Day in the life of
Laser Radial sailor, Penny Clark
Penny Clark (nee Mountford) has started to shine. After several years working with the Navy and away from competitive sailing, Penny made the step back into racing taking up the Laser Radial with the goal of competing in the Beijing Olympic Games 2008.
With a lot of hard training and perseverance, Lee-on-Solent s Penny not only qualified for the Qingdao Olympic Test Event but also secured a bronze medal at the event, so far the highlight of her sailing career.
We caught up with Penny to get a glimpse into her daily routine and see just what an athlete does to stay at the top of their game and enjoy life.
A day in the life
This morning started in the gym doing a session on the rowing machine and lots of stretching trying to keep my back mobile after an injury that s been affecting me the last couple of months.
After that there were a couple of small jobs to do on my training boat which had finally emerged after a hard training camp last week and needed a touch-up before going down to Stokes Bay Sailing Club for a training session.
Having not been down the club for a while I ended up launching later that expected after chatting to loads of people who were down there for normal Sunday racing.
After a few hours on the water working on some specific techniques and boat handling and some more chatting it was home for the usual email check and internetting.
I then did a little bit of home baking as I like to make some of my own snacks and foods for eating during sailing. Today I made some flapjacks and fresh bread. Other favourites include banana and cinnamon tea bread and banana and walnut slices.
For dinner I joined a group of friends from the sailing club who cycle to a local pub most Sunday nights for food, gossip and real ale. It was great to catch up with all the local news and spend time with my friends who I see less and less regularly the more time I spend on the circuit. After the short cycle home there s time for a bit of relaxing before off to bed ready for another day living the dream!
It s not always easy doing what I love.
I spend a lot of time away from my husband Russ, who is also in the Navy and spends long periods away from the UK deployed, so it is really difficult finding time together with our lifestyles. To be a sailor and to make it work you need determination and commitment to keep going when it s cold and wet and you d much rather be somewhere else!
I think the best part of what I do is being able to partake in my favourite hobby every day of the week living the dream!
Plans for tomorrow
Tomorrow is planned to be a bit of an admin day. In the morning I ll be in the gym as usual before then trying to sort everything out ready for the events coming up in October and any long term issues ready for next season. This includes replenishing spares, buying new winter sailing kit, picking up kit and support equipment that has ended up at the RYA store, getting my race boat back up to standard and booking flights for winter training events.
Most importantly I need to sort out a new boat for next season as the current programme means my race boat won t be back from Miami before it needs to go on the trailer to Europe! If the weather s good I might squeeze in a quick sail late in the afternoon!
I can t get through the day without my things to do list. I have a memory like a sieve and would forget to do so much if I didn t write it down.
Weekly reward
Something really nice to eat! I have a bit of a soft spot where food is concerned so it s good every once in a while to have something to eat that wouldn t normally figure in my diet like ice cream, sweets or a pudding. Fortunately I m not trying to lose weight!!