In 2010 I decided to set myself a challenge of riding Around the Bay in a Day – 210km (which is equivalent to riding from Anzac Highway/West Terrace to Glenelg and back just over 13 times). I was due to ride this event with my husband but 7 weeks beforehand he damaged his calf and could not ride, so the challenge was thrown down – I’ll ride it on my own!!!! This also meant I had to train on my own…..what the hell was I getting myself into???


I had the Mitise Health and Fitness business card in my gym bag for months, and thought I would check out the website which led to me calling Josh. My initial appointment with Josh was far better than any I had been to previously – he actually listened to ALL of my goals. After listening and taking all I had to say on board, Josh asked me some questions, took me through his assessment (flexibility, postural alignment and dynamic movement analysis) and then we booked my first training session. It is only now that I realise that Josh wasn’t just training me physically to complete the ride he was training me mentally and this was going to be the key to me riding 210kms and sometimes riding it alone.


I trained with Josh once a week for the next 6 weeks, he wrote me an easy to follow training plan to complete whilst I wasn’t in a session with him, he spent an hour with me to go through nutrition beginning with weight loss (another goal of mine) then changing to a plan that would increase my energy for the ride, finishing with energy loading in the days leading up to the big event. He sent me text messages, emailed me and started every session with a recap of what I had achieved each week, reminding me that I could achieve my goal.


The big day came with rain and headwinds up to 45km per hour. Hubby got up with me and saw me off on my journey at 5am. I took off with some people I knew and soon lost them, so the mental toughness had to kick in and on I went. At the half way mark I received an SMS from Josh, reminding me that I had done the hard work and the ride is my reward for all that I had done – it was great timing because I could have thrown it all in at this stage of the day. I made it back to Melbourne at 5pm, 12 hours later, and I cried….I could not believe that I rode all that way, no cramping (thanks Josh for teaching me how important stretching is), with my brain telling me I could do more (thanks Josh for teaching me about mental toughness) and I achieved my goal – THANKS JOSH!!!!!


It’s now 2011, new goals have been set and I am looking forward to what I will achieve this year!.

Kelly M