Can you survive financially as an injured pro athlete?| Did I make any money as a triathlete in 2024

[@bretzky9261]

Kudos for publishing this. Cody Beals used to write a blog disclosing finances until he stopped podiuming races lol.

[@Reastle1]

Yes his was the first one I saw that inspired me to do it when I first went pro. Found it fascinating

[@hollymoloney2350]

Thanks Ruth for your honesty as always. Nice to see the realistic challenges of life as well as the more fun sides of the sport. I really admire your tenacity and resilience, you’ve had a tough few years and rough luck since leaving your job so wishing you health and fitness for 2025 and thanks as always for sharing your journey with us all!

[@Reastle1]

Thanks!

[@ChristianHubbard01]

Youve had a rough couple years but you’re still fighting-Way to go! You’re doing incredible with the hand you were dealt. You are formidable when 100% healthy and I’m sure you’re doing everything you can to stay healthy. Wishing you a great 2025 Ruth!

[@Amanda_K_001]

First met you flying be me on the course at Ironman Israel, then at T100 London at the pool and race this summer. You are truly a genuine person, cheers to 2025!

[@Reastle1]

Thank you!

[@PedroConroy-666]

Brilliant, really like this transparency from an amazing athlete. All the best for 2025💪🏼

[@erikssonunlimited9154]

Appreciate the transparency, especially during injury and setsbacks!

[@9Bijo]

2025 will be your year! All the best

[@TheWeightliftingTriathlete]

I loved this video, really interesting to see how a professional athlete manages their money, sponsorships especially when they've had a tough season. Many - including myself - probably think all pros are really comfortable financially, with all their focus only on fitness and conditioning. But then you realise that the money varies season-to-season and is nowhere near what some would expect it to be. I can imagine that must be really stressful, especially when trying to perform or recover from an injury and then worrying also about money. Thank you for being so transparent, really informative. Best of luck over the winter period and hope you make a strong start to 2025.

[@dans1n]

Found you on YT when you first did this a couple of years ago. Absolute kudos to you for being so open and honest. Hope you’ve had a great xmas break and your training for next season goes to plan

[@Reastle1]

Thank you so much!

[@_J.F_]

Very interesting to hear about the financial aspects of being a pro athlete, and of course how they affect, and can put quite some pressure on an athlete. It would be even more interesting to hear about the more mental side of being a pro athlete when you have not really been able to do much racing or achieve many results for an entire season. What I mean is that it must be really easy to find the motivation when you race a lot and do well, but probably a lot more of a challenge when things do not go as you have planned or hoped for. That must require digging very deep from time to time to hopefully find some hidden away 'emergency' ressources I presume?

[@Reastle1]

The mental side has certainly been very tough - something I will do some more videos on as I have been working with a mental coach that I have found hugely helpful.

[@_J.F_]

@@Reastle1 I will be looking forward to that as I personally think that the mental strength has to be the foundation of any physical strength.

[@thomdoherty2229]

Thanks for sharing this. Having a break even year when you had so many injury challenges is pretty good. You are one of my favourite triathletes and I admire your perseverance and hard work. I can’t wait to see you compete at full strength, and get those podiums and sponsorships deals that you deserve. Wishing you all the best from Canada for 2025’s season. 💪💪👍

[@Reastle1]

Thank you! Appreciate it

[@RossMcKenzie-b1t]

Great insight as always. All the best for 2025

[@bonn1771]

Thanks for doing this.. Next year be better Happy 2025

[@Claire_16]

Love these videos. Hope next year goes better for you, can't have you starving!!

[@Reastle1]

Thank you!

[@alisontriathlonlover]

Thanks for sharing, always interesting!

[@Dee3917]

Goodness me - you must have some patience reading all the men in the comments telling you what to do!! Hope you enjoy doing what you want to do and living your best life!

[@Reastle1]

Thanks!

[@drewburrows8220]

Really interesting to hear all that. You're very candid about it all. Good luck next year and fair play for sticking at it.

[@Reastle1]

Thank you!

[@trbeyond]

Appreciate the honesty and openness. Surprised you didn’t include training nutrition/supplements since they can add up.

[@Reastle1]

I am sponsored by Never Second so don’t need to buy nutrition thankfully!

[@andyashton3605]

Great video and fascinating insights, which would make ‘me’ very nervous for the future. Speaking of the future, how do you save, contribute to a pension, retirement fund? Wishing you an injury free 2025 Ruth.

[@Reastle1]

So I have a bit of pension built up from my Lloyds job, which I contribute to when I can (not the last couple of years). I have a lot of cash from my house in London which has gone into investments and some rainy day fund.

[@MR-wh5wp]

Holey Moley - thats $8500 AUD on medical. 😱 We get that all for free in Australia (aside from private practises). And $4600 AUD for the pool! 😱 😱 And $7500 AUD for physio!! 😱😱😱 All i have to say is - good on you for being so committed to your goals!!!! All the best for 2025! 😊💫🙏💙

[@ttvance9206]

Free = Paid for by government taxes. Taxes = paid for by other people.

[@damu6678]

Do you think you could make more by putting more time into your KZbin channel and other social media or do you think it's all about triathlon performance?

[@Reastle1]

It’s a good question. From a pure triathlon brand sponsorship perspective I think you can make a lot more from good performances, and certainly I’ve found my offers for next year have been much reduced due to not much racing and no good performances, even though I have a better social media profile than some other athletes on better deals with those sponsors. So I think for most brands performance is more important (as it gets more coverage), unless you are big enough on social media to get that coverage anyway (which most athletes get from good performances!)

[@MarioJosifovskiDev]

I just had my bike transported on a flight, if i do that a few times, i can see lt pile up quite fast

[@eitanshushu]

great transparency, reallybshows the struggles of a pro triathlete, especially an injured one. hope you ll have a great one next year. though limit your racing and not so much travels. do you have patreon ?

[@Reastle1]

Thank you. I don’t have patreon at the moment - a few people have suggested it so will look into it

[@kidgiven]

The tough part for me is…now I have to wait for another whole entire year for the next video.

[@Reastle1]

We did an interim version half way through the year!

[@kidgiven]

⁠I’ll send positive thoughts for a prosperous 2025!!!

[@jogundle807]

Yikes - that's a bit grim! IM Leeds could be a significant opportunity? Familiarisation camps etc - I'd come!

[@Reastle1]

That’s a good idea! Will have to see when they release the routes 👍

[@Claire_16]

@@Reastle1 Is there a Pro race at Leeds? It's not on the Pro Series calendar. Only 70.3 Swansea.

[@Reastle1]

There is a male pro race at Leeds, not pro series though

[@discreetknight]

Shouldn’t some of your costs be tax deductible to reduce the impact on your prize money?

[@Reastle1]

My costs are tax deductible (well a lot of them are), but actually haven’t tried to work that out, as awkward with tax year vs season, and last couple of years I’ve still had relatively hefty tax bill - think my 2024/2025 should be zero tax from my zero earnings!

[@martinospina4904]

The truth of Ruth is rude… good luck …

[@lordgonzo.]

Patreon seems to make good money?

[@Reastle1]

Potentially something to try just isn’t something I feel that comfortable asking people to pay to watch / listen to me?

[@lordgonzo.]

@ In for a penny 👍

[@jakeh3236]

Can't Alistair coach you and save you £4.5k? 😊

[@Reastle1]

Haha that would result in a break up very quickly!

[@ironman140.6]

Return to working part-time - unless a top 10 ranked hard to make a living. I hope you do well in 2025 and injury-free. Interestingly, from a coach's point of view, it is not worth training you or a content producer. Lots to think about. I am surprised, as you are a financial person that this is a rather interesting investment in yourself. Better to be a wealthy age grouper than a poor pro losing money. Prize money won't cover costs and nor will sponsorship

[@Reastle1]

If I was doing it purely from a financial Perspective I would completely agree. But I’m doing it more from a personal challenge - seeing how much progress I can make and how good I could get. I set myself up to be in a financial position to do that for a few years.

[@Lemond75]

@@Reastle1stick at it Ruth, and I’m loving all of the armchair experts who are advising you on how to train, and whether you should continue to pay for coaching etc. 😂 The career of an athlete is a short one versus a traditional one, so I applaud anyone who gives it their best whilst young enough and hungry enough to see how far they can go. There’s always plenty of time to make a good living in the corporate world once you retire, but the chance to be a pro athlete only comes around once. Wishing you the best for 2025 and hope to see you on the roads in Yorkshire.

[@ironman140.6]

@@Reastle1 I really hope it works it you are a classy person and amazing triathlete!!!

[@aspiringwriters3155]

keep it simple. build a good basic aerobic base and don't overtrain. that is why you get injured. chronic stress whether from non-recovery or mental stress can lead to injuries. take a step back, relax. strategise, hone in on one or two races a year and have a lean setup. good aerobic base with no more than 6 hours per week to maintain (I know this sounds extremely low). not overtraining is key. low stress is key. a strategised approach aiming for specific races where all the stars align (for example a European race 4 months away without to much heat stress - aiming for a very specific practical time - not hoping for it (which can be hard when you have sponsors to please). staying grounded and in control is important. measured approaches. being slightly undercooked and ready is miles better than being overcooked (overtrained) and injury prone. A great book on training is Beyond training by ben greenfield, there is a lot of product placement in the book but aside from that it is a sound minimalistic ironman training philosophy which I personally agree with. I think 40 hour weeks are way too much. a good natural base of health and fitness pays dividends. good luck :)

[@Claire_16]

She has a pro coach who probably knows a bit more than you 🧐

[@Reastle1]

My injuries the last year have not been from overtraining. There is also zero chance of being a competitive pro on 6 hours of training (I do that much swimming alone and if I did any less I’d been even worse than I currently am). I have a pretty strategic approach to both my training and racing with a great team around to help me

[@hassannaveed4788]

@@Reastle1oh yeah ofc not 6 hours is not enough work BUT you can maintain v02 while detraining and recovering to go again harder with 6-10 hour weeks. I personally like that approach because you get good work without putting to many miles on tje clock to speak. A week consisting 2 hours bike swim run , m w f is enough for anyone whilst also prioritising recovery. I personally am not a big believer in 7 day a week training for triathletes but thats just my quirky opinion. I am not in any way trying to say that any other approaches are wrong and respect the effort, decisions and approach of all athletes and their coaches :)

[@hassannaveed4788]

@@Claire_16yea thats great and i wish them al the success, i respect all athletes and their decisions, was just giving my two pence as the topic is interesting :)

[@Daimoku1938]

The only light at the end of the tunel in what concerns u seems to be NHS...my darling.

[@Reastle1]

I don’t know why you are so obsessed with the NHS or think it would pay me well. If it was concerned about being paid well I’d go back into banking

[@Daimoku1938]

Then my darling u go back into banking and keep Tri training for fitness and good health...because this Pro business of yours does not look very promising for 2025...