Let's Crunch Some Numbers:
This is the reality of a speedskater's budget, and how many hours of work it actually takes in order to make ends meet:
Let us take, for example, a skater who skates World Cups and finishes "twenty-somethingth" regularly. If this person spends 2 months on the road with the team (a conservative estimate), then they have 10 months at home in which to come up with the money they need for the year.
Now, say this person works for $8 an hour, sharpening rental skates at the Utah Olympic Oval (a flexible job that can be arranged around training hours). In order to meet the bare minimum living expenses of food, rent and utilities, auto (gas, insurance, basic maintenance), and training expenses such as equipment and travel to national championships, this person needs to make approximately $10,000 in a year.
What we want to calculate is, "How many hours per week does this skater have to work in order to make ten grand in ten months?" (For simplicity's sake, let's ignore the additional burden of income tax...it's depressing enough as it is...)
$1000 in 1 month= $250 per week, which, for a person who makes $8 per hour, breaks down to an average of just over 31 hours per week of work, which is in addition to the 30-40 hours per week that this skater spends on training.
When I was working in the lab at Genta, I kept track of my hours. The longest work week I ever put in was 38 hours, and I had quite a few weeks where I put in under 20 hours. My average was around 22-24 hours per week. Fortunately, my pay was better than $8 per hour, so I was able to get by.
For an athlete who trains at the elite level, 31 hours per week of work is unhealthy, unreasonable, and has a detrimental effect on performance and recovery.
This is the reality of a speedskater's budget, and how many hours of work it actually takes in order to make ends meet:
Let us take, for example, a skater who skates World Cups and finishes "twenty-somethingth" regularly. If this person spends 2 months on the road with the team (a conservative estimate), then they have 10 months at home in which to come up with the money they need for the year.
Now, say this person works for $8 an hour, sharpening rental skates at the Utah Olympic Oval (a flexible job that can be arranged around training hours). In order to meet the bare minimum living expenses of food, rent and utilities, auto (gas, insurance, basic maintenance), and training expenses such as equipment and travel to national championships, this person needs to make approximately $10,000 in a year.
What we want to calculate is, "How many hours per week does this skater have to work in order to make ten grand in ten months?" (For simplicity's sake, let's ignore the additional burden of income tax...it's depressing enough as it is...)
$1000 in 1 month= $250 per week, which, for a person who makes $8 per hour, breaks down to an average of just over 31 hours per week of work, which is in addition to the 30-40 hours per week that this skater spends on training.
When I was working in the lab at Genta, I kept track of my hours. The longest work week I ever put in was 38 hours, and I had quite a few weeks where I put in under 20 hours. My average was around 22-24 hours per week. Fortunately, my pay was better than $8 per hour, so I was able to get by.
For an athlete who trains at the elite level, 31 hours per week of work is unhealthy, unreasonable, and has a detrimental effect on performance and recovery.
posted by Eva at 4:13 PM
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