HOW MAMAS JOURNEYS WAS BORN
Updated: Dec 11, 2020
In 2016 I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl. When I was pregnant I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted which consisted of cakes, lots of cakes. I had a great plan to carry on working out to stay fit throughout my pregnancy, although unfortunately the all day sickness and lack of energy seemed to drain every ounce of intention I may have had. So from about 10 weeks, the only exercise I did was walk my dog around the park and that walk soon turned into a waddle. On some days this was hard to accept as pre-pregnancy, I would go to the gym or a long run 3-4 times a week. My fitness journey started about 5 years before this, when I was diagnosed with hashimotos disease and hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) so I always had to work hard with both my exercise and eating. I believe you can achieve anything you put your mind to and have great memories completing marathons and triathlons.
I remember this moment like it was yesterday – laying in the bath 3 weeks after bringing my daughter into the world, looking at myself and thinking 'this isn't me'. I'm sure if you are a woman reading this and have had a child or children, you can relate in some form, looking at my jiggly tummy and feeling the aches and pains, ever wondering if I will be like before again. I had two options, continue to stay in a mindset of self pity and do nothing about it, or take action, get my body strong and feel like myself again. Scrolling on Facebook in the bath I saw Mooloolaba Triathlon advertised, that was all I needed. I signed up there and then and roped my friend into doing it with me too. (The bath was getting cold by this point).
I now had a goal and had 6 months to be able to get fit enough to swim 1.5kms, bike 40kms and run 10kms. Being on Maternity leave and looking after a new born made it difficult to do much training. I downloaded workouts to do at home, even hired a treadmill and had it on my back deck – both with the intention of training while Scarlett was sleeping. I can count on one hand how much I used that treadmill! It wasn't cutting it, not only did I lack motivation but I needed to get out of the house and talk to someone other than myself. I didn't join a Mothers Group so didn't even have that social aspect. After doing some research found a gym with child minding. This in itself made me anxious leaving my 3 month old baby in someone else's hands other than my own, even though the room she was in was literally next door. I gave it a go, needless to say visited her every 5 minutes while doing my workout the first time! We began getting into a routine and I can honestly say both Scarlett and I have made life long friends with other Mum's and bub's through this service. The months passed and 7 months post partum (and a number of visits to the physio with reminders to do my pelvic floor exercises) I completed Mooloolaba Tri. I loved every second of it, even though I may have peed myself multiple times, I achieved a PB, shared this experience with my close friend and I felt good again! Although this did come at a price, I didn't listen to my body throughout those months of training, when I was doing core exercises or high impact workouts when my body wasn't ready for it. That in itself was frustrating, knowing deep down I needed to stop exercising the way I was, although never did. Now I am trying to rebuild the strength in my pelvic region, hoping it is not too late and have to suffer the consequences. Incontinence shouldn't be a condition you put up with if you are not elderly!
So there you have it. That is me, honest, vulnerable, trusting with a strong passion for what I believe in. Everyone in life has a choice, make this your choice where you come and create your own journey and share it with like minded Mamas.
Thanks for reading,
Rach xxx
