Wahoo! After months of blog silence, I‘m back with a race recap!
My friend Jane & I ran the Leona Valley Trail Race 10k a few weeks ago. We both gave birth this past spring, and this was the first post-baby race for both of us. We made a point to tell all the aid station volunteers this info, so we’d get extra cheers and encouragement…yes, we are shameless!
We’d originally planned to do the half marathon distance, but the summer’s heat and the demands of family and work meant that we felt undertrained come race time, and we decided to drop down to the 10k instead. [I ran the half marathon course last year (while 12 weeks pregnant!) and you can see that recap here.] This turned out to be a great decision—I’m honestly not sure if I would have been able to handle a half marathon on that particular day.
Yes, I was the dork wearing a hydration vest at a 10k and no, it totally wasn’t necessary…but I was carrying snacks and cameras and phones for 2, and I prefer a half-full hydration vest to a stuffed waist pack.
I’ll be the first to admit my training was really sporadic going into the race. I’d run up to 6 miles, but my usual runs were 3-4 miles in length, often with a running stroller that slowed me down, and I only did that a few times a week. I figured the 10k was going to be fine because I could push through some discomfort, plus I knew Jane was cool with taking it slow and walking when necessary—we mostly just wanted to have fun and enjoy ourselves out on the beautiful trails.
