“I just want a life!” Catriona Morrison often screams to herself as she comes home in the evening feeling drained and exhausted, with aching, weather-beaten limbs.  She has just completed another tough day at work, and is just about fed up.  Then again, judging by her schedule, it is unsurprising.  Her day usually involves a 3km swim at 7am, a 10km run around lunchtime, rounded off with a nice relaxing 40km bike ride in the late afternoon. 

And that is, in full season, her routine seven days a week.  No such thing as a manic Monday or that Friday feeling for Catriona – it is non-stop.  But such is the life of an elite triathlete, a self given but honourably held moniker– Catriona is the 2006 Scottish Sprint Triathlon winner and UK Ironman 70.3 champion.

So it is fitting that Catriona is June’s choice for In the Winning Zone’s ‘Champions in their Field,’ because she is a true champion, at the peak of her powers.  It is doubly fitting actually, because Catriona is a dual discipline, dual champion athlete.  As well as flying the flag for Scotland in the triathlon, she is also one of the planet’s leading duathletes, (a three part triathlon-style race that has two running legs, at the expense of swimming) having won the World Duathlon Championship in 2006. 

Unfortunately, she missed out on retaining her title just last month, a technical fault on her bike’s brake pads meaning she could only finish in tenth place at Hungary’s 2007 World Championships. 

But Catriona is someone who has fought hard her whole life, making many sacrifices along the way, to become a winner.  So she won’t let (quite literally in some cases) a little bump in the road get her down.  She has learned to deal with disappointment and to harness it positively, a trait which she owes to the people who have supported her, she says.

“Because they know what you go through – your partner, your physio and your doctor – they see you at your best and your worst.  And they know that one bad race is only one race.  It doesn’t change who you are as a person.  They can say it isn’t that bad and encourage you to move on, and it really brings you through.  Their motivation helps me a lot.”

And motivation is one of the most vital cogs in keeping her awesomely efficient engine running from day to day because, in such a lung-busting event, she can often be running on empty, which is no fun at all.

“It sucks.  There are some mornings that I can’t physically get up.  Some mornings I feel the benefits of having another hour of sleep far outweighs the positives you will get from doing an hour of crap exercise. 

“Just recently I almost had a nervous breakdown. I feel I just can’t do it. I don’t want to do it.  When you are working 7 hours a day, I can see why people look forward to the weekend, but I don’t particularly look forward to my weekend because I know there is a five hour bike ride in there.  But most of the time you just don’t want to go out there. 
“But when you get out it is absolutely fine and you feel better for it, you are totally set up for the day and you feel fantastic.”  Joking, but not lying, she added: “Until lunchtime.”

However Catriona knows that the only way to win in this game is hard work.  Talent at the top level is never enough.  “It is part of the process and you know you’ve got to do it.  It’s like a job, and when you’re a full time athlete, that is your job.  You treat it like a nine to five.  To be honest it has just become a routine.  You just get up in the morning, brush your teeth and do a 3km swim!  It is just habit.

“There are also woollier motivations too, such as owing it to myself.  It makes me feel good to do it and I get a lot of self-satisfaction.  I feel like I’m proving myself.  I am also motivated by knowing that all my opponents are out there doing it too.”

Knowing she is doing as much, or even more, than her opponents is not enough, however.  It’s not just the physical rigours that make Catriona an elite triathlete.  The psychological instinct is equally as important.  At the top level, it is rare to have an individual who is significantly fitter or faster than the others.  What goes on upstairs is vital.  If Catriona’s body is the engine, she needs her head to be the driver, and take the wheel when the going gets tough.

“It is a balance of mental and physical strength.  You’ve got to be comfortable that you have got it in you to do it.  And then there is the mental strength driving you forward.  For me it is good because the event finishes on a run, which I am pretty positive about, I don’t have too many demons there.”

So the demands of her sport are, to say the least, challenging.  And to top it all off, Catriona has just embarked upon a regular working career like the rest of us.  To be a full time, world class athlete is impressive.  To do it while holding down a 37 hour-per-week job sets her in an entirely different stratosphere.  And to top it all off, she is giving back to Scotland all the knowledge and experience and benefits that her athletic career has awarded her.  Is this Wonder-Woman in disguise?

“I work as an Active Schools Coordinator for sportscotland.  We are trying to get kids out there, even just to participate to begin with.”

And why has she felt compelled to work in such a field?

“The problem for children [in Scotland] wanting to be Alison Sheppard or Caitlin McClatchey is that we don’t inspire them.  We have these wonderful athletes, but we don’t use them as role-models, and the media doesn’t make them into role-models.  When I go into schools and give the kids the triathlon and duathlon talk, they just think it is absolutely amazing.  When these kids see a trophy or a medal or see pictures of you doing your sport, they are momentarily inspired, and it is about grabbing that inspiration, and using all the athletes we have to inspire.”

Having travelled the world with her sport, Catriona has noticed how much sportsmen and women are lauded and aspired to by young people in other countries.  And while yes, this does happen here in Scotland and the UK, it is rare for someone outside of the major sports such as football, and to a lesser extent golf, rugby and tennis, to achieve such an elevated position.

“I think a lot of other countries value their athletes a lot more, as part of their culture.  In Australia or New Zealand, you could turn round to the back of a Weetabix packet and see a triathlete, and that guy is a hero.  The kids want to be Hamish Carter, [top Kiwi triathlete] whereas in this country you turn round to the back of a Weetabix packet and it probably says ‘add three spoonfuls of sugar’!”

Catriona says this with true conviction.  She, of all people, realises the importance of having an inspiration, a role model.  Why?  Because, although she is one of the best in the world at what she does, Catriona still looks to her rivals and fellow competitors for incentive.

“I know these girls are doing the same as me.  They are dedicated, they have chosen a lifestyle, and when you turn up on the start-line, you know all these people are doing the same thing as you.  You are all giving it hard graft.  It is total mutual respect.”

So if the world’s greatest athletes can look to each other for this motivation, why aren’t our children doing the same?  The question has to be asked.  The responsibility is down to many.  It is down to the media to give our smaller sports and athletes greater coverage in general, and more recognition when they succeed.  It is down to the government to find more meaningful ways of spending money and using our great athletes to encourage young people.  It is down to the NGBs of all our sports to put themselves on the map rather than remaining in their own insular comfort zone.  Hopefully, with Catriona as the muse both in her role as an athlete and as an Active Schools Coordinator, we may be able to instigate some change.  Let’s have Wonder Woman on the Weetabix box.

For now, however, this super-hero has her next test in front of her.  The European Duathlon Championships, on June 16th, are being held on the Broxburn girl’s very own doorstep in Edinburgh, where she trains every week.  Let’s get out there and support her, and discover why she is one of the most inspirational athletes in Scotland today.

RO

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Swimming photograph courtesy of Neil Hanna and The Scotsman