“You didn’t run this morning, did you?” My colleagues know when I haven’t got a workout in: I’m rather irritable. Post-workout endorphins make me focused and efficient in the laboratory — and more fun to be around. Beyond this direct link, many more skills that I have learnt during high-performance endurance-sports training are applicable to my work as a scientist.
I compete in sky running during the summer, racing across mountainous terrain, and ski mountaineering during winter — the sport made its Olympic debut this year and involves climbing a mountain either on skis or on foot while carrying equipment, then descending on skis several times. By day, I am a biomaterials researcher, synthesizing materials, culturing cells and conducting characterization and analysis experiments. I also manage the administrative side of a 20-person lab.
In science, resilience is a much-needed yet hugely overlooked trait. The outcomes of experiments, grant applications and peer review can be disappointing. When that happens, I follow the same ‘24-hour rule’ as I do to get over underperforming during a race: I allow myself to be angry, upset or discouraged for 24 hours, then pick myself up, refocus and move forward. In sport, winning is often just the A-goal, alongside the B- and C-goals of, say, placing in the top ten and practising good hydration and nutrition during the race.
Researchers could benefit from this approach, too. A manuscript being accepted for publication or an experiment working out as planned is great, but gaining insight into the system you’re studying, getting to grips with an experimental technique or learning how to write an academic paper are worthy secondary goals.
I know from training that ‘later becomes never’. When I postpone my morning workout, I’m likely to skip it altogether. Bearing that in mind when tackling research tasks has made me a better colleague, mentor and employee. How many times have you repeatedly put something off — only to realize that it took ten minutes when you finally got around to it? To stop avoiding mundane tasks, I block out one or two hours of administration time in my calendar. It’s helped to reduce, and sometimes even eliminate, my to-do list.
Endurance sports boil down to individual performances, but the process takes a team: coaches, nutritionists, training partners, athlete managers — the list goes on. It’s only by leaning on these people that athletes can ensure they are prepared. This team also helps to lessen the pressure on race day. In a similar way, researchers can work closely with advisers, lab mates, collaborators, mentors and journal editors and can build a support network. I tell my coach about any concerns or injuries. Why wouldn’t I tell my research support network when I’m overwhelmed or struggling with my workload?
Academia has long had a culture of overwork, and so, too, has endurance sports. With the notion that ‘more is better’, athletes and scientists often see great short-term results followed by long-term burnout or injury. Comparison between peers is ubiquitous in both fields, as is pressure (real or assumed) from coaches, advisers, brands and collaborators. Research on sports-training methods, understanding the importance of rest, more open dialogue about the dangers of over-training and improved safeguards are helping endurance athletes to curb excessive training.
Researchers, too, need tools to identify when they are stretching themselves too thin and to manage their workload with advisers. Learning to say ‘no’ or ‘yes, but not right now’ when you are overwhelmed with work is crucial. And, like coaches, advisers prefer to readjust a deadline ahead of time, rather than finding out that you will not deliver a report on its due date — so let them know in advance if you are struggling.
