How does a mother with four children ages 2 to 14 and a busy job as controller at Capitol City Produce manage to work out nearly every day and train for marathons?
Amy Carlson just does, referring to her fitness regimen as “maintaining her sanity.”
“It’s really the only time that I get alone to process all the different calendars I juggle, all the different things I have going on at work and at home,” she says. “It really keeps me balanced.”
Carlson’s main passion is running, which started in the sixth grade after she decided she wanted to stay fit. Throughout high school, she ran cross country and track, and played soccer.
As an adult, she became even more serious about fitness after giving birth to her third child, enlisting the services of a personal trainer to “lose the baby weight” and becoming hooked after she saw the results.
Carlson became a trainer herself for a while, and she taught fitness classes on the side until she became pregnant with her fourth child and no longer had the time to do it.
These days, she’ll slip on her running shoes and hit the road whenever she’s able, racing around the neighborhood or City Park and University lakes on weekends. Sometimes, when her kids see stress taking its toll, they’ll tell her, “Just go run.”
“I run, run and run,” Carlson says. “My kids know when Mom needs a run, and they push me out the door. I come back refreshed and relaxed and ready to enjoy my time with my family. The day’s events from the office are filed away, my to-do list is organized and I’m ready to take on the next adventure. With a career and four kids, there is no telling what the next adventure will be.”
She just finished her fifth half-marathon and is training for her fifth full marathon: the New Orleans Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon on Feb. 13.
“I’m probably a little better than average,” Carlson says. “My goal for every race is to finish injury free, and so far I’ve been successful.”
Besides running, she also tries to strength train twice per week, when it fits into her schedule. Right now, she’s getting that done through Bootcamp Xplosion, which she says is “a blast.” Other times, she’ll work with free weights.
There’s no secret to Carlson’s diet. Because she works out so frequently and so intensely, she can eat and drink almost everything she wants, but in moderation. She’s also a big fan of Vitamin C.
“I don’t deprive myself,” she says, “but I don’t overeat, either.”
Carlson hopes that besides keeping her healthy and happy, her exercise routine is teaching her children about the importance of lifelong fitness.
None of her children has taken to running yet, but they do stay active.
“It sets a very good example for the children, especially my daughters, to see a woman going about taking care of her body the right way,” she says. “I haven’t found another runner yet, but I’m hoping one of the four will be someday.”
