HOW MAMAS JOURNEYS WAS BORN

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.

Freezing after finishing Washington DC Half marathon

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! 

Setting off to Mooloolaba for the triathlon, raising money for cancer research.

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

Me and my baby girl

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