I like to think that I like to read a lot. Honestly though, I haven’t devoured books since the mid 2000’s, a point in my life that coincides with the arrival of both social media and my children. I know which one I’d like to blame for the root cause of my slide, but I think we all know it’s the other one…

The usual scene is that I walk around with whatever book I’m trying to concentrate on tucked neatly between my phone and my iPad and it generally stays there or gets used as a coaster for whatever vessel is helping with the evenings imbibing while watching the tv.

When I do read, I read about other peoples endeavors, other feats of endurance. Maybe its to get inspiration, maybe its to learn from their experiences or maybe I live, Walter Mitty like, in their form as I drift off to sleep with the book on my bedside table. Whatever the reason, I was surprised to be taken with a book by Moire O’Sullivan called Bump, Bike & Baby (Mummy’s gone adventure racing).

I follow Moire on twitter (@moireosullivan) Shes a National Adventure Race Series Champion, she’s the first person ever to complete the Wicklow Round, a 100km circuit of  the Wicklow Mountains (in under 24hrs) and as the book explains, Moire is also a mum of two.

Bump, Bike & Baby opens with Moire detailing her resistance to motherhood, the idea that it will affect her ability to run and run fast while she’s at it. But as you can guess, things happen and training has to stop, but not until our author buys a bike, goes kayaking, consults other Adventure Racing mums and learns that pregnancy hormones might even help in making her faster!

Where we are brought in the following chapters are stages of acceptance, adaptation, stress and at times a very funny adventure as Moire tries and succeeds in not only becoming the best runner she can be but most of all becomes a loving Mum. In Moire’s house, Tom the dog was once king of the hill, but we all are brought on a journey where Moire, her husband Pete, baby Aran and later in the yarn, Aran’s brother Cahal become a team.

What’s great about Bump, Bike & Baby is that it includes races and locations we are all familiar with, the IMRA race series, the Mourne Mountains, Quest Glendalough. These are races we all can enter and in this there is a real connection with Moire in knowing while she may be the best, just like us, shes really just trying to be her best, a lesson we can all learn.

Anyone who has ever trained for any athletic challenge while raising a family will understand everything that happens in this book. Moire’s determination to get back to fitness while learning (and becoming) a loving mum is an excellent read. This book is packed to the brim with inspiration, success, failures.

We can all take something from this book, its great. Not only did Moire write something that I actually finished, but I’ll probably read it again. Go buy it.

When you head off to your store to buy Bump, Bike & Baby, have a look for Moire’s first book, Mud, Sweat & Tears about her solo quest to conquer one of Ireland’s most difficult mountain challenges, the Wicklow Round. Like Bump, Bike & Baby, it is an excellent read, very funny and equally inspiring.

About the book

Bump, Bike and Baby – Mummy’s Gone Adventure Racing. Sandstone Press. Format: Paperback. ISBN: 9781912240067. Publication Date: 15/03/2018. RRP: £8.99. Available from Amazon, Foyles, Easons, and Waterstones. Paperbacks can be purchased here: https://goo.gl/8XDUZe and e-books can be purchased here: https://goo.gl/Q3p1fm

About the author

Moire O’Sullivan is an accomplished mountain runner and adventure racer. In 2009, she became the first person to complete the Wicklow Round, a 100km circuit of Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains, run within twenty-four hours. She is married to Pete and is the proud mother of their two young sons, Aran and Cahal. While busy adapting to and learning about motherhood, Moire won Ireland’s National Adventure Race Series three times in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Bump, Bike and Baby is about this personal journey. Moire blogs at https://moireosullivan.com/