How Turia Pitt is back on track after giving birth

TURIA Pitt is used to overcoming the odds, but when she returns to competitive sport next year she’ll have a new fan cheering her on — her infant son.

Turia Pitt: “Michael is a really hands-on dad, but still I find it hard. Motherhood is definitely not an easy job.” (Pic: Andy Baker)

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TURIA Pitt has always been driven by goals.

There was the goal to simply survive after the fire that caused burns across 65 per cent of her body. There was also the goal to compete in an Ironman race following her recovery. Even when she was pregnant, she came up with the idea of taking part in an Ultraman event, a three-day endurance race covering more than 500km.

However, 10 months after the birth of her son Hakavai, she is not so much rethinking her philosophy as she is moderating it to fit in with her new circumstances.

“I no longer have any desire to do an Ironman,” Pitt tells Stellar matter-of-factly. “Having a baby has changed me and when you become a mum you quickly realise your whole life fits in around your kids.”

Becoming a mum has changed Turia Pitt’s perspective. (Pic: Andy Baker)

Following her horrific incident while running an ultramarathon in 2011, Pitt became the poster girl for resilience, and while motherhood hasn’t dampened her ambition, it has certainly repurposed it.

“I don’t want to be out running for five hours straight,” she says simply. “I know how precious life is and I’d rather be with my son.”

Yet her inner athlete still yearns for a challenge, which is exactly why Pitt plans to compete in and be an ambassador for New Zealand’s iconic Kathmandu Coast to Coast race next February. Since it’s her first event after giving birth, Pitt is limiting herself to the 30km mountain run section.

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This particular goal is two-pronged: she wants to get back into training and hopes to showcase to women that setting a goal — however small — can be a motivating force.

“I don’t want to achieve anything crazy, I just want to get my fitness back and finish with a smile on my face,” she says. “These sorts of events are good for mums who are going through the motions of going to work, coming home, cooking dinner and doing the washing. It can be monotonous if there’s not something exciting happening or something to work towards and look forward to.”

In hospital during recovery from the fire that swept through the Kimberley while she was running an ultramarathon in 2011.

Like most parents, 31-year-old Pitt admits she presumed her son would be an adorable addition to her life, rather than the 24/7 disrupter most babies prove to be.

She laughs at how delusional she was during those months when her scarred skin stretched to accommodate her growing baby. “I thought I could live my life and spend time with Hakavai, but he is my life at the moment. I had no idea.”

Speaking to Stellar on her way to yet another operation — this time to release tight skin on her hand — Pitt reveals that carrying a baby reinforced her appreciation of her body.

Whereas a few years ago she would wake every morning, see her hands and be reminded of the fire that engulfed her as she ran in Western Australia’s Kimberley seven years ago, now she has little time for such reflection — but she has learnt, sometimes the hard way, of how much motherhood can take a toll.

With her 10-month-old son Hakavai.

At a dinner for the Sony Foundation in 2015 with her partner Michael Hoskin.

“Before I had a baby, I had an infinite amount of energy but carrying a child and breastfeeding has been quite depleting. I really have to think about how I look after my body, try to get enough sleep and prioritise myself.”

She readily admits parenthood has impacted on her relationship with her fiancé Michael Hoskin, who has been by her side for the past nine years and vowed he would marry her if she survived her traumatic injuries.

“[Parenthood] changes every day,” she says. “Some days are joyful, some are extraordinary, some you’re really irritated and really short with your partner and you’re tired. Mum is just around the corner and Michael is a really hands-on dad, but still I find it hard. Motherhood is definitely not an easy job.”

She doesn’t know exactly when she and Michael will get married (“We’re playing it by ear”), but she would like more children. “I feel like if you have one child, you’re really lucky — if you have two, you’re even luckier.”

Left with just three of her 10 fingers, Pitt sometimes struggles with opening jars and has a special device for doing up buttons. But she takes the easiest option when caring for Hakavai, avoiding clothes with press-studs and embracing the ordinary — whether it’s a visit to the post office or watching him crawl on the sand.

Turia Pitt features in this Sunday’s Stellar.

Having plenty of friends with young babies has also eased the transition. “All my mates at home had kids around the same time, so we’ve got a ready-made mums’ club,” she laughs.

Pitt still runs School of Champions, her online mindset coaching program, and her new ebook, Good Selfie, is being published in hard copy form next year.

Yet work now jostles alongside fitness and family for her attention. “I just have to accept I can’t do everything really well. Sometimes you’ll be doing really well at your business but not so well at home, and other times you’re doing really well at home but work or training slide. But none of us have 10 out of 10 in all areas of our life.”

To keep a healthy perspective, every day she chooses three things to be grateful for. The morning she spoke to Stellar those were, in order: her son; a cup of coffee; and her mum coming over to look after Hakavai while she and Michael set off for her hand operation. The recovery will be painful, but it’s nothing the trademark Pitt courage can’t handle.

“It’s pretty cool that I can choose what surgeries I have and when I’m going to have them,” she says. “That’s really empowering for me.”

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Originally published as How Turia Pitt is back on track after giving birth