This blog isn’t about my challenge, but that of a new friend Jane. She is a client of a colleague, and we used to just say hi in the gym until a few weeks after lockdown when I got a message from her asking about whether open water swimming was possible because the pools were [...]
From reading both Roar by Stacy Sims and Menopocolypse by Amanda Thebe, I have learned that as women move through perimenopause, they can experience changes in body composition. Many women will experience some fat gain during this time and this can be for many reasons. Photo by Chris Jarvis on Unsplash This may [...]
I have been a runner now for about 15 years and I would like to, share a few tips on how to get started with running based on the experience I built up myself and working with clients. Start slowly When I have been with a client for their first run, sometimes we walk out [...]
In May 2020, when there was much uncertainty around races,I decided to take things into my hands and set my own challenges. After my first challenge - to cycle 200km, the second was the triathlon ironman distance over 3 days; it was time to take on the third, and I decided to run an ultramarathon. [...]
While following a course on post natal training by Burrell Education I was made aware, via their marketing, of the fact that later in life women will hit perimenopause before their menopause, but I hadn’t realised at that point I might experience this already. I was 43 when I was suddenly experiencing wakeful nights. It [...]
A big revelation happened after watching this Ted Talk by Stacy Sims. She explains how research around sports performance is done on men because “women are an anomaly”. This means that the fact that women menstruate has led to us women being ignored by sports research. Luckily she has taken this up and done her own [...]
Recently one of my clients called me Superwoman because of my training schedule and triathlon adventures. Although I don’t think of myself quite like that, I do sometimes think I must be a bit different from others as I train almost everyday and I am driven by my race goals. On the other hand, I [...]
I am currently 45 and a couple of years ago I started experiencing some mild symptoms. After some reading, I realised I had started the perimenopause. This experience made me realise that this topic isn’t really spoken about much. I had heard of menopause - but that is when you are 50 or so, isn’t [...]
On my new bike trainer It is more than 10 months since the first lockdown in the Netherlands took place. We now have a curfew and it is really tough for many people. My number one way to keep my spirits up over this period is to always be grateful for what I [...]
The week leading up to lockdown in the Netherlands, I was preparing to go on holiday to Mallorca for a training week with my triathlon club. During this week my husband had sent me an account of a doctor in a hospital in Italy dealing with COVID cases, which was quite shocking. While I was [...]
