Author: bettinathenomad

Nomad. International Relations geek. Reader. Feminist. Swimmer. Boulderer. Runner. Hiker. Not necessarily in that order.
challenge · race report · swimming

Am I water? Bettina finds out

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As I mentioned in my previous post, in which I dipped my toes into triathlon, my “big event” of the year was still to come. In a fit of optimism, possibly buoyed by the exhilaration of having signed up for a triathlon (signing up for stuff feels good to me), early this year I’d signed up for a 4.5k open water swimming race.

A week before my 40th birthday, on 1 September, it was time. The race took place in Lake Chiemsee, in southern Bavaria, in view of the Alps. It’s a beautiful panorama. The way the race works is that they ferry swimmers out to an island and then you swim back to shore, pretty much in a straight line. Like this:

Map of Lake Chiemsee with the island we started from circled in red and an arrow pointing towards the finish of the race.

We’d decided to make a family trip out of it, leaving on Saturday morning to make the drive down in a leisurely fashion, staying overnight, and driving home after the race on Sunday. We stayed at a lovely hotel with its own jetty and SUP boards for rent, which unfortunately we didn’t have time to use. The evening before the race, I’d arranged to meet up via Facebook with a few other people swimming the next day. But first, I had to pick up my starter kit. At the location, the main sponsor had put up a fun “I am water” backdrop, which I posed with, even though I wasn’t feeling quite sure about my aquaticness at that point.

Picture of Bettina in a white t-shirt and denim shorts, posing in front of a backdrop showing a person swimming butterfly and the words “I am water”.

I’d known the nerves would come, and the pre-race meet-up with other participants was part of my tactic to calm myself down. This was my first big open-water event and I do get impostor syndrome quite a bit. I was really glad I’d made this dinner arrangement. Not only did we have a delicious dinner in a traditional beer garden with a playground right next to our table for our 4 year-old to explore, but I also got to pick more experienced swimmers’ brains. They all assured me I’d be just fine and had signed up for a beautiful race. And wow, had I ever! Race morning came with beautiful sunshine, the perfect temperature, and no waves at all.

Panoramic view of a very calm lake with the Alps in the background. In the foreground is the finishing chute marked by yellow buoys and lines to the left, and a small child (Bettina’s son!) playing on the beach to the right.

There was a short safety briefing with an explanation of what would happen next, and off we were, all 270-ish of us, to the boat that would take us to the island. En route, I met a nice English guy (hey, Tom!) whose wife is from the region and he’d decided to give it a go while they were on holiday in the area. We chatted as we made the short crossing to the starting point, he kindly shared his vaseline to prevent wetsuit chafing, which I’d forgotten to bring, and I munched an energy bar and drank some of my sports drink.

And then… we were off! Since the water temperature was so perfect and the lake so calm, it didn’t take me a very long time to settle into a comfortable breathing rhythm. And even though there were a lot of us, there was none of the kicking and swimming over each other I’d been dreading, considering it was a mass start. It went great and I ended up losing track of how many buoys I’d passed after a while, I just kept going. Every once in a while I stopped for a split second to check I was well on track and, honestly, to admire the panorama – it was just stunning. Every 500 metres, they’d put a huge yellow buoy as a way marker so nobody got lost. There were also loads of lifeguards with paddle boards, kayaks and boats, so between them, the other swimmers, and the buoys, it was impossible to go wrong.

Towards the end, there was one section with a bit of a cold current and I was glad I’d decided to wear my wetsuit, also because I know that I tend to get cramps if I get too cold – this had happened to me a couple of times during my longer training swims in the outdoor pool.

Before I even knew it, I was swimming up to the finish chute! As I waded out of the water, I spotted my partner and son waving and shouting. I was so happy my son got to see his Mama do something big and challenging, and above all, having fun! It’s the way I’d love for him to approach sports and movement as he grows up. I wasn’t in it to win it – I was in it to enjoy it, try something new, and challenge myself.

Bettina, wearing a bright pink race cap, swimming goggles, and a long-sleeved wetsuit, crossing the finishing line after getting out of the water. A large digital clock in the background reads 1:30:07.

In the end, I was super happy with my final time of 1:30:08. I came 8th in my age group, which wasn’t bad at all! I definitely want to do this again. Next year, the same race will take place on my actual birthday, which is kind of a sign, but I’m also still considering other options – maybe a different lake! What started as my personal challenge the year I turned 40 has opened up a new path that I’m super excited to keep exploring.

race report · triathalon

Bettina tries tri

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I’m certainly not the first fit feminist to do a triathlon – just picking the “triathlon” category on previous posts yields over 60 results. And some of them are very badass! I’ve been wanting to do a tri for a while now. In fact, in 2019 my partner gave me two books on training for a triathlon for Christmas. What did I give him? I don’t remember his “real” present, but on top of that… a positive pregnancy test. Our son was born in August 2020, amidst a pandemic, and triathlons were really not on the cards for a bit. Life was just too busy! But then early this year, a friend convinced me to sign up for a sprint tri with her. 750m swimming, 22km cycling and 5k running seemed manageable.

To be honest, I didn’t train all that much. As a swimmer “by training”, the discipline many triathletes fear the most didn’t scare me. I had a bit of a wobble when I found out the swim would be in a river rather than a pool (many sprint triathlons do the swimming leg in a pool), but hey – no time like the present to rekindle my open-water swimming skills from those beach lifeguard days 20 years ago, right? I did manage to get a few lake swims in, but for example I never once managed a “proper” brick workout, where you bike first and then run right away.

I’m also… not the world’s best runner. I can get better, as I discovered on my journey to the half marathon that never was, but I need to train very consistently and frequently. I already go swimming at least once a week, usually twice, and commute a lot by bike. But squeezing those runs in on a busy work and family schedule was a real challenge. Also, during the winter months, we were sick a lot (thanks, daycare germs). So by the time the race snuck up on me, I was feeling under-prepared and quite intimidated by the logistics of it all. I was pretty sure I’d forget something in the transition and start cycling without my shoes on, or forget to put on my helmet, or fall flat on my face while trying to wiggle out of my wetsuit. I jest, but when you read the race instructions and watch videos, it does all seem like rather a lot.

Bettina, a white woman, wearing cycling gear and pushing a bike while blowing a kiss to spectators.
Bettina, dressed in full cycling gear after the first transition (aka T1) from swim to bike, blows a kiss to her family who came out as spectators and were spectacular cheerleaders.

The thing I was most scared of was wiping out during the run. “It’s only 5k!”, my training partner (who is quite a bit more athletic than me) encouraged me. But 5k, for me, after 20k of cycling fast and hard, seemed terrifying. My longest training run had been 7k.

Well, the race happened last week – and you know what? I had So. Much. Fun!!! My favourite part was the swim for sure. As soon as I went in, I kept repeating to myself “This is your thing. This is what you’re good at” to calm my nerves and get motivated. As soon as I settled into a rhythm I started passing other swimmers, and felt great coming out of the water. The bike leg was fun too, except a couple of extremely steep (but mercifully short) hills. As expected, I found the run the hardest and was extremely grateful for the drinks station halfway through. But I finished! And contrary to all expectations, I didn’t expire on the run. I actually ran quite an ok time for my standards. Not my best but definitely better than expected!

Bettina, looking exhausted and a bit disheveled, but very happy, bites her finisher medal after the triathlon.

I definitely want to do this again. I think if I start training earlier and stay consistent (hoping for fewer daycare-induced colds for our family next season), I just might be able to do an olympic distance tri next year. I definitely need to train more systematically for that, and it might not work out. But I’d love to give it a go!

Lessons learned?

  • I can do this!
  • It was fun!
  • I want to do it again, and for longer!
  • If I want to do a longer distance, I need to train more seriously.
  • I should probably do something about my bike (learn to ride with clipless pedals, put on thinner tyres, get aero bars).
  • I should probably get a tri suit. I bought tri shorts but the bike jersey I wore for the bike and run was not optimal for running as it kept riding up.
  • Triathlons are expensive… whichever way you slice it. I bought minimal gear (wetsuit, polarised swimming goggles, a safety buoy for training, all of which which I will continue to use, tri shorts, and one of those elastic race bib holders), plus the registration fee, and adding it all up I’m now probably around more than 300 euros poorer than before. If I want to do a longer one, all the aforementioned enhancements to gear and bike will cost even more.
  • Triathlons are as time-intensive as I thought, if not more.
  • Being able to do a triathlon is a huge privilege.

I’m so glad my fit friend pushed me into this challenge – I’m not sure I would have worked up the courage on my own. Now that I’ve taken the first hurdle, doing a longer distance doesn’t seem quite so out of reach anymore. But first, I have another goal: I’ve signed up for a 4.5k open water swimming race on 1 September, so before I start tri-ing again, I’ll need to do a serious amount of swimming… once I’m over my current cold (little children really are super spreaders, and they will sneeze straight into your eyeballs, literally).

fitness · habits · media · time

Nearly half of British women don’t exercise? The Internet has thoughts

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A few days ago, a new survey published by Nuffield Health, the “Healthier Nation Index” made headlines in several UK papers: “Half of British women do no regular exercise”, and several permutations of this. Apparently, according to The Guardian, the study finds that “many lack motivation or got out of the habit during lockdown”. Unsurprisingly, the Internet has thoughts on this.

Tweets range from “no shit, Sherlock” responses like this one

https://twitter.com/snj_1970/status/1551434253753262080

to “there’s something seriously wrong with the way this is being reported” like this one:

and everything in between. Not to speak of the fact that if 47% of women don’t work out regularly, 53% actually do, so there’s a bit of the good old “only bad news is good news” thrown into the mix as well.

There are several themes to the rightful complaints about how this data is being reported and picked up by the media:

In addition to all these, one thing that bothers me about the reporting on these is how it individualises the problem by claiming that “women lack motivation” when really, to a large degree its societal constraints that cause the gender gap here. Well-meaning initiatives like the UK-based “This Girl Can” campaign reinforce the notion that all women need to do is “get out there” and “make the time”, “start small”, etc. But what if you really don’t have the time? This is the case for so many people, especially women. What if by the time you get home from your full-time job, have maybe cooked dinner, done some cleaning, put the kids to bed if you have them and so on, you’re dead tired and all you want is your bed or the sofa? What if you have health conditions that diminish your energy levels? Especially for single parents or people who can’t afford to outsource their housework, this is reality.

For me personally, especially since having a child, yes, it is to some degree a motivational issue. But I, too, despite my enormous privilege – an incredibly supportive partner, childcare, household help, etc. – I often find myself too tired at the end of the day. You can’t just rustle up some motivation if you’re running on empty. (And no, I won’t “just get up earlier”. This woman needs her sleep.) I do feel like even for me, some of this is due to societal gender roles. My husband, for example, finds switching off and taking time for himself much easier than me. I always feel like I need to double-check that it’s really ok to go for a run, or feel a bit guilty for working out instead of doing chores. Part of this is personality-based, but it’s also education and socialisation.

The way these survey results have been reported is beyond unhelpful. It’s not fair to put the responsibility for not working out fully back on women and make sound like it’s their own fault. That’s victim blaming. Ugh.

holidays · swimming

Summer happy places

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I’m currently on holiday. “Again?”, you say? “Didn’t you just come back from one?” Yes, our family calendar has decided to bunch our holidays up in June and July this year. Which is nice because lots of time off within a short period, but the downside is that as of now, I don’t know if there will be another “proper” holiday between the end of July and Christmas. We’re in Spain visiting family, and there’s a fabulous outdoor pool close by. Since the temperatures climb to the high 30s daily at the moment – which is not at all usual for the region we’re visiting, the Basque Country; oh hi, climate crisis – I’m making use of some mornings to go for a refreshing swim before things heat up too much and you can no longer move.

As I was doing my laps this morning, I realised that there’s a certain type of outdoor pool that is my happy place in summer. It’s a non-urban pool, i.e. located in a small town or on the outskirts rather than in a city centre, so it’s not overcrowded. It has trees that provide some shade enjoy after or in between swims. It has a large, olympic-size pool that has lots of lanes cordoned off for swimmers. It has a toddler pool and ideally a playground in case a visit with the whole family is on the cards. The water in the big pool is nice and fresh. Just like the picture below:

An Olympic-size outdoor pool with lanes cordoned off, a kids’ pool in the background, under a clear blue summer sky – one of Bettina’s happy places. Not pictured: the lovely grass area with trees and lots of shade for between-swim lounging.

As it happens, the pool close to my mother-in-law’s house ticks all the boxes. So does one not too far away from where we live. While I was splash-splashing along this morning, I was overcome with gratitude for these happy places. What are yours?

camping · cycling · family · holidays

Bettina goes on holiday

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Yes, you read that right. After two plus years of pandemic and nearly two years of life with a little one, we are going on holiday. As in, travelling somewhere that’s not to see our family, or visit friends (we are, in fact, going to visit friends on the way, but we’re also going to be on our own for a bit).

We’ve rented a camper van and will be cruising around Dutch campsites. We’re taking our bikes (the adults) and trailer (the toddler), in the hopes that it will stop raining for long enough that we can do some cycling tours through very flat landscapes. This may not sound very adventurous, but right now I think it’s going to hit the sweet spot of being active but not overexerting ourselves, and fun for everyone in the family. We also have a kite, beach toys, and swimwear – not that we’re planning the brave the North Sea (though who knows?!), but the weather forecast really isn’t great, so if it won’t stop raining, at least we can go to the indoor pool.

When you read this, we will actually already be on our way back, but I’m writing this post before we even leave, since I don’t know how much Internet we’ll have along the way (the campsites all promise wifi but I also honestly don’t know how much I’ll feel like posting when the alternative is frolicking around a campsite or the beach!

I’m very excited about this trip.

Do you have holiday plans already? What are they?

nature · self care

In her next life, Bettina wants to be a surfing hippo

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That’s it. In the title right there.

I don’t know if any of you have been watching what a friend of mine described as “peak millennial”, the new Netflix documentary “Our Great National Parks”, narrated by Barack Obama. If so, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If not, here’s the official trailer, and right away at 0:05, you can catch a glimpse of my new favourite animal: the surfing hippo.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KcI_xfryMD0
The official trailer of the Netflix documentary “Our Great National Parks”.

These wonderful beasts live in Loango National Park in Gabon. They hang out in freshwater lagoons during the day, but at dusk, they stroll down to the beach to catch some waves. They then drift along the shore with the current to where they know the best juicy grass to grow, and graze on that overnight.

I don’t know about you, but that seems like a pretty desirable lifestyle right now. When I was in high school in the UK, I was a lifeguard and part of our training included surfing to really get to know our local beach and its currents. I loved it, and one of the very few gripes I have with where we live right now is that it’s awfully far away from the sea. Catching those waves was always so much fun and really gets your mind off of everything going on around you, and as we know, things are hard right now.

Just watching these majestic creatures drifting through the water and playing in the waves last night made me feel infinitely more relaxed (a Yoga with Adriene session just before may have helped too). If I believed in multiple lives, I would definitely want to be a surfing hippo in Loango National Park in my next one.

I’ve only seen one episode so far, but if you need soothing, I would highly recommend “Our Great National Parks”. Stunning pictures of epic nature, animals, and Barack Obama’s calming voice, it’s a winning combo in my book.

climate change · covid19 · Fear · fitness

Oof… Things are Hard right now

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I honestly didn’t know what other title to give this post, and I’m also not quite sure where it’s going (nowhere, is probably where).

Over here in Europe, we’ve got our eyes turned eastward in horror. We pack boxes of baby items, nappies, cereal, fruit purée pouches, and face masks, and send them off in a lorry in the hopes they will reach the desperate people who need them. We wonder whether we should start stocking up on non-perishable goods and have a survival backpack ready to go just in case. At work lunches, we talk about whether we should be ready to flee to a different country, and if so, which one (Canada comes up a lot). And we try to guess whether Putin will stop in Ukraine, and what will happen if a Russian soldier so much as puts one little toe over the border of a NATO country. We wonder if, in the face of a never-ending pandemic, global warming, and war just one country over, bringing a child into this world was really the right thing to do.

Thinking about fitness, or doing fitnessy things, doesn’t come easy these days. It feels shallow to care about whether I will achieve 222 in 2022 (probably not). I catch myself thinking, “what if war happens and we have to survive outside or flee on foot, and I’m as unfit as I am right now?” But at the same time, when I can get myself to move, it helps. It distracts me, it gets me out into the sunshine (finally, a hint of spring!), it gets me away from the onslaught of horrible news coming at us from all angles right now. An hour in the pool makes me feel invigorated. A short Yoga with Adriene session makes my body feel less stiff. And a long walk in the sun with friends makes me feel more optimistic.

And then our very own Sam shares an article on Facebook entitled “What to do when the World is ending”, and I realise that, as hard as it seems right now, and as much as I want to curl up in a dark corner, close my eyes and stick my fingers in my ears, I will continue trying to take agency and working to build a good life amidst all this chaos. Thanks for sharing that article, Sam, it was exactly what I needed the other day.

habits · hiking · yoga

The beauty of bite-sized chunks

bettinathenomad

Remember how my goal this year is to undercommit? Or at least commit less? I’m pleased to report that I’ve actually had some success! Not sure if I’m really “committing” less, but at least I’m maybe committing differently, or to other things: bite-sized chunks of movement.

Last year, I got stuck in a mode where I’d not exercise because by the time the evening came around and I’d actually have time, I was too tired. So I’d crash on the couch exhausted, or pile on the MBA coursework. So far, this year, I’ve managed to integrate bite-sized chunks of yoga into my evenings a lot better. As I mentioned in the group post on this year’s Yoga with Adriene Move challenge, I’ve only done some (I’m writing this having just finished “day” 7), but I’m really enjoying them.

Part of my “overcommitment” problem is that I want to “Do Things Properly”, i.e. I’d want to go out for a run, or do some “Serious Exercise”, be too exhausted for that, and end up on the couch instead. But I’m coming around to the idea that 20 or 30 minutes of yoga are actually feasible at night. I’m quite chuffed! I actually feel like I’m getting a bit of my workout mojo back.

Bettina hiking on a forest road in a foggy winter forest with a child carrier on her back. Tiny human is in the carrier enjoying a nap.

We’ve also started going on bite-sized weekend hikes lately. Rather than overcommitting to half a day or a full day of hiking, we’ll go for an hour or two. Tiny human goes in the hiking backpack (he loves it and usually falls asleep), and since he now weighs 11kgs or so, carrying him is quite the workout, even if the hike is short. They’re also lots of fun, especially while tiny human is awake – his enthusiasm for dogs (WOOF! WOOF!) and other things we see along the way is quite contagious.

Hooray for bite-sized chunks of movement!

221 in 2021 · habits · Happy New Year! · new year's resolutions

A serial overcommitter tries undercommitting

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I’m a serial overcommitter. I’ve always been bad at not having some sort of side project going – at least one. But last year, I really overstretched, and it showed. Having a baby/toddler at home, going back to work full-time, and doing an MBA on the side would have been difficult in normal times. Add a pandemic, and it became a recipe for constant exhaustion. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to glorify “being busy” (quite the contrary)! I’m not burnt out either, not in the true sense of the word. I’ve sailed close to it a few times over the last year and a half though – too close for comfort.

As a result of my overcommitment, I didn’t exercise nearly as much as I wanted. In fairness, some other factors also conspired against me achieving my “221 in 2021” goal – the pools were closed until May due to Covid, I caught a few of my son’s daycare colds, etc. I made it to just over 160 and was honestly a bit disappointed with myself. But I’m trying to take a page out of Christine’s book and go easy on myself this year (see also: here. Christine is really killing it!).

A picture of a kite flying in the blue sky. This is the ease Bettina aspiring to this year.
Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

My new year’s resolution this year is to try undercommitting. I’m nearly done with my MBA – I just need to finalise my thesis/field project, which is nearly finished, and take a few more online lectures. The only things I want to do more of this year are reading (which also fell by the wayside last year, mostly because I’d normally fall asleep after a couple of pages) and exercising. I’ve joined 222 in 2022 and we’ll see how I do this year. Here’s to hoping the pools stay open, but I also want to bike, run and hike a lot, which will be easier as the days get longer and my weekends free up from MBA coursework. A bit of yoga every once in a while would be nice too, but what did we say about overcommitting?

How about you – are any of you trying to commit less this year? And how are you planning to do that? Let me know! I’ll keep you posted how it’s going for me (I’ll confess I was very close to making a monthly check-in commitment on this here blog. But I won’t. Ha!).

commute · cycling

Bettina’s quick bike commute check-in

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First things first, if you celebrate: merry merry! But if you need a quick respite from the festivities, I’m going to talk about something decidedly un-festive: bike commuting.

Last time I wrote (a while ago) my e-bike had just arrived. Now we already have a few commutes under our belt so I quickly wanted to check in. It’s been going reasonably well. I say “reasonably” because I didn’t get as many commutes in as I’d hoped so far.

Picture of tiny human inspecting our commuting set up: a black gravel e-bike and a blue and black trailer. He approves.

The main obstacle, on which many other things hinge, is that I don’t currently work in my usual office. Our building is being renovated and we’re a few kilometres down the road at an interim location. So my routine is: put kid in trailer, zoom up the hill, get kid out and deliver him to daycare, unhook trailer and lock it at the campus bike storage, zoom to work. And back in the afternoon. It’s a bit of a schlep. It’d be so much easier if once I was at daycare, I wouldn’t have to bike another 3k. It’s not far, but it takes time and… logistics.

Then there’s the weather. I’m a fair weather cyclist as is, but we don’t have showers at our interim offices and I can’t show up soaked because I’d be freezing and feeling like a wet mouse for the rest of the day. So when it’s raining, or threatening to rain, we don’t bike.

And there’s time. It’s been stressful at work and with daycare hours, I have to power through. It’s an “every minute counts” kind of situation. I go to work, emerge bleary-eyed from my office at lunchtime to grab a sandwich and munch it at my desk, and then emerge bleary-eyed again to run off to daycare pickup. The bike commute doesn’t take a lot of extra time, but it adds up.

I know all these things are going to improve once we move back into our building, but right now I’m unimpressed because I’m LOVING my bike commutes and I wish I could do more. Anyway, onwards and upwards. Better times will come!