Moms In Motion : Connecting Moms Through Fitness

March/April 2004

Super (fit!) Moms

By Kathryn Bertine

They swim, they bike, they run - they shuttle kids to school and hold down jobs. From professional triathletes to everyday middle-of-the-packers, we introduce you to five inspiring moms who "tri" their hardest.

So you're finding it hard to make time for a run or morning hike now that kids are in the picture? While becoming a mom means a shift in priorities, you needn't throw your well-being out the window. For starters, you can find some inspiration from these five moms who not only balance training in three sports with busy lives, but who do so while serving as powerful role models for their kids.

Jamie Allison
Santa Barbara, Calif.

Amateur triathlete Jamie Allison knows that finding the motivation to stay in shape when you're raising kids can sometimes feel next to impossible. So early in her pregnancy, Allison (mother of three-year-old Kate) took it upon herself to form Moms in Motion (MIM), a Santa Barbara-based organization that brings moms and exercise together.

"I had a number of friends who were new to parenthood, and they were beginning to put themselves on the backburner," Allison recalls, a new mother herself at the time, she believed firmly that women shouldn't sacrifice their personal health and well-being once children are in the picture. "As women, we have so many roles to fill. Fitness is a part of that picture; if you're feeling healthy, you feel confident and strong."

Having participated in triathlons several years before marriage and childbirth, Allison, 36, knew that the combination of swimming, biking and running would be an ideal way to promote fitness, and started her organization as a triathlon training program for busy moms.

"Triathlon might seem like climbing Mount Everest, but it's a step-by-step process," she says. To help women train right, MIM uses a group of certified coaches who provide a 12-week training program that begins in June each year and culminates in August with a sprint race (.25-mile swim, 12-mile bike and three-mile run) at the Santa Barbara Tri Festival.

"We have women who come to us deathly afraid of the water, women who have never exercised in their lives, and cancer survivors who have been through the worst," Allison says. With more than 80 percent first-timers, she adds that the program is an emotional, empowering journey.

MIM began with 14 women in 2000 and last year was forced to divide its membership into groups of 100. Once women finish the sprint race, MIM points them toward new goals they can accomplish on their own. "We provide the carrot-the incentive-the rest comes from within the women."

The organization has become so successful that, for Allison, it has gone from a seasonal hobby to a full-fledged business that has recently branched out to running and hiking groups. And in keeping with the idea that fitness is good for all women, MIM is proud to reveal that 15 percent of its members are women without children.