Commonwealth Games: How Claire Tallent walked her way to the Commonwealth Games less than a year after becoming a mum
IT’S THE little things that have helped Claire Tallent walk her way to the Commonwealth Games less than a year after becoming a first-time mum.
IT’S THE little things that have helped Claire Tallent walk her way to the Commonwealth Games less than a year after becoming a first-time mum.
Like when Olympic gold medal-winning husband Jared hides behind a tree during one of her long training walks and surprises her mid-session with 10-month-old son Harvey.
“I’ve been doing my long walks from Semaphore to Outer Harbour and Jared takes Harvey in the car, and the other day actually he hid behind a tree and there’s this little thing if you squeeze Harvey’s thighs he giggles,” Tallent said.
“So just as I walked past he squeezed his thighs and I heard this giggling and a little face poking out from behind the tree.
“It makes it so much easier to get through those days and it’s delightful every few k’s having the drink bottle ready.
“Or a few weeks there we went to Moonta and Jared drove me to Maitland and I walked 35km back and every so often Harvey would get out of the car with him and give me a high-five, so it’s been really nice.”
Tallent, 36, retired after the 2012 London Olympics with the intention of starting a family and that dream finally came true after IVF treatment last May.
She now juggles training with parenting and working four days a week with the Department of State Development which means she’s often out the door at 6am and home at 8.30pm but it’s all worth it.
“I always had in my mind that I would come back,” the 2010 Commonwealth Games silver medallist said.
“I maybe thought I’d be done by now and expanding on the family a bit more but it wasn’t to be that way, but I always wanted to get back into shape and I enjoy the whole aspect of being fit and having little goals to aim for.
“I definitely wanted to do a home Games which I haven’t done before and I feel like I’m very much doing it for the family this time.
“My nieces and nephews wanted to go up to Queensland and have someone to cheer for so it’s for everyone, it’s not just a selfish thing that I feel like I’m doing.
“But I also want to do well, I never lost that competitiveness, it’s just the way I’m hard-wired.”
Within a week of Harvey being born Claire was out walking again but it was slow steps while her bladder got used to operating like normal again.
“I would only get about eight steps before feeling like I was going to pee myself,” Tallent said with a laugh.
“But I persisted every day and eventually it was back to normal.
“People were like ‘are you going to get a running pusher and all that’ but Jared and I made a really clear decision early on that when we go walking or training that’s just our time to let our minds escape.
“We’ve been really good tag-teaming each other and giving both the opportunity to do that, it’s a really nice thing that’s brought us even closer together.”
Tallent was officially selected in the Commonwealth Games squad in March then got an exemption to skip the pre-Games training camp in Queensland so she could stay at home and prepare as normal.
“My life is so busy and full I thought that if I wasn’t at work and wasn’t being a mum either I would go stir crazy, and I guess I’ve got everything set up here at home I’m really comfortable and happy so I’ve tried to do it that way.”
The initial plan was for both Claire and Jared to compete alongside each other on the Gold Coast in April but Jared was unable to qualify due to a hamstring injury.
“But he’s really excited and has been really supportive, I’m sure he’ll be back out there soon,” Claire said.
SEVEN DAYS WITH TEAM TALLENT
Monday: Jared goes to training at SASI, Harvey gets looked after by his grandmother while Claire leaves home at 6am and trains around the River Torrens. Claire then works all day and after work goes to the SASI gym and gets home by 8.30pm.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Claire walks or runs to work for an easy training session.
Friday: Claire joins Jared for aerobic and gym training at SASI while Harvey is looked after by his grandmother in the morning.
Saturday: Claire will do a long walk to prepare for her 50km debut at the teams world championships in China later this year. A typical session might be from Semaphore to Outer Harbor or Moonta to Maitland when on holiday.
Sunday: Claire and Jared both train with a group of local juniors for a 15km session around the River Torrens while some of the parents of the juniors look after Harvey.
reece.homfray@news.com.au
Originally published as Commonwealth Games: How Claire Tallent walked her way to the Commonwealth Games less than a year after becoming a mum
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