TGt Meets... Heather Fell

We had a chat with Heather Fell, British modern pentathlete, to find out all about her successful sporting career.

Your career saw you pick up medals of all colours across such stages as the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the World Cup. What would you pinpoint as your favourite moment?

Topping the world rankings and becoming world number one in 2008 was a significant career high but nothing can top winning an Olympic Medal in my sport.

Your career, and life, could have been so much different though, couldn't it? You had your funding cut by UK Sport in 2006 following a succession of injuries. How did you recover from such a setback and who do you have to thank for your route back into the sport?

The combination of injury and loss of funding brought me so close to quitting. It was the fear of having regrets that pushed me to have one more shot at it. My parents made it clear they thought it was time I found a real job and watching my friends and peers move on up in their careers I was seriously tempted to turn my focus to my physiotherapy career.

I had strong support from a huge network of people. Friends and family put up with me having no money and time whilst constantly being tired. Local employers (I had three part time and incredibly flexible jobs) were also supportive of my endeavours. My coaches from when I was at school took me back and helped me work towards my goals. All in all it was a team effort from my network at home that believed in me, I couldn’t have done it without them.

What comes first to a pentathlete? Do you realise you can do five sports really well or do one or two take your fancy then you train yourself up with the others?

I wanted to be a rider when I was very young. Both of my parents were amateur jump jockeys as was my Grandmother. I then discovered swimming and enjoyed the training discipline and direct reward of hard work correlating to faster times. I hoped to get to the Olympics as a swimmer but by the age of 16 realised that was not going to happen. Luckily I already ran and had learnt to shoot so only needed to add the fencing.

Did you have any inspirations growing up and, if so, who?

I was inspired by my friends and fellow athletes. I remember wanting to be like a swimmer in my squad who was a few years older and I thought was amazing. I watched very little television so did not look up to famous people per say. The first well known role model for me was Dame Ellen McCarthur after I read her book. Nothing to do with my sport but a strong woman who had done something no other woman had done.

How would you describe yourself in three words?

Determined, positive, grounded

Where do you see yourself in five years' time?

Gosh that is a hard one. I am always grabbing opportunities that come along so my path is often subtly changing as a result in a positive way. I am planning on getting a dog very soon and hope to have started a family by five years time. Sport will always be a big part of whatever I do. I have a dream to own and run a coffee shop that serves homemade cakes and health food whilst combining some sort of sport quite possibly cycling themed.

How have you kept yourself occupied since your retirement in 2014?

There has never been a dull moment. I cycled John O’Groates to Landsend, I have sailed across the Atlantic with the Clipper race as well as many other smaller scale challenges. Triathlon has been an on going target building up to the full Ironman distance. Work wise I have had some great opportunities with TeamGB and was able to lead a young team to the European Youth Olympic Festival during my tenure as part of the Athletes Commission. I have also managed to fit in lot of travel around my working opportunities.

You recently finished as a runner-up in your first ever Ironman. Could you briefly talk us through your race?

I went into it feeling underprepared. This was partly due to only committing to race this distance five months prior but more dramatically after being knocked off my bike whilst on holiday in South Africa in the January of this year.

The actual race day was just a wonderful experience, that was until the run. The 3.8k sea swim I found relatively relaxing helped by the fact I come from a swimming background. The hardest part was pacing as an hour with no swimming pool wall seemed a long time.

The bike was the part I was most nervous about. I have a new sponsor as part of the team Cannondale Girls which provided me with a wonderful time trial bike, the only problem being my handling skills. I was still nervous having only had chance to ride it a handful of times. My main aim on the cycle was to enjoy it, the scenery along the coast was just stunning so I took this in and genuinely enjoyed the full 112 miles. Then onto the run. It all started much better than I expected but I was very aware that the furthest I had ever run in one go was 17 miles, I had to exceed this by another 9! It turned out that a stitch as opposed to my legs became the limiting factor. I had said to myself that my main aim for the run was not to walk, sadly that went out the window. 26 miles is a long way and it certainly dragged when there was nothing I could do to relieve the pain in my side.

Did you expect to do so well in what was your first attempt at the challenge?

Not at all. My aim was to complete it and have fun. I had sub 12 hours in my head, I would have been happy with 11hr59’. The reason for entering a full was to prove to myself I could complete something of this distance and have a target to train for.

Is it something you're considering doing again in the future and is there a natural sporting instinct in you that is desperate to be crowned champion next time around? 

I had not intended on doing another. I remember the second half of the run telling myself this was not the distance for me and I will stick to half IM triathlons. I had no idea what position I was in until I crossed the line and was amazed to finish 2nd, but then I automatically wanted to know how far off winning I was! The choice of a second IM was rather taken out of my hands as I ended up qualifying for the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October!

How much preparation did you have to do ahead of the Ironman?

A lot but I felt not enough. I was training between 15-25 hours most weeks. I work as a freelancer so some weeks I could fit more hours in than others, it was a matter of prioritising sessions.

And finally, would you/have you recommend(ed) doing an Ironman to anyone you know?

I have recommended it to so many friends, I feel it is my duty as it was thanks to friends that I did this one. It is such a brilliant event and also a significant achievement. I loved being part of a team thanks to coach Paul Ransome and Urban Endurance in Bath. This sport is growing fast, it has it’s own community with people of all levels of fitness, we all have our own targets but race and train alongside each other.