CIARA Mageean’s Olympic ambitions may have been put on hold owing to coronavirus, but she’s taking the lockdown in her stride — almost.
The 28 year-old Portaferry runner, who is currently holed up in Manchester, says the current restrictions aren’t that far removed from her normal training regime.
Even so, she says there are days when she does not want to run and she also misses her family and friends back at home.
“We’re all struggling — there’s days I don’t even want to go out and run now, and that the thing I have to do and the thing
I always look forward to,” she said.
“There’s days I’ve cried and been like, ‘What the hell is this?’ I’ve chatted to my team-mates about that and you just
have to find little methods ad mechanisms to try and help yourself.”
Last Thursday, Ciara was one of a number of leading sportsmen and women at the virtual launch of Sport NI’s Wellbeing Hub in response to the COVID-19 challenge
The hub provides instant access to helpful information, guidance and screening that is tailored specifically to help care for wellbeing needs.
It offers a range of innovative tools and resources, including guided self-assessment via ‘Chatbot’, self-help programmes and digital intervention tools, a searchable five ways to wellbeing’ map and a wellbeing information library.
Ciara said: “Our mental health is so vital and right now is a challenging time for all of us.”
A full-time athlete and a member of Team New Balance, Ciara lives in Manchester in the same house with fellow athletes Jip Vastenburg and Adam Craig. Right now she’s spending a lot more time inside the house than outside.
“Thankfully my training hasn’t changed hugely, but we’re in the house an awful lot more. The whole season has disappeared, which is very strange because we’re training without any real focus.
“We’re all watching the news and seeing what’s happening the world over, and we’re all far away from our families.
“Last week Jip lost her grandmother and she couldn’t get home for the funeral — she had to watch it over Skype.”
Ciara is worried about members of her own family. Her elder sister, Myra, is a registrar at a hospital in Belfast, her younger sister, Nuala, is a nursing student, younger brother Brendan has volunteered to work in the Nightingale hospital in London and her mother, Catherine, also works in the NHS, while an aunt is a pharmacist. She also misses her boyfriend, who she hasn’t seen in a month.
Ciara, who won the 1500m bronze medal at the 2016 European Championships and bronze again at the European Indoor Championships last year, happens to be in the form of her life.
She improved on her own Irish indoor 1500m record in January and smashed her personal indoor best at 3000m a month later.
Training and events were geared towards the Tokyo Games this summer but the Olympics have been pushed back to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m feeling in fantastic shape so it’s a little frustrating - we had the whole season planned out,” she said.
“Even down to the training camps you were going to go on, down to the very day that I was going to into the Olympic village and then the day that I would possibly leave the Olympic village.
“It is quite tough because all of those plans are all scuppered, it’s all up in the air and we don’t know when we’re going to be able to start racing.
“The circuit doesn’t have a clue when they’re going to be able to race - it depends on when countries allow more movement and, ultimately, does anybody know?
“I’m not going to feel too sorry for myself because I know there’s an awful lot of people out there that are in a much harder place than me.”
In a recent interview with RTE Ciara revealed something about how she is coping with the coronavirus restrictions
Q What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
A At the minute when I wake up I’ve been giving my boyfriend a wee call to say good morning. I’m not quite sure when I’ll get to see him next as I’m in Manchester and he is in Dublin so it’s a nice way to start my day and always puts a smile on my face.
Q What’s your favourite exercise?
A Oh I feel like I should say running, as I am an athlete, but if I was to think of my favourite it would probably be a few things. I do miss playing a team sport so probably camogie, I absolutely loved dodge ball in school so if that was an option I’d pick that, and I do enjoy my gym workouts getting to lift weights.
Q Is there one particular skill you practice every day?
A Running, every day! Running is a gross motor sport so fine skills aren’t really a part of my daily training, but I do work on different areas of my fitness every day. I have to work on things such as flexibility and fine muscle control every day to keep myself injury free. In the athlete house though we have been honing different skills while on lockdown, trying out different Tik Tok dances, press ups, and trying to get our eye in with the sling shot in the back garden!
Q Netflix and chill or a nice evening jog?
A Both, usually we have an evening run, easy four miles... then we chill and watch a movie after dinner. We have had to mix training up a bit with the changes but in an ideal world we get both in.
Q Name one book you want to read.
A I’m making my way through a few Malcolm Gladwell books. I love coming away with new information and enjoy a book that challenges my thought process. Then when I need to flake out I’d pick something like A Man Called Ove. So if anyone could recommend books like this to me they’d be on my “want to read list”.
Q On a scale of 1 to 10, how good are your DIY skills?
A Ohhhh, I’m going to give myself an 7.5 - 8 here. My daddy is a joiner so I spent my life watching him make and fix things, and soon learned the names of tools and how to use them. I do know my limits though so I stay away from the plumbing... luckily in Portaferry my dad has a lot of friends who are also
tradesmen so they all help each other out.
Q Have you a favourite pre-training meal to help you through a tough session?
A We usually train in the morning so I tend to eat an OTE DuoBar, the vanilla flavour in my favourite, and a cup of tea. When it come to racing in the evening, something easy to digest is usually what I go for... rice is always a winner.
Q Name one movie you want to watch.
A 1917, I was planning on watching it in the cinema before the lockdown.
Q What’s the best way to stave off boredom?
A Oh as a full-time athlete I feel I’ve been preparing for lockdown for years. My life is basically train, eat, sleep. For me there’s a few things I enjoy. I love chatting with my family, I’m usually on WhatsApp most of the day chatting or messaging and keeping in touch. I also love arts and crafts, I’ll be making postcards to post to my boyfriend and siblings to make them laugh, and currently my little cousin is teaching me the guitar via WhatsApp. She is a tough taskmaster, I have a lesson every Thursday and Monday and homework in between so that keeps me busy (Eimear is 10 by the way!)
Q Have you any tips for training at home?
A Set yourself some goals that you can realistically achieve from home. We are allowed out for our daily exercise so you can get some cardio in outside, find a route that works for you and follow the guidelines. When it comes to working out inside, have fun. Find new alternatives, there are so many exercises we can do with body weight, or with stuff we have about the house so be creative and have a bit of craic. If you need any ideas check out social media, so many people are sharing home workouts. Give yourself a plan or schedule and try to stick to it. Being home means we can fall into the habit of sitting about and it can be hard to feel motivated. At the beginning of each week set out your plan for the week, what day, what time, and what exercise. Write it down and stick it somewhere you can see. Creating a routine
during these strange times means we can take back a little control.
Q Name one documentary you want to see.
A Anything with David Attenborough, I absolutely love animals and nature, and could listen to his voice all day.
Q Have you discovered any new music or podcasts?
A My music taste is so varied but my wee sis and cousin Tara introduced me to Beoga and I absolutely love it. A lad from my hometown, Ryan McMullan also features in some of their songs, always a nice surprise hearing a wee
Portaferry accent as I’m listening.
Q Is there one piece of housework you can no longer avoid?
A My own room! I actually enjoy housework, everywhere but my own bedroom. I’ll clean all day but can’t be bothered with my own mess!
Q Favourite room of the house to spend time in?
A We are lucky that the Team NB Manchester athlete house is lovely and has lots of space so my favourite room varies depending in the time of day. In the morning my bedroom gets lovely light, it makes me smile sitting there chilling. Then when I want a bit of company the front room or kitchen is where we chill as a team and have the craic... and if the sun shines, which it does on the odd occasion over here, we have a lovely garden.
Both Jip and Adam are enjoying learning how to puck about with my hurl.