Returning To Sport After Pregnancy - Advice for Mothers From Triathlete Vicky Holland

Well as it turns out, returning to triathlon training after having a baby was anything but straight forward. But I can honestly say it was a labour of love getting back to a start line. This final phase of my career will always be something I look back upon with great pride.

I was 36 when I fell pregnant and 37 when Emmie was born so while I knew that I really wanted a child, I also knew that this could mean the end of my career.

I had to be comfortable knowing that I would likely not be able to commit to 30hr training weeks anymore, that my performance level might never be the same again, that my sleep schedule may never recover and I would have to always consider another humans needs before my desires to shoot off to races in every corner of the globe. 

It was a risk I was willing to take and sure enough I dropped from the top 15 in the world to around 250 in the world during my time out.

Starting back racing just 9 months before the Paris Olympic Games meant that I was always very much up against it in terms of making a fourth Olympic team, so I was realistic about my expectations there.

We have such a wealth of talent within the UK that making any team is incredibly hard, let alone when you have been out of the sport for nearly 2 years, had a baby, have no points/ranking and couldn’t get into the races necessary to have a shot at qualifying. While I went about travelling to far corners of the world to give myself a chance, I was always very aware that for the first time in my career, my ‘why’ was not solely the Olympic Games. Instead I was racing for the challenge of seeing how fit and fast I could get after a baby, to prove to myself and others that I (and therefore anyone else) could get back to the level I was at before pregnancy, and to just really enjoy triathlon again.

Perhaps most importantly, hopefully one day, my little girl will be inspired to know she can have a family and the professional life she desires - after all, her mum did it. Women should not have to choose. 

I will officially retire in a few weeks time having been back racing for just over a year and while many might think that strange having just got back to a high level, it is perfect as far as I’m concerned.

I was never planning on another 5years in the sport, but I had this itch I needed to scratch and a real desire to leave professional triathlon in a place where I am happy, where I still love this sport, and where I’ve been able to deliver a couple of really good performances.

This year I have won a World Cup medal and more recently, become European Champion in one of my best ever all round performances - it feels great knowing that I am going out on such a high.

I’ll always swim, bike and run, but with a little less of the intensity and frequency that I currently do! Hopefully I will have more time on my hands now and I’d love to spend some of that time helping other women plot their returns to sport post partum.

The human body is an incredible thing, and the female body is surely the most extraordinary - the fact that we are capable of growing whole humans inside of us still blows my mind. But let’s not play this down, it’s a huge ordeal and is absolutely not something to just ‘bounce back’ from.

I learned to remove all expectation of what I should or could be doing both while pregnant and post partum and to have a lot of patience with myself.

My pregnancy wasn’t especially active and I had a lot of pain especially from the mid point onwards and by around 6months I was reduced to dog walking as my only activity. Certainly not the healthy, active pregnancy I had imagined for myself but I had to learn to be comfortable with what my body could do and simply accept it was doing a more important job at that time. Finding peace with that is really important - as athletes we always want to be pushing ourselves and keeping as fit as possible but my strongest advice would be to really listen to your body and do what you feel you can and want to do.

Take all the pressure off, do not compare yourself with anyone else and don’t be tempted to enter races for after the baby is here - whilst goals are usually so important, in this instance that puts way too much pressure on how quickly you will be ready to race again. Your goal during pregnancy is to grow a healthy human!

Post partum, don’t be tempted to rush, be kind to yourself and allow yourself time to get used to your new normal. Newborns are intense! When you are ready I would advise a ‘Mummy MOT’ - most physio clinics offer these now with physios who specialise in this. They can check you over, no matter what type of birth you’ve had, and assess your core and pelvic floor to determine whether you’re ready to start gentle exercise.

Once you get the all clear, build up slowly. I started swimming and cycling at 8-9weeks post partum but didn’t run for around 3.5months as it’s the most intense on your body and pelvic floor. I started with a mixture of walking and jogging, building up really slowly over about 6weeks before I went on my first 30minute continuous run.

From that point on it becomes a lot more fun. You’ve built things up slowly, you’ve had the all clear from a specialist, you can start introducing more volume and more intensity and even start to consider entering races again. If you’re at this phase, or you’re someone who has children a while ago and is considering getting back into triathlon then this is the point where a coach and a group of people to train with is so important. Having friends to train with makes everything so much more fun and sociable - as well as helping to push you during harder workouts. It helps even more if some of those friends are in a similar position to you regarding parenthood as you will have so many similar experiences to chat through and they will truly understand and empathise when you are rushing off from a session to collect your child from nursery or when you need to cancel as illness has struck down the household again!

A coach can also be really helpful to guide your return to racing and shape your goals, along with being someone to help keep you accountable. They will likely have coached many other mothers or parents so will also understand the restrictions you are under and will be able to help you get the most out of yourself with the time you have available.

Triathlon is a wonderful sport with a great community that both welcomes and benefits pretty much anyone regardless of age, ability or gender.

The challenge of trying to piece three sports together on one day and to maximise your potential across all three sports can be never ending and addictive. It’s a real lifestyle sport where your whole way of life can become about being healthy and active, and perhaps more importantly, mentally stimulated and happy.

It’s so important to carve out time for ourselves, even once we become parents and that's where returning to sport after pregnancy can be really beneficial. Whilst your identity will no doubt shift to include that of being a parent, that shouldn’t be your only identity and having something for yourself that you enjoy and that stimulates you physically and mentally is so important to all round health and happiness.

With that in mind be willing to ask for help and support to give you those hours you need for yourself - that’s isn’t failing as a parent, it’s investing in making you a happier, healthier and likely better one.

There are of course other sports that can offer the same benefits as triathlon and no matter what you choose to have a go at, I would encourage anyone - mother or not - to get involved and see for yourself how rewarding it is to commit to having a go.

Remember, mum’s are superheroes, we can do anything!