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Dr Megan Powell – Full time Doctor Navigating Sporting Ambitions

What have you learnt and achieved during your sporting journey?

My sporting background is in team sports. I was that girl who joined every sports team at school (netball/hockey/cricket/rugby/dance/rounders etc!) I started running during my GCSEs to help clear my head but didn’t compete at all! When I went to university for my first degree I joined the rowing team and was hooked. This was my first insight into elite level sport- training twice a day with an aim to be the best university team in the country. I had to take a step back in my final year to focus on my exams and medical school application. I started running more regularly and asked for a road bike for my 21st birthday! When I moved to London to start medical school, I joined the university triathlon club and here I am 8 years later- a qualified doctor with 5 European and 2 World duathlon championship medals!

 

I’ve learnt that enjoyment is key. You will not stay motivated if you don’t enjoy what you do. I work closely with my coach (Tim @ Catenary Coaching) to develop a plan which I enjoy and works around my busy schedule.

 

What you enjoy may change throughout your sporting journey. When I first started triathlon I saw quite rapid improvement, I entered lots of races and had quite high ambitions very early on. I qualified for my first AG Duathlon team after 1 year and had a top 10 finish at BUCS. I became completely engrossed in the sport and my life was shaped around it. This was great for a couple of years and I achieved some great results but I soon realised that I needed a better balance with medical school and my social life! I took a little step back and found that I could train smarter, race a little less and my overall happiness was much better.

Dr Megan Powell – Full time Doctor Navigating Sporting Ambitions — OTE Sports

How do you juggle your sporting ambitions with your everyday life…

I really enjoy having another focus outside of work. I have a very stressful and emotionally tiring job which could easily take over my life if I didn’t make time for my training and racing. I’m an early bird and frequently get up at 5am to train before work. Due to the unpredictable nature of working with acutely unwell patients, I quite often leave late- so getting exercise in early is key! I stack up training sessions and do my longer runs/rides on my days off.

 

On working days- efficient training is key! I have a home turbo trainer for my bike sessions, my gym/pool is a 5min walk away and I have easy access to lots of great run routes!

 

For more social training I try and make it to the running track once a week with my local running club (Bristol & West) and do a virtual chaingang with my cycle team. My partner Rhys and I enjoy going to the gym together and plotting long rides exploring the southwest!

 

I love competing but have to be tactical with my race choices. I only get a rota 6 weeks in advance (and I change jobs every 4 months!) so I can’t book anything too far in advance with certainty. So lots of last-minute race entries! Some jobs have busier rota’s than others so again I have to think about realistically how much training/racing I can do.

 

It’s not easy but I love to try and make it work!

Dr Megan Powell – Full time Doctor Navigating Sporting Ambitions — OTE Sports

Lets talk Nutrition…

I’m someone who really struggles with finding the right sports nutrition products as I have a very sensitive stomach, but these are my absolute go to:

Nutrition- “I have previously inadvertently under fuelled myself due to poor understanding about how much energy I need to train well and “do life” (uni/work/commute/socialise) This resulted in fatigue, irritability and getting ill all the time! It was amazing how much better my training sessions went, and general health was after fuelling myself properly! My current focus is on optimising my post workout recovery and getting protein/carbs in within the “golden window”. “

Dr Megan Powell – Full time Doctor Navigating Sporting Ambitions — OTE Sports

Do you have any training or nutrition tips you want to share with others?

  • Fuelling properly is the key to success! Before, during and after training. A fasted session causes more harm than good. (Especially for women!)

 

  • Cross training is key to avoid injury. Duathlon training is very convenient for this- I alternate run and bike days which has meant I’ve been pretty injury free for several years!

 

  • Want to get faster? Join a club! Running/riding/swimming with others gets my competitive side going and I find I push myself harder than if I were training on my own. (Plus triathlon friends are the best kind ☺️)

 

  • Strength training is a must to avoid injury and get faster! I always aim for at least 2 S&C sessions a week.

 

  • Finally- avoid junk miles. Polarise your training so the hard sessions are hard and the easy ones are easy (often easier said than done)

 

Dr Megan Powell – Full time Doctor Navigating Sporting Ambitions — OTE Sports

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