A few weeks ago I headed over to Hannam’s with the BEP girls for a Sunday shred. Chloe Lemm was behind the camera (as she’s about to pop with bubba no.1, exciting times!) and so here are a few of the snaps she captured…
It was also my maiden voyage out on the Hyperlite Socialite which I’ll tell you all about in another blog, when I can, but short version is that I’m loving it 🙂
So last weekend it was the British Cable Wakeboard Nationals over at Box End Park. I’ve competed in the Nationals more times than I can remember and I haven’t missed one since I started. This year was no different.
I had my second little boy on the 27th May and so I never really thought I’d be able to ride in this years event. But I did! I’m surprised I actually managed to get to my heat on time (thanks Jon for ‘babysitting’) let alone come 2nd in the Masters Ladies!
I squeezed in about 10 laps at BEP the Sunday before the event, so I managed to figure out what features I could hit and what I still had to avoid this soon after giving birth, and so I hadn’t really thought of a run until the morning of the finals. Managing the two kids plus serious tiredness sucks pretty much every ounce of brain power you have, (nap times, breast feeding, breast pumping, shitty nappies, naked obsessed toddler, bath times, bed times…wine, ahhhh).
In the qualifier I was loving just being on the water so much that I actually forgot I was in a comp run… I came round the drive tower and thought, ‘Theres the kickers’, and then as I got closer my next thought was ‘….HIT ONE!!’
I entered the event this year because it was my first year in the Masters Ladies and I was just so excited to be in this category! I just wanted to have fun with the other competitors, which I did, they were a great bunch of ladies to ride with! But I’m stoked to come away with 2nd place only eight weeks after I had my little bubba! Crazy!
What have I learnt so far after having two kids….
1. Time. The absence of time for yourself. You thought that had vanished with just the one child, but nooooooo, have a second one to really twist the knife.
2. Conversation with your partner. This just doesn’t happen unless its arguing on which kid you want to deal with that evening.
3. Meal times. We used to sit down and enjoy a meal together after our toddler had gone down, chat, catch up, have a glass of wine. Now we eat at separate times. On our own. Playing on our iPhones.
4. Leaving the house. Again, you may think this is a mammoth task with one child. It really isn’t. You organise yourself, you organise them… and leave. Two kids that can’t be left in the same room as each other (yet) is a different story. Getting yourself ready deserves a medal. There is impeccable timing required with sending one for a wee and changing the others nappy, making sure the baby is fed and every possible change of clothing thought of, and actually leaving the house in the 30 minute window you were aiming for. If you pull this off you are superwoman.
5. Sleep. Whats that.
Lex Balladon 