A Day in the Life of Alex Tilley
Alex Tilley is one of the UK’s brightest skiing hopes. The 23-year-old
from Aberdeenshire competed in the Alpine Skiing World Cup in
2016, and is a potential athlete in the 2018 Winter Olympic games.
We spoke to her as she prepared for the 2017 Alpine World Ski
Championships in St Moritz, which are currently taking place. Part
of the British Ski and Snowboard team, Alex is sponsored with both
equipment, and personally, by UVEX SAFETY (UK) LTD and is kept
safe whilst skiing by many uvex products, including uvex hlmt 5
race, uvex race+ helmet; uvex downhill 200 and uvex fire race
goggles. This season Alex has been using and is a big fan of the uvex
variomatic lens, with its ability to change with the different light
conditions.
Talk us through a typical day when you are training
A typical training day changes a lot depending on the place and the
time of season. During summer training, we aim for volume, rather
than quality, of skiing, whereas during race seasons we have to
manage fatigue a bit more, so we try to really focus on quality.
Yesterday, for example, I woke up at 7.20 am, had breakfast, and hit
the ski lift at 8.30. I always do an off-ski warm-up before I start my
ski runs, which includes work with a gym band and dynamic
movements. I then did a couple of ski warm-up runs with a mix of
exercise drills focusing on my technical work, plus some normal ski
turns to get ready for skiing in gates. Finally, I took an inspection
run of the course before starting to ski it.
By 11.30 I will have completed five full race length runs, plus three
sectioned runs, so time for lunch back at base, followed by a quick
afternoon nap and then a weights session in the gym to ensure I can
maintain my strength throughout the season. Dinner follows that,
and then we watch and analyse videos of the day’s skiing from to
make sure what I am feeling correlates with what I am actually
doing!
Describe a typical competition day
What are the challenges you face?
Skiing can be a very weather-dependent sport, with fog, snow, rain
and high winds all playing a part in a difficult race day, but it’s
the same for everyone competing. The part I find the most
challenging on race day is to make sure I am in the right place
mentally at the right time of day. Sometimes I can get a bit
overexcited, and try a bit too hard – it’s something I’m working on.
What’s it like to actually compete?
Racing is the whole reason we do this sport; it’s fun to really take all
the work from training all hours and put it into a one-minute run.
It’s never ever easy, but when it works out, it’s a great feeling!
I love the feeling of being completely “on it” or “in the zone”. Some
races I can stand in the start gate and I just know that it’s going to be
a good day, everything comes naturally and it is the best feeling.
That self-confidence isn’t something I have ever really experienced
in day-to-day life but I wish I did!
What do you hate about competing?
I don’t really hate anything about it, although there are certainly
parts that are tough at the time. A bad race can feel like the end of
the world, and sometimes you can just get unlucky, which is always
hard to pick yourself up from. Those moments may take a while to
pass, but have always equipped me with new tools and lessons going
forward.
What do you eat during training/competing?
We move around in hotels so much that it’s very difficult to control
every aspect of our diet, but I always try to have a breakfast with
slow-release carbohydrates that includes some protein and fruit. I
also always try to have a small meal between the first two runs to
make sure I don’t find myself hungry in the start gate of the second
run and running out of energy before the race is over.
What physical treatments/exercises do you do during
training/competing?
I try to stick to the same warm-up routine every day including on
competition day with my assistant coach/technician Kenny Morton.
He helps me do some core activation work and jumps, to get my heart
rate up. But if I’m honest, I find the main benefit of it is to be in my
own head and focus on what I am doing rather than just zoning out
going through the motions.
Describe a normal, free day with no training or competing
A day off for me is normally as relaxed as I can make it. If we are
somewhere with easy access to a nearby city or town I will try to get
out to explore the area, but often we are in a fairly secluded place
where you have to make your own entertainment. A ping-pong table
gets a lot of use!
In an ideal world, it would be great to be able to spend days off with
family, but living in the UK, it doesn’t often work that way.
What’s the difference in how you feel in yourself on each of these
three typical days?
In the past I’ve had some issues with not skiing in races as well as I
ski in training, so now I try to train as I race. I try to fire myself up
for every training run, but I must ensure that on race day I don’t get
too carried away! On a day off, it’s totally different, I try to switch off
from skiing completely so I don’t get too caught up overthinking
things. It’s a long season after all.
How do you handle the balance between training, competitions and
socialising?
My social life is a little different from most people my age. The
people I am surrounded by when skiing become like a second family
as we live together day in, day out. When I go home, it’s all about
spending time with my family, and doing normal things that I don’t
get a chance to do when competing.
How do you motivate yourself? What do you do when you feel
unmotivated?
Everyone goes through moments of not feeling motivated. January
this year was a big struggle for me – the race programme was really
stacked and I was paying a heavy price for small mistakes. When I
reached the end of the month I felt completely defeated and
unmotivated. I talked it through with my coach, focusing a lot more
on building on the positive parts of my skiing, and making sure that
each training day was enjoyable – I always find I ski my best when I
am enjoying myself.
How do you deal with frustrations?
For me it’s important to take some time to myself and actively make
sure I let the frustrations go. It’s something I have worked on a lot
over the past few years. If I let them get on top of me and build up, I
spiral down very quickly, so it’s all about being realistic and
realising that every day is a new day.
Any silly moments?
We have quite a few moments to look back and laugh at – obviously
ski crashes (as long as no-one gets hurt) can be pretty amusing at
times! One moment that stands out to me was when we were warming
up for the World Cup race in Flachau. We were being towed up to
the top by skidoos with a makeshift T-bar on the back and I got on
with the girl who was second in the world cup standings at the time.
The skidoo driver set off at what felt like 100mph and we were both
barely clinging on. The next minute I caught the edge of my ski in
the snow and basically kicked the other girl off! She crashed pretty
hard with a squeal, and I
couldn’t stop laughing. She was obviously OK as she went on to win
the World Cup race that day, but that will stick with me for a
while!
What are the satisfactions of doing what you do?
One of the huge benefits of being a ski racer is being able to travel to
parts of the world that you wouldn’t go to otherwise. We don’t often
end up in the most touristy parts of the countries, so to see different
cultures around the world is a really cool experience. I also feel very
privileged to do something that I love as a job – to be working on
becoming the best in the world is an opportunity that not everyone
gets in life!
What do you do in the evenings to wind down/switch off/relax?
On a training day, there is not always a lot of free time, but I always
like to have an hour before bed where I can just be in my own
company and wind down for the day, reading a book or listening to
music. It is really important to do that to recharge my batteries.
When is bedtime and how do you sleep?
Bedtime depends a bit on what time I am waking up. I tend to sleep
well, but I am also someone who needs a lot of sleep, so I aim to get a
minimum of eight hours of sleep, ideally nine.
Further information for the press:
UVEX SAFETY (UK) Ltd
Clair Weston
Marketing Manager
uvex House,
Farnham Trading Estate
Farnham, Surrey
GU9 9NW
Telefone: 01252 731200
Fax: 01252 733968
E-Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.uvex-safety.co.uk