A Day In the Life – in athlete lockdown with tennis player Nadia Rawson
Name: Nadia Rawson
Studying: Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough University
Sport: Tennis
7.30am I wake up at this time every morning. It feels like a lie in compared to my 5.30am daily alarm back at uni! I have a chat with my mum over breakfast and coffee, which I love as it’s so chilled compared to my normal routine of dashing out the door for morning training.
9.00-10.00am I prep for the day of work ahead. Although I’m not on campus, I’m still on my placement year as a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Loughborough and I work and deliver from home.
10.00-11.00am I deliver a circuit on zoom to one of the teams I work with. This morning it’s Loughborough Swimming and I have around 30 athletes joining the call! Although we aren’t in the gym/ pool, programmes are still being delivered remotely and doing it all together on zoom means everyone stays engaged.
11.00am-1.00pm Consists of work! This is usually Microsoft teams’ meetings within the department or the two sports I work with. I’m working on some projects for when we can get athletes back on campus and training.
1.00pm Lunch and some technical training. My coach is sending us technique and skills drills to practice from home so that when we can get back on court everything doesn’t feel too alien. I send these to him and then he sends me back advice on how to improve it. Other times I hit against the wall at home to try and keep some sort of coordination.
2.00pm Afternoon work begins which again is a mix of meetings, projects and catching up with athletes.
3.30pm I have a zoom strength or circuit session (day dependant) with the rest of the tennis team. These don’t require any equipment apart from a towel and chair which is great as I can’t get access to any gym equipment at home.
5.00pm onwards After my afternoon session if I’ve got a lot of work to do, I’ll head back to my desk for a couple of hours before going on a run in the early evening. I find this is the best time to go as it clears my head and where I live it’s much quieter in the evening. There’s a much lower chance of coming into close contact with people which is so important. I’m lucky enough to live a 5-minute walk from the sea so I tend to run along the coast and check out the surf at different beaches. On 2/3 days a week I give my calves and achilles a day off from running and join my mum and brother for a dog walk on the beach instead.
8.00pm– Dinner and the ‘day dissection’ with my family. I always make my brother rate his day out of 10 (which he hates haha) and we are made to admire my mums gardening or DIY skills on the house.
10.00pm– Sleep! I try and keep bedtime consistent as I know sleep hygiene for me is so important for my general happiness.
Lockdown positives
Being able to spend some time with my family! I haven’t spent more than 2/3 days with my family in years as I base myself in Loughborough. It’s great to be able to spend time with them without the feeling of knowing I’m leaving the day after.
Saving a lot of money on food/ day to day living/ tennis. Spending time at home means saving money on travel which means that when I can get back to competing, I’ll have a bigger budget!
Nothing better than sunny beach walks and the occasional surf
Tips for others
- Daily reminder that we’re ‘safe at home’ rather than ‘stuck at home’ 😊
- Routine is so important and keeps me sane!