Happy Mother's Day !, especially our moms triathletes.

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Today Sunday 7 May "Mother's Day" we want to congratulate all mothers, especially Triathletes Moms and all mothers who have children who practice triathlon.

From Triathlon News we have been paying homage to the triathlete mothers for several years. This will be the sixth chapter dedicated to different mothers in Spain and Latin America, where they will tell us how they combine their family and work life with triathlon.

The five previous chapters were the following:

Super triathlete moms (chapter 1)

Super triathlete moms (chapter 2)

Super triathlete moms (chapter 3)

Super triathlete moms (chapter 4)

Super triathlete moms (chapter 5)

Aida Valiño

 Aida Valiño

I currently reside in Tui with Gus and our little eight-month-old Noa. I'm a nurse, but right now full time for the little one. 

I started doing triathlon about the 2003 year, I was a swimmer and I was completely hooked, until the same year I joined the Tecnification Center of Pontevedra.

One of my favorite competitions has been the Elche triathlon (From this 2017 Orihuela Triathlon - Miguel Hernández) of 2015 since it was my first race after one of the hardest moments of my life. I also have very good memories of the world cups in Madrid when I debuted I was still a junior… even so I have a hard time deciding which are my favorite competitions since I have very good memories of almost all of them.

Right now I can not give much advice, we have been parents for a little while but I am already getting some sports. I think having a little time for oneself and enjoying sports is health, since it keeps me more energized all day.

Aida photo: Pálmaces triathlon

Paula García Godino

 Paula García Godino

My name is Paula García Godino and I am 32 years old. I live in Madrid and in December 2016 I was the mother of a beautiful girl. I work as a civil servant and until the birth of my daughter I was able to combine my training with work quite well.

I started in triathlon because since I was 20 years old I have been federated in athletics and since I was injured a lot year after year, I decided to start with other sports such as swimming and cycling. In 2011, a friend encouraged me to join his triathlon team and I decided to debut in one.

It was at the Casa de Campo in June of 2011 and I won it. The problem was that I was disqualified for drafting (I had not heard that word in my life) and my times were not listed anywhere. As if I had not run it. I was so angry that within a few weeks I decided to make a popular duathlon in which I also won. The following year I received a call from my current coach, Daniel Puerta inviting me to belong to the Club Diablillos de Rivas and to this day. The truth is that I am having good results for the little time I have and that motivates me a lot.

In 2014 I was able to proclaim myself Spain's Sprint Triathlon Champion, in 2015 of Acuatlón and in 2016 of Duathlon Sprint. To this we must add my international interventions in Duathlon and European World Championships, of which I can boast a fifth place last year.

The most curious thing is that in this appointment (European Duathlon 2016 held in Kalkar, Germany) I was already 3 weeks pregnant. It is something that I sensed but did not dare to confirm until my return to Spain.

Two weeks before I had won the Spanish Duathlon Championship and I was in a magnificent state for the good preseason that I worked, so, after knowing about my pregnancy and with the approval of my gynecologist, I kept competing until the third month where it would finalize the 2016 Season in the Duathlon World Championship; in between I was able to run the Time Trial for Duathlon teams, the Duathlon relay, the Queen's Cup and the triathlon relay.

From the third month on, I joined the gym where I was going until the seventh and from there, and due to extreme fatigue I only occasionally swam until days before the birth.

The truth is that I am very lucky that my partner also practices this sport because we combine very well and we understand each other perfectly. The first months I was very vague without wanting to restart again but after three months the thing began to change and thanks to him, little by little I went back to training.

To this day, I do one training per day and very exceptionally I put double session. It's something I'm still not ready for just five months after giving birth so at any time of the day I can "get away" to enjoy the sport.

This weekend of May 6-7 I made my debut in a triathlon, in the Queen's Cup in Águilas (Murcia) and I know that although I will suffer a lot, I will enjoy it knowing that my little one and my boy waiting for me with open arms.

My advice for women and especially for moms who want to do their first triathlon is to enjoy training, enjoy their first race, not in a hurry and savor what it means to have a test like that.

I, what I have realized is that I enjoy every training and I live it in a very intense way, because I do not know when I can put the next one back. Being a mother makes you value the time factor a lot because the days fall short.

It is a very special stage that I am living and of which I feel very proud, I am enjoying it in another way, and I encourage all the moms to be encouraged to try this sport.

Nuria Rodríguez

 Nuria Rodriguez

I am Nuria Rodríguez Sánchez, a woman of 39 years and mother of two daughters, Naroa of 13 years, and Ariane of 8 years. I live in the town of Ororbia, a town in Navarra. My profession is swimming instructor, but I also work in a school canteen and in a nursery.

My beginnings in the triathlon started in the 2012 year. I worked as a swimming instructor and trainer. With that, I also started practicing swimming (a sport I had practiced as a child). In December of the same year, year 2011, I prepared the wild san. The results were unexpected and I realized that I could also run well. Then I began to think about the possibility of practicing triathlon. It was a complicated decision, since the practice of triathlon would make me leave the equestrian. I also had my doubts, besides the hardness of this sport, for my inexperience before a road bike, because I had never walked. In the end I decided on triathlon, and put aside the equestrian (say that today, the fact much less).

When I started in this sport, I was clear about the distance I wanted to reach, which was the Olympic distance. That is why my favorite competitions are the elite Olympic distance Spain championships. I also have special fondness for the triathlons that are organized in Navarra for being my land.

From what I have in the practice of this sport, I am left with the results of the 2014 season. First, because it was the one that followed the season that I was stopped due to injury (2013 season), and second, because of the results obtained, of which I would highlight:

  • Runner-up in the national triathlon ranking.
  • 5th in the Spanish elite Olympic triathlon championship in Águilas, 
  • 3ª in the national duathlon ranking
  • top 10 in the rest of elite championships in Spain (8ª LD duathlon, 7ª triathlon sprint and aquathlon).

Also mention the 2012 season (season in which I started the practice of triathlon)

6th place in the Spanish elite sprint triathlon championship in Madrid.

5º placed in the championship of Spain for autonomies held in Águilas.

From the 2015 season I am left with these results:

8ª championship of Spain elite Olympic triathlon in Altafulla.

5ª championship Spain aquathlon.

6ª in the Spanish elite duathlon sprint distance championship held in Soria, where I was selected for the duathlon European championship.

8ª championship Spain elite duatlon LD

In the 2016 season, after having been a complicated season of changes and ups and downs, I made my debut in the middle distance and was subcapeona of Spain elite MD of Valencia. After this championship I started to prepare the championship of Spain elite Olympic distance, but after a tympanic perforation I could not attend.

To combine my family life with my work life and workouts is stressful, but rewarding, because you see that you can do it. The day to day of the days of work, they begin: I get up to the 7 in the morning, I make the food and I leave everything collected and organized. I'm going to work by car from 8 to 9. With this saying, that Ariane takes my mother to the bus to go to school. I go out of work and I do my first training session, be it a bike or a running race. I have very tight time, and I try to be as effective as possible in the training. For the 11: 30 I have to finish, to prepare myself to go back to work (shower, stretching, eating ...). In the mornings I have 2 hours, with which I have to organize myself so that everything goes well. I'm driving to work again from 12: 45 to 15: 30. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I leave work and go swimming. Next I will give swimming lessons, with what these days my mother takes care of picking Ariane from the bus, and take the two to train (handball). I for the 7 of the afternoon term with the courses, and that is when I join them. As the week is quite busy, on weekends I do a training session in the morning, so I can spend the rest of the day with my daughters, and rest when they leave with their father. It's hard, since I'm alone in charge of them (my mother lends me a hand), and this sometimes makes me leave the planning of training, and have to rest to give quality to the following workouts.

For a mother to decide to practice triathlon, there is nothing better than to feel like it, since the practice of this sport does not require any specific quality, it is recommended a medical examination before starting. When you try this sport, you get hooked by the variety that exists within it, when you try it you will see it !!! It is a sport that balances you very well on a physical level, since you work both the muscles of the upper body (especially with the practice of swimming), and the muscles of the lower body (with the running on foot and cycling). This makes you feel good both physically, because you feel strong, but also at a psychological level, because you see all the capacity that a human body is capable of having.

Paloma La Hoz

My name is Paloma Lahoz, I am 40 years old and I am the mother of a 7-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl. Although I am from Vitoria, I have been in Madrid for 18 years. Mine is a life inspired by sport and although I have had times of scarcity due to the circumstances of the moment, it has always been an important pillar. For 14 years I have also incorporated it into my work life, becoming a way of life.

Just as there are people who at an early age feel the vocation towards certain professions, in me there was a latent inclination towards expressing oneself through movement. In my family, sport has never been especially important, one of the reasons that, together with other factors and circumstances at the time, did not facilitate the "possibility" that this intuition/vocation developed from childhood.  

After channeling myself professionally as a clerk-accountant in several companies, I managed to link my work within the sports field. I started working in a Municipal Sports Center for four years, a job that I combined teaching aerobics and indoor cycling. Subsequently, I created with my husband ENPHORMA, LEISURE, HEALTH AND SPORTS (management of sporting events, personal trainings) and hand in hand, ENPHORMA TRIATLON SAN AGUSTIN del GUADALIX. 

I have managed to incorporate sport into my personal and work life, feeling for it a privileged one. During this journey, I continue to learn, I have met great people, I have surrounded myself with good friends and unforgettable experiences. Sport has been a fundamental element to sustain me in my moments of weakness, in which I have found all the strength, energy and support I needed. Sport has helped me to make myself, to recognize my weaknesses and strengths. It is during practice where I enjoy the most, where I feel fully fulfilled, let's say that is where I reach the magic formula of happiness, vitality, peace, harmony, joy ..., which dilutes any hint of sadness, anger or frustration. 

Now more than ever and in this mature age, I reflect and value more than ever everything that sport has brought to my life. The reality is that I continue to feel as vital as when I was younger, with the strength and energy to follow the rhythm of life and that of my children, finding balance between body-mind. Balance-body because I feel healthy and satisfied with my image; balance-mind because it channels all negative emotions and that in turn, generates thoughts, motivations, illusions, ... Without forgetting the personal enrichment that sharing with other people related to sport brings. 

I came to the world of triathlon by chance with 25 years and since then it is part of my life. I started at AD ECOSPORT ALCOBENDAS (now ECOSPORT TRIATLON ALCOBENDAS) when triathlon was a very minor sport and there were very few tests in Spain. There I met my husband, Joaquín Peces Gallego (INEF, physiotherapist, national triathlon coach, ...) and part of our children, was also born ENPHORMA TRIATLON SAN AGUSTIN DEL GUADALIX. 

After more than 15 years practicing triathlon, there are many tests in which I have participated but if I have to highlight some are the Triathlon of Zarautz, Triathlon of Vitoria, Casa de Campo (my beginnings), Triathlon of Lisbon, Fuente Alamo Triathlon, ... I keep very good memories of all of them. 

Combining personal, sports and family life is not an easy task. It is true that you have to have willpower to go out to train at night, at noon or very early but when you like something and are motivated, the effort is reduced, multiplying the satisfaction of having done it and seeing the progress. Day to day requires planning to meet or try to meet expectations (work, housework, shopping, making food, etc.) and although it cannot always be 100% fulfilled, they are adjusted and re-planned so that everything stay in balance. Weekends are when we take the opportunity to do long bike rides and since we both do triathlon, there is no choice but to alternate days. When circumstances allow, we also hang out together. Now that the children are older, I also take the opportunity to share sports when I'm alone. They ride their bikes and I'm running so there is no excuse not to do anything !! Hehehe

Sport brings many benefits at the level of health but also at the level of physical and mental well-being. It is the fundamental reason for incorporating a sport habit into life. Why the triathlon? Actually you are doing three sports. I like it because you do not type in one and together, they are the perfect complement to keep your balance, since you work your whole body. On the other hand, it is very versatile. You can alternate your participation in triathlon, running (road or trail), cycling (road or mountain) and swimming (crossings or swimming pool) tests. 

Our beliefs have convinced us that we have to be generous, helpful and involved with family and the rest of the world. It is what we have learned and inherited generation after generation, so that when we stop attending to our little ones we feel guilty and we are afraid of being selfish. During this process, we forget ourselves and forget that we also need to feed our well-being. When we connect with sports, we are not doing anything other than nurturing our well-being in order to transmit it to the same extent to the rest of the people around us. Therefore, I do not only encourage women to play sports, but I push them without fear. We do not have to follow any woman stereotype except the one we want to be. 

Kristina Molnár (Hungary - Spain)

Kristina Molnar

My name is Krisztina Molnár, I'm Hungarian. In the year 2000 some expected the end of the world, I was expecting a new life in Alicante, along with my daughter Karin Szabó and my husband Javier Alemany that I found running through La Manga, along with my daughter of 4 years, a backpack and of course, my running shoes, because since then I only ran. I did not know how to swim and the bike had it as a means of transportation.

Everything that happens to you in the world of sports, can be applied to daily life. My life as an "amateur athlete" started 20 years ago after the birth of my daughter, Karin. I bought some running shoes (which before did not cost so much, since it was not fashionable the "running") and I began to run through the forests of my land.

In the same way I decided to learn to speak in Spanish, after listening to a poetry by FG ​​Lorca, "La Jaca negra", I bought a textbook ... and here I am, writing in Spanish. The first time I did not even run three kilometers, but little by little I increased the distance. One afternoon I met an ultrafondista (at that time I had no idea what that meant), he had about 60km, I was about 6km. He offered me his help with training, he told me he could do half marathons, he did not know what it was, and that he might win a medal. I told him that if he was going to be like that, he would give it to him. Now my first medal is in his showcase.

Over time, the kilos after childbirth decreased and the kms increased. I started to have alternative goals to "lose weight", half marathons, marathons (3ª general in Szeged, 1999) or 24 races by relays, charity races disguised as Santa Claus by all the towns of Csongrád distributing food to the most needy.

We also had a crazy idea, to run the same number of kilometers as the years I had on my birthday. This year I enter the marathon age.

The idea is to run the same number up to the 50 years and from there every year run 1km less, at 100 years I will play 1km, I will have all day to do it. Until now my daughter always accompanied me by bike. It's my big challenge, keep it up!

In Hungary as a child (2-3 years) you learn to ride a bike because with that you go to school, to buy, etc ... My mother took us to the nursery by bike, my little brother in front in a saddle placed in the handlebar, I behind with legs wide open because you had to carry two pitchers, each of 10 liters, to catch water on the road, because at home we had no drinking water, no electricity, but a bike!

When I was about 12-13 years old, my brother was given a green road bike (some Russian model), he did not like it, he wanted a motorcycle. I loved it, even if it was a small model. So not to have to wait for the bus to go to school that we had to 9 kms, every morning, despite the rain, the snow, ... I went to school with the green bike and with two pitchers of 10litros behind, on the way They were empty and on the way back, in the afternoon, full. Every day I tried to go a little faster.

My Javi says that from that time I won two things: a badly cured pneumonia and strength to pedal now with my road bike, which I "only" use to train and have a good time with my friends.

My reunion with the bike in Spain was in 2004. We organize an exchange between a Hungarian triathlon club and one of Alicante.

I still did not know how to swim, I just ran. I was an interpreter and in one of his bike trips I had to wait for them in the car, at that moment I decided that I would never wait without doing anything while others train.

Thanks to Ramón, a guy from that club, who left me with his road bike, although Javi did not like it very much because he was afraid that I would fall with the fine wheels, I made my first 54kms in the Sierra de Mariola with pedals automatic and with the running shoes. I loved!!!

So saving a bit, we bought a bike and started out with a group of cyclists who had a van as a broom car ... from there my daughter encouraged me, while listening to stories of Pepe Marcos, if I'm not mistaken, he was the first mechanic of bike in Alicante

In 2004 I did my first sprint triathlon. They say that the first one is not forgotten, as it is. I remember that we arrived very just in time, Javi helped me put on my neoprene, borrowed, the hat and swim goggles ... and we were already leaving ... I did my 750m in 21'19 swimming by breaststroke, without sticking my head in the water . Until now we laugh, saying that instead of the hat he would have had to wear a hat and the swimming goggles could have been exchanged for sunglasses. At that time I could not even imagine that 2016 was going to give swimming lessons to more than 60 people. Never say Never.

Between 2004 and 2012 all my triathlons I made them to breaststroke, or "dead frog" as my friends said, including the 5 half Ironmans and the two IM of Vitoria.

In 2012, I made a duathlon in Banyeres, I made it as a plus, simply for doing it, I have never gone to any race to win, I am a sports fan, but by surprise I was third overall. They told me that there was a prize in cash, 200 €, that I never imagined that they could have been for me. But in spite of being third, in the end because of the norm that they put in some tests, you must not exceed the 105, 108, or 110% of the time of the first, if you overcome it, you lose the option to choose the prize in cash, with which I do not agree. I think it is not fair. All of us make the same distance with the same conditions, paying the same registration fee. With that rule they make you compete with the first one. Anyway, I went home without the prize ... I keep the memory of how good I was in that duathlon.

In addition, from there came the idea of ​​setting up a team of girls and eventually get more women on the starting line.

That's how the life of our club began, Tri.net: Tri =triatlón; Net = by the acronym of Nham es tit burns

Because it's never too late to start playing sports, or to reach the goal.

We started 8 people and now we are 108. Best of all, I can share illusions with my daughter; Karin, my husband; Javi, doing sports with the family. Also, I can say that I have great luck for having a family trinétika even bigger where everyone has a place without taking into account neither their age nor their level.

But that would be another story.

"PROHIBITED TO SURRENDER, BREATHS HONDOUS AND FOLLOWS"

PS: advice I could give based on my experiences:

  • Do things for you.
  • Do not compare yourself with others.
  • Have small objectives to achieve short and long term.
  • Have a little training diary, point out what you do, sensations, etc ...
  • Do not make training plans for yourself, look for a good friend to help you, you will pay attention to him (At least I owe a lot to Felipe).
  • Do not always use the chrono ... be the owner of your body, do not let yourself be carried away by a device.
  • Always enjoy what you do

Veronica Avene-Aveni

Veronica avene

I am Veronica Aveni I have 40 years, I was born in Argentina, but 20 years ago I live in Tavérnoles a small town 70km of Barcelona I had 3 children. Mar, Nico of 9 years and Marc of 7años, for things of life Mar was born with a congenital heart disease and is not with us, he would have 10 years.

I'm a fitness instructor in the Vic-Etb, club that I represent as a triathlete, I have a fixed schedule from 8 to 15hs.

My beginnings are in swimming, from the 9 years competing in swimming pool and open waters. At the 17años I participate in two tests of the 25km open water world circuit, there I discover that mine is long distance and hard tests mentally. I injure myself with a shoulder and I can not do more training than the 6km, that's when a coach tells me to try the triathlon that I would be very good with, since with my aerobic base it would be easier for me, I ran a lot when I was a swimmer in the pre-seasons and I liked it very much, there was only the bike left, and that's how I started, first short, Olympic, and middle races, and for the 21 years I made my first Ironman in Brazil, I won my age group and qualified for Hawaii that same year where I won my age group with 10h 19, and from there came 12 ironman plus all top 10, some elite and others in age groups and many short and medium distance triathlons.

No doubt the triathlons where I identify most are the Ironman, of all I have many memories but if I have to say one, and which I am very proud of is this year, Mallorca, because it was my return to this distance since I am a mother, with 10: 00: 04 I got my qualification for Kona and I go for my fourth Hawaii, for all.

To combine training, work and family, you have to get up early! I get up to the 6 if I want to double training, I'm going to swim, I leave the house with the tupers of the breakfast and lunch of the half day, I am lucky that the pool is in my place of work, thus already I am staying. Pep, my husband takes care of the kids in the mornings, and takes them to school, at 15hs my work day ends, if I play bike I already go out dressed in the cullot and maillot, I look for the bike at home and finish the training as late to the 18hs and then the extra school, car up and down, at that time I take the opportunity to go to super, shopping ... and 8,30 all return home, dinner duties, and if you can to the 10,30 all sleeping.

My advice for moms who want to start in the triathlon, is to go little by little, start with sprint triathlons and set goals that can meet in the short term, it is best to be guided by a coach to help them organize training, and think that if one day you can not train because the children are sick or at work there is a lot of work, nothing happens, not overwhelmed. Since we were mothers our life changed, but it does not mean that we can not have our dreams and our challenges, we just have to propose and start working, cheer up! and to fight for their challenges that will surely succeed!

Vero Photo: E. Albistegui

Eli Bravo

I live in the city of Cuenca located in the South of Ecuador, it is located at 2.538 meters above sea level, it has impressive landscapes, because it is located in the southern part of the Ecuadorian Andean Cordillera. Its climate, which for me is quite essential, you never know what could happen, the people who forecast the weather, never hit it, hehe. But it is perfect for training because its temperature ranges between 14ºC and 18ºC, throughout the year. You never get tired of training here.

I have only one son who turned one year old on January 21, his name is Juan Francisco. I have two professions, TRI and I am also a physiotherapist, I am currently studying a master's degree in osteopathy, which I hope to finish in the next few months.

The triathlon began in 2005, I was a hobby swimmer and runner, the best triathlon athlete in my city, I needed a female duo to compete in the national games, so they asked me, they lent me a bicycle and that's where my passion for TRI.

Definitely the OLYMPIC GAMES, the road traveled to get there, is the reward of so many years of effort, all the logistics, organization and spectators, it is indescribable. It is the same sensation of the first Triathlon.

I also really like to compete at home, all my family, friends and all the streets supporting you, there is nothing better than feeling loved.

For me it is very hard to combine everything, sometimes I think that none of them do it well, as the saying goes, he who covers a lot does not press, and that is why I also have incredible help from my husband and my mother, they are fundamental in my life without them nothing would be possible.

Your life turns 360 degrees, your life is a chaos until you get to organize leaving each piece in its place. I get up to the 5am to organize the files of my patients, from 6 to 8 I am with the baby, then I train until the 11 am and then I attend a patient, I arrive at home 12: 30pm, then we all have lunch as a family, we play and we do the nap together, I return to the workouts at 5pm until 8pm and then another patient and finally to bed.

As advice, I can say that it is the best decision they can make, you organize yourself better when you have less time, your partner becomes more involved with him drinks when he realizes your new goal, in addition, sport has many advantages as it eliminates the stress caused because of work, they keep you in shape, you eat better, you get sick less. Also when you enjoy what you like, you rejuvenate, your mood improves, you are active all day and it is a sport that you can practice with friends and thus everything is more fun, it is a lifestyle that your child grows up watching and you instill in this too.

Eli Photo: Sebi Martinez

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