For most of this track season, Sara Vaughn has been doing her second runs each day after 9 p.m. After an early morning workout, after work, after the kids are fed and put to bed, and after the sun has gone down.
The 31-year-old mother of three from Boulder, Colorado, knows that her lifestyle isn’t ideal for a professional athlete. But somehow she makes it work—so much so that when she competed in June at the U.S. Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, California, she found herself finishing third in the 1500 meters, qualifying her for the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in August in London.
The look of shock, followed by tears of joy and unadulterated excitement Running Shoes - Gear that race—especially the friends and family members who understand the kind of hours Vaughn keeps each day to juggle the demands of family, her real estate career, and running.
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“It’s been a long time coming,” Vaughn said. “I’ve been putting in work for a number of years but never could put in a performance that quite matched my fitness.”
Vaughn and her husband, Brent, who ran professionally in Portland, Oregon, prior to retiring from the sport, had their first daughter, Kiki, now 10, when Vaughn was a junior at the University of Colorado. The couple welcomed Calia (now 7) three years later and then Cassidy, who turns 2 in August.
In a recent phone interview with Runner’s World, Vaughn talked about what it’s like to be a professional athlete, mother, wife, and full-time realtor.
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Vaughn, who was a member of the Boulder Track Club until early this year, wanted Brent to become her coach for a long time. He finally caved, and the arrangement has helped Vaughn adapt more easily when a kid is sick or work is extra busy.
“His response when I asked him to coach me was, ‘But we’re getting along so well.’ I think he was afraid it was going to change things for us,” Vaughn said. “We set some ground rules, and it’s been going really well.”
The first rule is: at the track, Brent is a coach, not a husband. At home, they don’t talk shop except for one planning session on Sunday evenings.
“If he assigns me a really hard workout, and I try to sweet talk my way out of it or get him to change his mind, he’s kind of a hard ass,” Vaughn said, laughing.
Pregnancy Comebacks
Vaughn has regained fitness and form after each of her pregnancies and none were the same, she said. Her advice to other moms returning to a running routine after baby? Don’t fall into the comparison trap.
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“It took me way longer the third time to get back into shape,” Vaughn said. “You have to be gentle with yourself and kind and forgiving. I remember after the third one I was in the worst shape I’ve been in in my life. It just takes time.”
Motivated Momma
Staying enthused about training hasn’t always come easy. After the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials a year ago, where she finished seventh, 11 months after giving birth to Cassidy, Vaughn wasn’t sure she wanted to continue competing.
“I took a couple of weeks off and a couple of weeks turned into a month—and a month turned into eight weeks and then I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it anymore,” she said. “Motivation definitely is not something I depend on. It’s not always there.”
Vaughn is driven to continue running as an activity, however. Even if she’s not training, logging a few miles everyday will always be part of her life.
“If I can get out every day, the motivation returns,” she said. “I think it makes me a better person and a better mom.”
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When the family arrived back in Colorado in 2013 after training in Oregon, Vaughn needed to find a job. She took classes to get her real estate license.
“Being a professional athlete and a mom for five years was of no value even to a shoe company I applied to. They were like, ‘What have you been doing? What’s your work experience?’ I literally had nothing on my résumé,” she said. “I like hosting clients. I love living in Boulder, I’m super proud to show my clients around my hometown. I enjoy what I do.”
The schedule also accommodates the family. A typical day starts early with a run before the girls wake up or they go to childcare while she completes a morning workout. It’s home for lunch and after Cassidy goes down for a nap, the babysitter arrives and Vaughn goes to the office. When Brent gets home, she shows homes in the early evening. When she gets back, they make dinner, put the kids to bed, and she goes for her second run.
It’s not the typical schedule for a pro runner of Vaughn’s level, but she surmises that she’d over-analyze her running if that’s all she had to think about each day.
“I try to get into the gym a couple times a week for strength training. I think I’ve gotten a massage like twice,” she said. “I can’t remember the last time I napped. I like being busy, I function well that way.”
Family Planning
Vaughn is unique among the women at the top of U.S. distance running, because she’s never competed as a pro without also being a mother. Most wait until they’re firmly established in the sport or are ready to retire.
“I got asked a question by a blogger a while ago if I thought I would be [a] better [runner] if I had waited to have kids,” she said. “It’s not even a fair question. I don’t know how to answer that, because I can’t imagine that.”
Her children are absorbing a lot of critical life lessons by watching their mom compete. Among those values she hopes they are learning is independence.
“Just because I’m a mom and I give so much of myself to my kids doesn’t mean I have to let go of who I am,” she said. “I’ve never let go of what defines me, standing alone as a person.”
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Nutrition - Weight Loss.
“What’s the quote? It’s hard to beat somebody who never gives up? I think that’s what my oldest daughter sees,” she said. “She’s seen a lot of rough times for her dad and I both when it comes to running. Showing her that you can pick back up and keep going and find success—that you can learn more from the failures than that success—is something she’s learned along the way.”
London Calling
The entire family will make the trip in August to the world championships. Each of Vaughn’s children had a different reaction to her performance in Sacramento.
“My oldest was like, ‘Yes, you’re going to compete in the world championships, that’s cool!’ The middle one was like, ‘We’re going to London to see the Queen!’ and my third one was like, ‘Where are my cookies?’ She has no clue, but it’s still so fun,” Vaughn said.
Before the trek begins, Vaughn wants to pick another race to lower the 1500-meter personal best of 4:06.57 she set earlier in the season. Planning for an extra meet, of course, is challenging because many of the events take place in Europe. Would she fly there and back or stay until Brent and the kids come to London?
“I mean I don’t really even know if we can swing that financially—me not working for an entire month. It doesn’t make any sense. My husband has to work, too, and have the girls,” she said. “The logistics are tricky. I don’t mind taking some time off of work to focus for the next few months, but that puts a huge burden on my husband, too.”
At the championships, her goal remains to qualify for the final round on August 7, two days after Cassidy’s second birthday.
“I’ve always done well through rounds,” Vaughn said. “I know it’s a different level but I think I’m ready to handle that.”
