lara - my turn to introduce myself

Like Peter, I'll start with an intro.

I too, come from a non-athletic (though fit and healthy) family, and a school background of disgruntled aversion to the 3 mainstays: netball, hockey and tennis. My athletic passion began with rowing at the age of 17. Being tall and relatively strong, I was ideally suited to the job, and it gave me a real outlet for my intensely competitive spirit. I aimed high, joining a top-ranking club when I went to university. I desperately sought someone there who could show me how to channel my energy and push myself, but the club was only interested in people who were already fulfilling their potential, and I was mercilessly outclassed.

Frustrated, I quit and borrowed a mountain bike. I found that my rowing training was very transferable to those difficult uphills, and my nerve was well suited to the downs, so I spent the next couple of years doing a few local xc races (including a couple at national student level) and multi-day trips in the British hills.

But when I moved to London in 1997, I discovered that cycling from the doorstep and staying in one piece were no longer compatible, so I spent the next few years mostly running, culminating in my first marathon in 2000. My biggest problem at this time was that I didn't understand the importance of nutrition and hydration, and would fuel the engine on lunchtime salads, often doing 2 to 3-hour sessions before breakfast with no fuel or fluids. As a result I suffered permanent exhaustion, took 6 months to recover from the marathon, and learned my fuelling lesson (it remains a preoccupation ... as will no doubt become evident in this blog).

I moved with my husband Roj to New York in 2001 and during our 3 amazing years there, discovered the joys of adventure racing through NYARA. I love this sport, especially that the result is not only dependent on how many training hours you've done, but also on tactics, good navigation and teamwork. Roj and I discovered that in adventure racing (unlike sailing, canoeing and any other attempted sport to date), we complemented each other and worked well as a team. The pinnacle of my AR career was completing the Odyssey eFix in 2002.

The arrival of our first child in June 2003 necessitated a re-assessment of priorities. With mixed feelings we returned to the UK in 2004 and I did what I could to stay fit and healthy as a full-time mum, completing an off-road marathon to celebrate my daughter's 1st birthday.

But with the arrival of my son in April 2005, all things came to a halt for nearly 2 years. I found I just didn't have the energy, health (I was very run-down during that time), or time to commit to regular training. I tried to tick over with running and the odd bike-ride but this was my lowest point, fitness-wise, for 15 years.

In spring 2007 I finally rediscovered the energy and time to start up again, and Roj and I signed up for the London Triathlon in August (sprint distance and our first tri). Despite 2 months off exercise following a windsurfing accident, I committed myself to training, and completed the race on a massive high. I participated in another couple of late season olympic-distance triathlons, and have carried on through the winter, getting progressively more enthusiastic and obsessed.

So here I am; 34 years old and with a timetable still restricted by domestic responsibilities. My daughter is at school now, and my son goes to nursery for 3 precious 3-hour sessions per week, so I can finally commit some proper time to developing fitness. Racing and training are like life-lines for me; without them I am frustrated, short-tempered and restless, and those traits do not a good mother make. I've always been an adrenalin junkie of one sort or another, and this is the way I'm currently fuelling the fire!