I have my two amazing daughters 50/50 with their dad and it’s hard. I miss them. They truly are my everything. I enjoy being a mum more than anything in this world and it’s the thing I am most proud of accomplishing in my entire life. When I was first thrown into this situation, it was very trying. The weeks without them seemed to take forever to go by. As time has gone on, I now look at the weeks without them as the weeks I can go ‘big’ on training.
Coaching with Ray is primarily through Training Peaks. If you know this training tool, the aim is to be as ‘green’ as possible – meaning keep as close as you can to to the plan without missing a session or having to alter things because, well, life happened. Weeks without kids equal green weeks. Weeks with them, well let’s just say the wheel is a rainbow.
Without the extended family support, my new best friend these weeks is the erg. It’s currently 10 years old, but still goes. This winter I’ll upgrade to the fang-dangled new Zwift compatible one (ooh ahhh power and Wifi – how 2019 of me). The kids know if mum’s on the erg, headphones on, they can sneak onto the iPad or join me in the shed and crank out the mini ramp and pretend to be Rachel Atherton. Long rides on the erg are unpleasant and usually done extremely early or late at night so I don’t feel guilty about not hanging out with the girls.
The Training Peaks wheel gets a little orange and red when I’m programmed on a run these weeks. I have to run with two in tow on bikes or scooters and their limit is around 8km. The pool sessions go ok. They love to swim too, but I get a little interrupted with people doing bombs, handstands and asking if I can swim the 50m pool in one breath…ah no! But I love it. They see me challenging myself, being committed, being strong, running fast. To them, girls can do anything. They also tell their friends their mum can beat their dad at cross country. I secretly love that bit.
– Ali
Ali is writing about her experience preparing for the K2M. Join her with her weekly article about her training and experience.
Read the last “Ali’s Adventure” here:
All her articles can be found here:
http://www.coachray.nz/category/client-stories/alis-adventure/