Despite finishing fifth at an IRONMAN World Championship in 2022 and recording a number of professional wins, British long distance athlete Ruth Astle has never been a full-time triathlete, until now.
Having given up her job with Lloyd’s Bank, the 34-year-old is now fully committed to the sport and shared what her first few weeks of full-time triathlon have been like in a recent YouTube video.
Additionally, the PTO World #83 gave an update on her fitness after an injury hit 2023 and revealed why she still hopes to be offered a wildcard slot to the next T100 Triathlon World Tour race in Singapore next month.
“I’m not expecting it to be that different”
Whilst she can now call herself a “proper professional athlete”, Astle admitted that it hasn’t quite sunk in yet that she is all in on the sport, sharing that she believes the process will take some time.
“Finally a proper professional athlete. The timing of when I lined it all up, having done it after a month in Spain anyway as opposed to after a week working my Lloyd’s job, has made it not feel that different yet.
“I think over the next few weeks it will feel different, as by then it’ll be quite a long time since I’ll have done any Lloyd’s work and I’ll get to my first month without a pay check, which will obviously be different!
“I’m not expecting it to be that different going forward, I just think there will be some weeks where it’ll hit me that I don’t have to think anything else outside of triathlon.”
“It could be a last minute trip”
Preparing to fly out to Nice for a camp on the IRONMAN World Championship course, Astle revealed a rough plan for the first part of the season, but said she was still also waiting for a last minute phone call from the PTO.
“I was hoping that I might get a Singapore wildcard, mainly because I quite fancy a trip to Singapore, but training has been going really well and I feel quite fit, so I was kind of hoping I would get the opportunity to race there.
“The start lists have come out and I haven’t so that’s a shame, but who knows, there could some more withdrawals, so it could be a last minute trip!”
With more than half the contracted professionals on the women’s side already not racing in Singapore on April 13-14, don’t be surprised if the Brit is a last minute call-up, as the second stop of the 2024 T100 Tour heads to South East Asia next month.
Are we in a triathlon boom, or hurtling towards burnout? Laura Siddall on the growth of the sport
