AustrAliAn triAthlete | 29process driven athlete. I am okay with my BABIeS oN BoArD
race resume as I know I followed a
process, which meant I gave my all to
trying to achieve that goal. I fell short, but I
don’t think I fell short in my preparation
towards that goal. That’s not to say I didn’t
make mistakes, but we’re all human! I
learnt from those mistakes. As I get back
to racing now, it’s not because I feel like I
have anything to prove. It’s because I love
racing. I do feel like I can still get better
and I am enjoying the challenge of fitting
training into our life now, although it’s very
different to before!
ATM: What was it like keeping your
pregnancy a secret last year during the
first trimester?
Joyce: The first trimester was hard - I felt
pretty rubbish with nausea and fatigue,
plus I hated having to dodge questions
about my season. I also felt podgy and
was sure people could guess what was
going on. It was a relief to announce it!
ATM: What are the differences in your
training, now that you are balancing it
with motherhood?
Joyce: The biggest difference is I am way
more time efficient! Now I wonder what I
did with all the time I had pre-Archie. I do
train a bit less than before in terms of hours,
but I use the time I have in a very focused
way. No junk miles. No procrastination!
Each swim, bike or, run has a specific
focus. With that said, I knew for this to
work I needed to take more ownership of
my training. Some days I do have to shift
things around, say if I’ve been up a lot in
the night with Archie. I know it doesn’t
always make sense to stick to what’s on the
schedule. I see this as a good thing that will
have a positive impact on my performance.
Looking back, I can see I had a tendency to
be a slave to the program before, which was
sometimes to my detriment.ATM: What’s been the hardest aspect
when juggling triathlon training and
being a mum?
Joyce: Getting the balance right. Brett
and I have by no means mastered it, but it
is a team effort, and I know I couldn’t get
back to racing without his full support.
We’ve definitely got to the end of some
days or weeks and known, “Okay, that
didn’t work,” and looked at what we can
tweak to make it work better for everyone.
I now try to get my longest training days
done during the week so on the weekend
we have more family time. I feel guilty
sometimes but figure that is just part of
being a parent!ATM: What was it like physically and
emotionally coming back to training
and racing after having the baby?
Joyce: The first month or so were
exhausting. I was really unfit after taking a
full six weeks completely off training after
Archie was born and my training during
pregnancy wasn’t nearly as much as
normal. I was sleep deprived, and my core
was shot to pieces. Swimming for half an
hour left me more physically tired than I
would have been after a five-hour ride
“before.” However, it also felt wonderful.
Exercising and getting back to what I do is
part of who I am and it was good to get
back to it. I also made a conscious
decision to measure my fitness by how far
I was progressing from October 2016 and
not by comparing myself to my fitness
levels in October 2015!ATM: What were your biggest food
cravings during your pregnancy?
Joyce: In the first trimester, I pretty much
craved any beige food such as potatoes,
toast, salt n’ vinegar crisps, and cheese.
My diet was pretty gross! It was a
good turning point when I started to
crave fruit!ATM: What was your favourite aspect of
being pregnant?
Joyce: I mostly enjoyed being pregnant.
The first trimester wasn’t a barrel of
laughs, between the nausea and worrying
about the higher risks of miscarriage
during those early weeks meant I didn’t
really relax and enjoy it until the second
trimester. I feel lucky that I mostly felt very
good during my pregnancy. And, I won’t
lie, it was nice to take my foot off the
training pedal for nine months and get
stuck into a few other projects!ATM: What do you love about
being a mum?
Joyce: I love how it’s made Brett and me
even more of a team. We see caring and
bringing up Archie as a partnership, and I
think we communicate better than ever
these days. I love going into Archie’s room
in the morning and being greeted with a
big smile and coo. I love seeing how he can
quite literally change overnight and we
watch him discovering new things, even
something as simple as finding his toes or
his own voice. It is just lovely. Yes, there are
challenging days and nights, but anything
worthwhile challenges you.ATM: What advice would you give to
women triathletes about combining
motherhood and triathlon?
Joyce: Try to relax. I think the best thing I
did for myself and our family was to not
even think about training or getting back
to racing in the first six weeks of Archie’s
life. I really cherish those early days even
though we were mostly exhausted. I feel
like that would have been compromised
had I been stressing about needing to get
fit by a certain date. Also, view your fitness
in terms of gains and not through
comparisons of where you were before. It’s
far more motivating. Be flexible, as
sometimes you will need to skip a workout,
or juggle things around. Don’t stress about
it! Finally, triathlon and racing aren’t going
anywhere, so take your time and enjoy the
process of getting fit again.ATM: Where will you be during the
Ironman World Championships
this year?
Joyce: I am not sure!Rachel Joyce with adorable
ArchieSource: Instagram