No more turbo-flexing: Why Lauren Fleshman and Carrie Tollefson Rock

I've made it clear that I follow the elites and love to read about their training. I especially love reading their blogs or hearing them on interviews - it is just fascinating to get insights into those running at the highest level. In the past few years, there has been a new niche in the elite community: mommy runners. They still are trying to compete well, but now doing it after having children. And in the era of sharing everything on FaceBook, Twitter, they not only share what training they do, but the post-baby body! I loved Lauren Fleshman's column "Keeping it Real," where she, a 2-time National Champion in the 5k and now the mother of a 5 month old, showed her post-baby belly and legs. Carrie Tollefson, a 2004 1500m Olympian (who also was the newscaster for the Championship Race) has a podcast and recently posted a 5 minute ab video. And she raises a few good points:
1) Everyone has 5 minutes in their day - I could get off the computer for 5 minutes and do this
2) You don't have to be an Olympian to train like one - you don't need a fancy treadmill or machine to do the same drills that they do.
3) Just because you are a runner and are in shape doesn't mean that all of the core muscles are there. I know that I'm in shape and look fine, but still. It's something we need to work on intentionally. And that's the boat that I am in. Every year I swear up and down that this is the year that I work on core strength. And it happens for a week, and then goes caput. But hey, if I have extra incentive, I am getting married in less than 6 months (6 months!!) - let's get everything all toned and fabulous for the spring!
And I discovered after doing the workout that really, I have accumulated a series of strength workouts that I do, I can add in the core work too. I'll never have 6 pack abs, but the goal is to not have to do any "turbo-flex" when I run in the summer and totally rock a bikini with confidence.
In sum, game on.
Finally, thank you for all of the well wishes after the .US Road Racing Championships. It was such a great race, and gave me such a high. They finally released the finish pictures, so...

The abs may not be there yet, but the smile totally is.