The past two weekends have been a fun re-introduction to the fun of racing with my participation in the Great Pumpkin Chase 5km, a local run through downtown Albuquerque, NM and the Women’s Half Marathon in Scottsdale, AZ. As I am gearing to return to regular training, I was using these races as gauges of my current fitness. I entered the Pumpkin Chase 5km to see how fast I could run a 5km 11 weeks after having a baby, and after successfully completing that race, decided to enter the Women’s Half Marathon as a “fun” race to make up for missing the NWM half marathon with my sisters.
Racing a 5km was a lot harder than the casual, untimed runs I’ve been doing around the neighborhood, and I was glad to be running to the finish line instead of heading out for the 10km loop when we got to 3 miles! Running amidst pirates, fairies, Angry Birds and circus animals reminded me of the fun of community races and made me glad to be participating in such an inclusive activity.
A week later, John, MariaElena, my sister Analisa and I sat in the airport on our way to Phoenix. This was a big deal for John and I: MariaElena’s first flight, and our first flight as parents. Somehow, we lucked out to have only a curious and then sleepy baby to contend with; the only major crying happened in the car.

Having run a maximum distance of 5 miles thus far, I recognized that the half marathon was a “tiny” bit longer than that, so stylized my racing goal to reflect that: I wanted to run 7-8 miles, and then walk-jog the rest of the way. My sister was hoping to improve upon her NWM half time, so on race day morning, we jogged around a bit together and then prepared to go our separate ways at the start line. I started at a comfortable pace and as the miles ticked by and the sun rose, and I kept on running, feeling easy and enjoying the company of my fellow runners. To my surprise, at 8 miles I was still running and feeling great, so just kept going. I finished with a time of 1:35, very glad to be done.

Post race, I was salt-encrusted, tired, and very happy to see my husband, who was toting our daughter. Flopping on the grass, I was grateful to have a chance to nurse my daughter, rest my legs and drink a peppermint hot cocoa. My pelvis was very sore and felt kind of “stretched-out” for the next couple days, my lower abs were sore, and I was completely, totally wiped out. Back in New Mexico, I was so tired that I tried to put MariaElena to bed at 6:30pm in the hopes that I could soon follow; she didn’t cooperate, and at 9pm, John tucked me into bed and entertained our over-stimulated, time-change confused baby until she finally fell asleep.
After taking 3 days off from running and reflecting on my last two weekends of racing, I’m excited to return to a slightly more formal training routine. My hope is that with a somewhat more regularly sleeping baby, I’ll be able to move to a somewhat more regular running schedule. MariaElena and I both caught colds from the travel, so after we both return to good health, my goals are to run a few more days a week, to push my those runs closer to an hour, and to add some ‘pep’ with some strides. We’ll see how it goes!
You are my hero Magdalena!!!!!!!!!!!!! Running, school and baby!!!!!!!
Thanks, Neyda! This made me smile, and, after a night of about 3 hours of sleep (coughing/stuffy baby = awake baby = “awake” parents), I needed the extra grin.
Congratulations on your race. Love the ‘hand off’…great pic! lol
Thanks! Believe me, after ~4hrs of separation (bussing, racing, a bit of a walking cooldown), I was pretty anxious to get some relief in the form of nursing! My wonderful husband bottle-fed our baby, so she wasn’t too hungry, but I was sure glad to see them! 🙂
Mags, you are awesome! John too! What a wonderful and supportive husband you have.
Thanks, Julia! Yep, he is the greatest, and without him, it would be much, much more difficult to be out running. I am very blessed with him 🙂