Where Amy Runs

The last race I'd run before giving birth was the Lightfoot Runners' Mother's Day 10K --3 months prior to becoming a mom--and now here I was, lacing up my sneakers--3 months after becoming a mom. I was one of those people who ran my entire pregnancy (including the day before giving birth!) but I gave up racing, enjoyed the slower miles, and above all else was grateful to my body for its ability to run comfortably while carrying precious cargo. I set no expectations for myself for this race. I hadn't trained, typically ran longer than 5 miles (it was an odd distance for me), and didn't know what "race pace" meant for my body postpartum. I decided I'd just ran fast, not look at my watch, and see what happened. The day was clear, cool, and windy. My husband and 3-month-old son jogged around with me to warm up and saw me off to the start--they were my motivation! Feeling ambitious, I wedged my way up towards the front of the pack. A father told his you...

I've had quite the hiatus from blogging (thankfully not from running!). Let me explain--in the 7 months since my last post, I've been growing a human (that's right, I'm *very* pregnant!) and bought + moved into my first house. Back in May, when I was 20.5 weeks/about 5 months pregnant, I ran a Mother's Day 10K. The race literally went by my new home, and the start was only about a mile from it. So, I played it by ear, and decided that--in spite of the rainy forecast--I really wanted to do it. I thought it'd be a cool experience to run a race pregnant, a 10k is well within my comfort zone, and the Mother's Day theme seemed to be quite appropriate. Top to bottom: 1. me heading to the finish, 2. my trophy AKA Mother's Day gift :), 3. the sign my husband made for him and my pup to cheer me on.  Quite surprisingly, I ended up being the fourth woman to finish the race (first in my age group) and averaged 7:23/mile...all this at about 5 months pr...

Our week in California was packed with miles--hiking, walking, running--and so I did not have any expectations of logging my usual weekly long run. (The day before we arrived in San Francisco, we'd gone on an epic hike, so the legs weren't exactly feeling fresh.) Yet, on our first morning, we managed an 11 mile run. California sure is beautiful, and that can definitely keep you running...perhaps, like me, even longer than you expected! From our hotel in Union Square, we headed straight for the water and entered at the Ferry Building. We took a left, ran through the Embarcadero (good people watching!), through Chrissy Field, took a detour for a Golden Gate Bridge photo op (see below), cut through the Presidio down to Baker Beach, then made our exit near Lobos Creek. Phew! Clear views of the Golden Gate Bridge on our unexpected long run along the San Francisco waterfront. Our original idea was to do a quick out-and-back along the water, but once we saw the Golden Gate...

To celebrate the new year, my husband and I made our first trip to the west coast. We landed in the Monterey airport well past sunset, got our rental car, and made our way to the hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea. It was pitch black, as if we were in a forest--no streetlights, nothing!--so, we had no idea of the beauty that surrounded us. Our nighttime arrival made the following morning's run along Scenic Drive that much more stunning. One of the beautiful beaches we looked down upon from Scenic Drive.  We ran down a steep hill from the hotel (oh-so-fun to run back up later!) directly to Carmel Beach and did a full out-and-back before heading back up to the road. We took the Scenic Drive loop, staying on the road as it was mostly one way with minimal traffic, plus it seemed there was an unspoken rule that the pedestrian path was for walkers only (most runners, like us, were in the streets). Usually I'm quite a conversationalist when I run (or actually, make that all the tim...