me the energy and drive to get me through the day. I tend to find that on days when, for whatever reason, I don’t train in the morning, I feel flat and fidgety until I do some exercise.

A typical race starts pretty early in the morning. My last race was a 6:30am start, which meant I was up at 4.30am to have my usual pre-race breakfast (peanut butter, banana and honey on toast), stretch and get to the site to store my bike and organise my kit. Once the race is over it’s a quick recovery, food to restore the energy I burn racing (I burnt over 5500 calories during my last race) and then off to the pub to celebrate completing another race.

There is a synergy between business and triathlon. Both require good process, dedication and time management. Both are intense and, for the most part, keep you out of your comfort zone, but the satisfaction you get once you have achieved or even exceeded your goal is amazing. Like recruitment, you get out what you put in to training.

Being successful in both recruitment and triathlon comes down to dedication, persistence, passion, toughness and, some people may say being a little nuts.