– By ELIZABETH WEBSTER

Special to the Maine Sunday

With the kids back in school, it’s time for parents to recharge their batteries.

After a busy summer of catering to the kids and carting them around to their many activities, you deserve some “YOU” time this fall.

“My clients typically fall off the bandwagon in the summer because they are spending time with their kids,” stated Laura Haskell, owner of One2One BodyScapes in Scarborough.

“Their top priority in the summer is to try to cram everything in and have fun with their kids. But with school back in session, my customers are back and desiring to get into a fitness schedule and regimen again,” she said.

They come for many reasons: to get fit, get healthy, train for a race, strength train, increase flexibility, lose weight, live longer and get off their meds, said Haskell, who’s offering a “Back to School Special” for adults to get into shape while the kids are in school.

Before forging ahead, she suggests that adults ask themselves: “What makes me happy? What makes me sane? And try to incorporate those activities into their busy lives.”

What makes Scott Furr happy, besides spending time with his wife, Anna, and kids Ethan, 7, Sebastian, 5, and Cora, 2, is windsurfing and surfing “pretty much year-round.”

He finds it easier to windsurf “by starting out from Ferry Beach in Scarborough and then heading over to Pine Point Beach.” He “was both exhilarated and exhausted” after his 90-minute windsurfing experience during Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 28.

“Motherhood is all about finding ways to make it work,” stated Amy Sedgwick. More than five years ago, this accomplished triathlete and an emergency medical resident at Maine Medical Center hurt her back at work and endured a difficult first pregnancy with her daughter Alexis, now 4. She credits the core workouts with Susan Janosik, a certified personal trainer from South Portland, “for making my second pregnancy an easy one. I had no back pain, ran until the day before my delivery and swam the morning of delivering Gabrielle, now 21 months old.”

The North Yarmouth resident, now an emergency physician at Central Maine Medical Center, gets up early to use the gym, weights and treadmill in her basement. She has also added endurance and yoga training to her exercise mix. “The endurance training helps me with contemplative thoughts, while yoga is good for the meditative ones,” she explained.

Now that her youngest of three boys has started his sophomore year at Scarborough High School, Jannifer O’Connor is hoping that fair skies will prevail. The registered nurse at Mercy Hospital’s Post Anesthesia’s Care Unit is looking forward to resuming her early morning bike rides on her days off.

Her 12-mile loop takes her from Fogg Road to Black Point Road to Ferry Beach to Prouts Neck to Higgins Beach and home. She particularly enjoys the 18-mile loop to Goose Rocks, Biddeford Pool and Fortunes Rock. Her plans also include she and her husband, Jay, taking their bikes aboard a Casco Bay Lines ferry to Peaks Island and enjoying the scenic view from a different perspective.

O’Connor, an avid gardener, is also “hooked on” checking out all the blooms in season at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay.

“We went there for Mother’s Day and in July and I foresee another trip this fall. It’s just gorgeous there. Much better than the last item on my To-Do List — getting my house organized,” she said.

Haskell, the One2One BodyScapes owner, also encourages clients “to mix it up and try something new like Zumba dancing or boot camp.” She’ll definitely be going outside of her comfort zone on Oct. 8 at Loudon Speedway in New Hampshire. She’ll be participating in the Renegade Playground Challenge.

This race consists of a three-mile obstacle sprint that includes: a tunnel and “mud buffet” crawl; a climb through a big rope web and across monkey bars; maneuvers over concrete barriers and through hanging tires; and the “mudsucker” run, where participants are urged to duct tape their sneakers to their feet.

Elizabeth Webster is a freelance writer who lives in Cape Elizabeth.