American River Parkway Half Marathon - my first one after a long break

Yaayi! I am back to running:-) American River Parkway half marathon was my first half marathon ever in 2011. And now 6 months after the baby was born, I did my first official race after the break, on April 26, 2014. I had been running on and off since January 2013, training on my own, with a friend. It is amazing that it was not too hard to get back to running after the baby. Probably, because I had continued running until 6 months of pregnancy but then was a big 5-month break. I actually found running much better after the break:-)

I know the course of this race pretty well. I did not break my personal record or anything but it was a good way to get back to the racing world. This one has always been a great race for me. This was my 3rd time doing it. Heat was the only thing which was worrying me but it was a great cloudy day that day. The course mileage this year was a little off, making it a 13.75 mile course instead of 13.1 miles. I completed the race in 2 hours 40 mins and did 13.1 mi in 2 hours 32 mins, per my GPS.

Anyone wanting to do PRs or wanting to run a half marathon for the first time, this one is a nice race on American River Parkway. Thousands of people participate in this one. It includes 5K race, half marathon walk and half marathon run. This might be the cheapest race in Sacramento with funds going to American River Parkway. It has always been very well organized and well managed. Will do it again!