Me & My Health - Eddie Jordan

People often ask me how I handle the stress of the grand prix circuit but when you're working, the levels are probably lower than you'd imagine because you are just so busy. With pit stops, all those monitors, drivers talking to you and statistics on the screen from which you have to make snap decisions - you don't have time to think.

About six years ago, the expectancy in the team was at such a high level that I wanted to take on a partner. I was coming up to 50 and I didn't want to hit that age bracket and croak, leaving a whole lot of debt and problems behind me that might be difficult for my family to withstand. So, I decided to clear up my own situation and make sure the family would be okay if something did happen.

I took on a partner at the end of 1998 and that meant I had to undergo a full Keyman insurance medical. The doctor said: 'You're in good shape for your age; you're fit and strong but you need to keep an eye on your cholesterol.'

A couple of years ago, after the US Grand Prix, Bernie Ecclestone, who owns Formula One, introduced my wife and I to Ian Hay, a motor-racing fanatic who is the head of internal medicine for the Mayo Clinic. Ian arranged for us to have an intensive, two-day, all-singing and all-dancing medical check-up. When we got the results, they said to Marie: 'There's good news and bad news. The good news is you are just perfect and the bad news is you are going to outlive your husband by 30 years.' He was trying to be funny ? at least, I hope he was trying to be funny ? because all of the results were good.

Jordan recently gained a new sponsor called Vielife, whose main function is to look after major companies where staff are under stress, working long hours and that kind of thing, where monitoring of health is of particular importance.
These guys emerged from Rhone Poulenc, the major drug company in France which used to work with most of the drivers in F1. They supplied a proper health care service to certain F1 teams.

It has become very sophisticated now - grand prix drivers are such expensive items that you've got to keep them running and making sure they are at their best all the time. Their diets, their weight and every inch of muscle is monitored as they go through a race - even their heartbeat is monitored. A little bit of that drifts into the team. It makes me think about what I eat, how I train, when I go to bed, what my resting period is like and what my resting pulse-rate is against my workrate in terms of the gym. I'm not a fanatic - but health care is important.

I've had two intensive check-ups with Vielife. The first time I was there, they gave certain instructions as to how to do this, that and the other. And the second, which I underwent recently, was a huge move forward - particularly on cholesterol levels, which I was weak on before.
I think cholesterol is a hereditary thing. Most Irish people traditionally don't have a balanced diet. Quite honestly, it's hopeless - Irish breakfast in the morning, not enough vegetables and fruit. And people don't drink anywhere near enough water. You think: 'God, that's boring!' But they're the things that make you feel good or will give you a healthy life for longer. I suppose being in a professional sport helps you to understand that.

For about the past four years, I've been quite focused about what I eat, such as fruit in the morning and a good amount of fresh vegetables in a day. I now know exactly what I want for breakfast and lunch - not so much the food but the quantities - and it irritates me when I go to functions where I don't have much control over the food I'm eating. That sounds a bit ridiculous but it's true.

Everybody in Ireland is brought up on butter and fry-ups and drinking pints. I would say that's gone out of my life without any real problem. I wouldn't take butter now if you paid me. I do like a drink, of course, but I'm able to give it up.

I did a bike ride in Kenya recently and decided to go off the drink before I went, to get into shape. That was on October 22 and I haven't had a drink since - I know it seems incredibly boring for an Irish person to say such a thing.

A race weekend is probably my worst time. The problem is staying in hotels for four days. Very often, there are far too many heavy sauces and I would rather have the protein - whether it's a fish or a meat or whatever - more or less natural, if I can.

I now work out three times a week at least, for an hour-plus, and I mix some weights with aerobic stuff and stretching. I really enjoy it. At our home in London, there is a gym attached to the apartment. At our Oxford house, I just use a bike and a jogger for the actual exercise and a few weights and different sit-up machines and stuff like that. I've always jogged and I've always been a reasonably good runner. I've got a plastic ankle from an accident 25 years ago. It's not completely mobile but I can still run. Until recently, I used to do all the half-marathons that I could in the winter but I'm just not good enough for those any more. I don't have the six pack I probably thought I had some years ago but my weight hasn't changed - it's almost exactly 72 kilos, give or take.

I think it generally helps that my wife is a much more relaxed person and that's why she drags me out now and again to play golf. With a single-figure handicap, she beats me every time!

Truly, I'm having such a good time, I don't even want to think about it ending one day.

Interview by Peter Robertson