Mountain Mother Runner

Last Friday was our daughter’s 2 nd birthday, which had me reminiscing over her birth. During my pregnancy I kept a journal called Love Letters for Baby Renteria . After baby Eisley was born, I made sure to write her birth story so I wouldn’t forget anything. Someday she will be able to read about her journey into this world! I’m sharing this with you as a raw, real-life birth experience and a reminder that no matter how many books you read, classes you take, or videos you watch online, your “birth plan” is just that…a PLAN, and not everything goes as planned. Still hiking mountains at 36 weeks pregnant! July 21, 2014-4:08am-We went to bed around 11:30pm last night after going to Gold’s Gym for some treadmill time. I was sleeping fairly well until I started dreaming that I was beginning to have contractions. In my dream, I thought, “Ohh, so this is what a contraction feels like.” It felt somewhat like period crams in the front lower abdominal area that wrapped around to my low...

A few months ago, I planned out my tentative race schedule for the year. One race per month seemed fairly realistic between my husband’s schedule and me relying on him to watch Eisley while I race. That being said, sometimes life throws you a curve-ball and you have to improvise. Adapt and overcome, right? Well, my husband booked a mini trip to celebrate his birthday the same weekend as Race Beneath the Sun . Photo by Scott Allen Instead of canceling the event, I contacted the Race Director out of curiosity to ask if jogging strollers were allowed. She replied that someone did it with a stroller the previous year, but the C. Moore loop would be pretty difficult! I view ‘difficult’ as being a challenge, and I sure do love a good challenge. The race is hosted by Greater Bellingham Running Club and the course is 5 miles that are mainly trail, including some hills and a challenging climb up C. Moore loop trail, which is luckily only ¼ mile. Morning of the race, I ate some oatmeal a...

Runnin’ O the Green: Saturday, March 14, 2015 Last year I was six months postpartum and signed up for my first race, Runnin' O the Green 5k, which I would be running at eight months postpartum. My goal was to run the entire time and finish under 30 min. This ignited my passion for running. Over the past year I've continued to push myself, completed seven races, discovered trail running, got in the best shape of my life (even pre-pregnancy!), and completed my first half marathon in 1:44!  After I began running six months postpartum, in January 2015, the first race I signed up for was the Runnin’ O the Green in downtown Bellingham, Washington. I only had a grand total of two months of running before this race, and I think the furthest distance I had ran was MAYBE a total of 2.5 miles. Either way, signing up for this race was the motivation I needed to continue running, pushing myself both physically and mentally, and a chance to see how fast I could actually run! Runnin...