Belinda Halloran. Image: Warren Clarke
Along came … everyone
“When other people come into your life, you have to start dividing your time. The plus side to that is the quality of life you gain by having a balanced approach, by meeting someone, getting married, and then by taking the next step and having children. It’s made me train more effectively. I used to not be relaxed about my time, but now I’m a lot more focussed on making every session count. “The only downside to it is you don’t have the recovery time. A lot of athletes train at 100 per cent. You’ll train in the morning, then you’ll go back to bed. You’ll try and recover. But when you’ve got two children and running a household and holding down a job you don’t have the opportunity to recover.”
Less the merrier
“I do train less than I used to, but I do quality when I can and just make those quality sessions the best I can and cut out a lot of what I call ‘rubbish kays’. I’ve done 12 years’ solid training, so I’m probably not doing the kilometres on the road I used to, but I’m still working just as hard on the sessions that count. “Triathlon is a sport which attracts a certain type of person. It’s the ‘obsessive compulsive, more is better’ way of thinking. There’s still that thought that doing more kilometres is better. I’ve only really been forced into this other way of thinking because I don’t have the time and now I’ve realised it’s working. Maybe the secret might get out there.”
Losing weights
“Gym work isn’t really a priority. I did a lot of it just after the births because there was no way I could get back on the bike and start training until my body had mended. You do gym work for a lot of specific things in regard to maintenance and rehabilitation, but once you’re back into the flow of racing, the weights almost get cancelled out completely.“Many athletes, Emma Snowsill for example, are doing Pilates instead of weights because it’s more about lengthening the muscle and not building bulk. We make sure we don’t carry any excess when we’re trying to run.”
My Mosman
“I was elected to Mosman Council in September last year. People who know me weren’t surprised I ran for council because I was the president of my student council at school for years. I was always involved in student protests and things like that. So, as my husband says, I’ve been a trouble-maker for years. And now it’s just putting me in a controlled enviroment!“There’s lots of meetings, lots of listening to people about things they’re happy and not happy with. It’s all about being in touch with the community. I’ve fallen in love with the area and the people are wonderful. So I thought, ‘If I have the time – I don’t really have the time – who needs sleep?’ I feel really privileged to be elected and who knows, it may be the beginning of a different career?”
– James Smith