We blog you a Merry Xmas
Christmas Day may be a time for catching up with family and rest for most of us, but what does a world-class athlete do? We asked our six bloggers at spikesmag.com and found out how they would spend 25 December.
Bryan Clay – The 2008 Olympic decathlon champion
“Christmas Day is completely a day off for me. It’s my time to spend with my family.
I usually train hard all the way to Christmas Eve and we usually go training really hard out in those days before Christmas and I treat Christmas Day as a recovery day. If my coach says ‘have a day off’ I’ll take a day off. I don’t think trying to train for an extra day is going to help me at all. My body needs to rest, it is hard enough to train the way I’m training without having days off.”
Joanna Hayes – The 2004 Olympic 100m hurdles champion
“On Christmas day I will be with my family at my sister’s house, we always do the same thing... watch my nieces open their presents. All the women will cook and we will eat and laugh and dance.
My niece who is 15 always knows the latest dance moves and she turns the music up loud and teaches us the latest moves. I like to video tape these things because they are really fun to watch later. That is what I will be doing on Christmas Day. My birthday is 2 days before and I never get presents!
"I do not train on Christmas Day, Bobby [Kersee – Hayes’ coach] does not require that of us.
I really feel if you have done the work leading up to this holiday then there is no reason not to relax, eat, and spend time with family. After all without them what would it really mean to succeed in the sport you work so hard for? And I do believe that there is such a thing as over training... many times athletes confuse rest with laziness. The body requires rest, so missing a few days here and there is actually good for the body so why not utilize the days when family and friends are also available to spend time together?”
Chris Tomlinson – The 2008 World Indoor long jump silver medallist
“I’m an athlete who enjoys training and I get a bit frustrated if I’m not training.
I normally like to do a bit on Christmas Day, if I can. I’m not going back to my family in the North East this year because Lucia only has a couple of days off. I’ll probably go out and run on the [Hampstead] Heath for 45 minutes for a hill session.
I know we will probably be eating rubbish for the day, so it will be nice to go out for a run.”
Jeanette Kwakye – The World Indoor 60m silver medallist
“
This year will be a very different Christmas Day because I will be leaving to go to Ghana, so I’ll be spending Christmas Day in the air. I’m going to Ghana this year because my friend Nicola and I are setting up a charity there for young athletes in Olympic sports. I’m really looking forward to training out there. I’m out there for two weeks and I can’t wait to get out of the cold and train in the heat.”
Marilyn Okoro – Olympic 800m semi-finalist
“I always try and treat Christmas Day like another training day, so I will try and go out for a morning run.
It is always nice to run around the streets on Christmas Day because it is so quiet and but after the run is behind me I will be focused on the cooking. My mum has gone back to Nigeria, so I have to cook Christmas dinner – a roast and potatoes with an African touch – for my 20-year-old brother and 14-year-old sister in Wembley [London]. The rest of the day won’t be too energetic and we will just be sitting in front of the TV enjoying the Christmas shows.”
Reese Hoffa – The 2007 World shot put champion
“I’ll get up on the morning and go to my mum’s house and hopefully get there by 10.30am, then I’ll go to my dad’s house and spend Christmas with him. We will leave at five or six o’clock and then it’s a three-hour drive to my wife’s parents’ house in Atlanta. I don’t mind the traveling the key for me is not eating too much.
If I go to my mum’s house and have a plate and then a dessert that’s fine, but because both my mum and dad and my wife’s parents have an incredible spread of food it’s really hard to stick to a plate and a dessert. I’m never too guilty that I do not train on Christmas Day. I always say you have got to enjoy the holidays. I can’t enjoy it too much, though, as I’m in action in Disneyland on 3 January for a exhibition shot put event.”
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