It’s 2:56 am, and I wake up like it’s the most natural thing to do. Baby Dash is stirring beside me and it’s time to feed again. When we get up for the 3am feeding, one of two things will happen: we go back to sleep again, or we don’t, and stay up til it’s time for mommy and daddy to officially start the day between 5 to 6am. So much for Sunday sleep-ins…
Slowly though, I have gotten used to our routine and can now schedule a training session of at least an hour into the day. It has been more than two months and not too long now til I race my first triathlon after giving birth (small panic attack)! Am excited about the fact that my baby is going really well and I am encouraged by my husband to fit triathlon training into my life again. Not that I went too far away, I just focused on training other people for a year!
As of today, my longest sessions have been: Swimming for 4ominutes, Biking for 3hours (with a feeding break somewhere in the middle), and a run of 1hour 10. A year ago,this may have all fit into one training day for me, but right now I am happy to even have come up with that within a stretch of a week! Some days I only have 20minutes, but I’ll take it as every second counts for a working/ training/ breastfeeding mommy.
Sometimes I have my apprehensions about diving back into racing again with a small child, but I am encouraged by great women athletes like Paula Radcliffe (won New York Marathon less than 10mos after giving birth) and Dara Torres (qualified for her 5th Olympic Games 15mos after giving birth). Not that I am eyeing feats such as theirs, but they are tremendous examples to look up to!
I will also not be pushed into feeling guilty about taking up my sport so soon after. I am sure that Dash will not like it if I use him as an excuse to slack off, and will in fact be proud to know that he is the reason why I feel like I can do so much better in all aspects of my life now. His presence has given me an extra bit of strength.
I love triathlon and will continue to do it everyday for the rest of my life God willing, but my favorite time of day does not occur while I am training or racing. My Magic Hour is that time, in the wee hours of the morning, when everything else is quiet and I hold my son close to me, his heart and mine beating to the sound of the purest love in the universe. He looks up at me with eyes which tell me how much he needs me to survive, and when I look back into his eyes, I feel like singing that song from Dreamgirls…”you’re the perfect man for me, I love you I do…”
Filipina Ironwoman 