I grew up as an active outdoors girl spending many hours after school and in the weekends exploring the lakes, hills and rivers around home. Living close to a lake my siblings and I could be found swimming there most Summer afternoons after school until Mum picked us up on her way home from driving the school bus. Our weekends would be spent pig and rabbit hunting, sailing, horse riding and biking. During Primary School I loved Cross Country running and achieved well in High Jump and Long Jump, possibly due to my lanky, long legs rather than skill!

High School gave me the opportunity to participate in some different sports I hadn’t had the chance to try before, Netball, Softball and Basketball being the main ones. Once leaving High School my sporting activities seemed to slip down the priorities list and were put on the shelf for quite a few years during my 20’s.

I have always enjoyed being physically active in some way but over my three pregnancies where health issues made it difficult or near down right impossible to exercise my physical & mental health deteriorated. After dealing with an on-going back issue due to pregnancy I realized that I needed to prioritize my health and wellbeing and that’s when I began my fitness & well-being journey. There was a stage where I couldn’t keep up with my two year old so something had to change. 

In October 2015 a friend and I started buddy workout sessions a local personal trainer. I was extremely unfit.  When I first began exercising again I found everything so hard! With my lower back issues it meant exercises needed to be modified and at times it was really hard to stay positive in myself, my ability and if I would actually get results. Having a really young family at home and teaching full time made it a challenge to schedule in workouts too but two out of three bootcamp sessions started at 6am so I could get out and get it done before the kids were up, then it was done for the day.

It took two years of regular working out to build my fitness back up! I began with one on one personal trainer sessions then moved on to bootcamp group sessions once my confidence grew enough in my abilities. After 18 months I could really see progress, was able to run 10kms relatively comfortably and decided to challenge myself and celebrate how far I had come by entering the Luxmore Grunt, a 27km mountain run, which I completed in December 2017. This has been my biggest achievement! Learning to run was a challenge in itself too but the ‘Couch to 5km’ app was a great starting point for me. During my Luxmore Grunt training I injured my foot and now have a neuroma that I am learning to run with.

Consistency is always a struggle for me. As soon as I miss 3 workouts I’m on a slippery slope so I know I have to keep my workouts regular. I set my alarm for 6am! Get up, get it done! The night before a scheduled workout I lay out all my gym gear so I can get ready easily in the mornings. I have recently started using my personal trainer’s app from home so have set myself up a wee gym in the garage. Preparation is the key. I have the most amazingly supportive husband as well so when the weekends come around and I’m needing to get out for a run he’s super encouraging and kicks me out the door. With my lower back issue, now that my core is a lot stronger than what it was post-pregnancy those issues are not so present.

For me, being active allows me to experience and enjoy the activities I want to in my life. By being fit I have the capabilities to go and experience different activities but also to be able to enjoy participating in them. Not being the one sitting on the sidelines watching and being able to role model  how to stay healthy and fit to my children so that they grow up believing being active is a part of everyday life and sharing all these wonderful adventures with them, it makes my heart sing.

You can’t beat that feeling of being fit. I love the way participating in physical activity makes me feel, both physically and mentally. Getting out and active is so good for my mental health, it helps to keep me balanced, helps me to process my thoughts and just gives me some ‘time out’ from mum and teacher life. It enables me to challenge myself by achieving things I wouldn’t have thought I could. I’m certainly in no way the fastest runner in the pack at all, actually I tell people I get really good value for money when I enter an event because I’m such a turtle. I take my time, enjoy the moment and take it all in.

In the future I would love to run a half marathon but I’m not sure my foot will handle it so I might need to get out on the bike more and explore the cycle trails. I have several adventures lined up and places to take the kids, walks up mountains where we live, that kind of thing. For this year though I will be happy if I can keep my workouts consistent, keep my work home life balanced and enjoy having the ability to get out and moving.

My advice, take that first step! If you’re a motivated person there are some great apps out there like the Couch to 5km which is a fantastic place to start or if you can access a personal trainer they really are worth their weight in gold. Consistency in being active and eating real foods is the key. It takes time to see a change, I think it was 18 months before I really began to feel ‘fit’ but if I can do it, so can you!

Don’t give up, keep going and change will come. Just make sure you find activities that you really enjoy and that give you that sense of excitement so you will want to get out and do it again and again and again.

Have fun, enjoy YOUR journey!