​When postpartum running continued to go well, I decided to search for a trail race.

The one that caught my eye was the Rick O'Donnell Memorial 5.22 Mile Trail Run.

5.22 miles is not a common distance. Yet it hooked me instantly because 52 happens to be my magical race number. To top it off, on the date of the race, my newborn son, Grey, turned five months and two weeks. Another 5/2 for good measure!

In this race, I sought out the magic. Yet my race angel, my father, still arrived in good fashion. Before I tell you how, I'll summarize his appearances over the past two years. 

Fact number one: My father, A.J. Cunningham, died June 1, 2013, four weeks before I gave birth to my first son, Avie Jennings (A.J.) Harder.

Fact number two: My father was born February 15, 1952 (2-15-52 - keep these digits in mind - they are the essence of this story).

Fact number three: Race bib numbers are completely randomly selected for all race participants. 

Now the miracles begin...

Miracle number one: Bib number at my first race, the 2015 Mount Summit Challenge, after dad died: 52 (dad's birth year).

Miracle number two: Bib number at my second race, the 2015 15.5-mile Ohiopyle Trail Run & Ride, after dad died: 252 (dad's birth month and year).

Miracle number three: The last song I heard on the radio before racing in the North Face Endurance Challenge 10K Trail Race: "My Father's Daughter" by Jewel and Dolly Parton. I won fourth female and first in my age category.

Fact number four: I won second overall female for a third time in 2015 in the Burlington, Wi., Town Bank Turkey Trot 5K - to me, that was my dad saying, "Brynny, you can win first!!! Believe in yourself!" He was the one to cheer the loudest and instill self-confidence in me when it came to competing.

Miracle number four: At the 2016 Mount Summit Challenge, my bib number was 152 (dad's birth date and year). I won first overall female. The "one," to me, indicated that it was my turn for first. 

Miracle number five: One week after winning the Summit, I ran the Pittsburgh Marathon. My bib was 2517 (dad's birth date and year in reverse, with my favorite number 7). 

​Miracle number six: On February 15, my dad's birthday, the 2017 Mount Summit Challenge registration form arrived in the mail. I was pregnant and did not plan to race but cherished his attempt to reach me. 

Miracle number seven: When my newborn was four weeks old, we took him to the 2017 Mount Summit Challenge. I wanted to cheer on the first female. As she crossed the finish line, I gasped, completely amazed - her bib number was 152 (the same bib number as mine the previous year when I won first overall female).

Miracle number eight: At the August 20, 2017 Mountain Laurel 5K, my first postpartum race after having baby Grey, I finished first overall female with a time of 22:55 (dad's birth year, doubled and reversed), without a Garmin or anything to tell me my time until after finishing. 

Miracle number nine: At the 5.22-mile Rick O'Donnell Memorial Trail Run on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, my bib was 521 (my dad's birth year plus his birth date of 15 scrambled). I won third overall female. 

Rick's Run was a beautiful single track loop in Greensboro State Park, Md. My family and I camped the night before. The race course ran just past our campsite, through the woods and along the lake on a rocky, hilly dirt path lined in trees. 

I slept in until 7 a.m. that morning after a restless night with Grey and rushed to the lakeside start/finish area then to the check-in tables. 

As I counted four safety pins while the race volunteer leafed through the bibs for mine, I scanned the area for my friend Shane who was to meet me at the race with her two children and her cousin who would accompany my husband in watching our little ones, all ages four and under, while we ran. (Thank you, Grace and Eric!) 

Finally the bib was handed to me. Because I had already chosen the race based on the connection with the distance, I had zero anticipation, expectation or thoughts of "Dad, will you come?"

Yet there he was. Bib 521 was mine. Divinely aligned. 5.22 miles. Grey at age five months and two weeks. And now bib number 521. He was there. He was all around. 

I wanted to tell the race volunteers the entire story, but it's a long one, so I smiled and floated away, staring at the bib. I wanted to go sit. To cry. To pray. To ponder.

But I needed to find Shane, use the restroom and nurse Grey one last time. 

Finally Shane and I united. "Look!!!" I screamed, unable to hold it in any longer as I held up the bib. We laughed and smiled (two things we do best together lol!) then hurried to find the start line. 

Earlier that week I had forgotten to reorder my contact lenses, so I was running with my glasses (ugh!). I wore the Oiselle Long Roga Shorts with pockets big enough to stash the glasses as soon as sweat began to fog them up. That happened around mile one. 

​The first big hill climb arrived near mile two. I still had not felt warmed up or in the flow. Instead I felt heavy, tired and slightly dizzy (perhaps it was my lack of clear vision lol!). 

By miles two and three the crowd thinned out, and I was mostly alone except for several male runners in the distance and some whom I'd pass or who would pass me. 

At mile four the flow arrived. It's a feeling of weightlessness, freedom and joy, of time standing still and ecstasy bursting in the mind. I had no idea what place I was in, because the eight-hour ultra racers were running amongst the 5.22-milers. 

Crossing the finish line is a sweet moment of racing. It's the moment when all momentum has built up to an escalating speed that spins and synchronizes the mind, body and spirit to surreal heights. That is why I race. It has never been about the competition, or what others are doing around me. It has been the desire to find my flow within the race and the sweetness of the finish.  

​My time was 49:08.6 with a 9:13 pace. Several folks told me I was fourth overall female but weren't sure. Shane came in at 56:49.5.

Once the results were posted and awards being announced, I heard my name. "Third overall female, Brynn Cunningham of Ohiopyle." What a surprise! It turned out that a woman competing in the ultra had made her first lap in between the first and second overall women. Her placement obviously did not affect the results of the 5.22-mile distance, so the second overall female and I were delighted! 

We received a granite rock trophy pertaining to the story of Rick O'Donnell. 

With my race angel in mind, the December 3 Deerslayer Trail Run will be my next race.

My dad was a deerslayer, a truly gifted hunter. I hear stories from his friends of how he's chased down and tackled deer. His living room was lined with racks and deer heads (two of which I've inherited). If he were alive, he would get a roaring laugh out of a race named the Deerslayer. And he would certainly be the loudest one cheering at the finish line. 

Dad, I'll see you at the race! 

​Some of us love running so supremely that we cannot imagine life without it - we might go so far as to say that it exists as our dharma. We must run. The feelings evoked from running sets into motion an internal drive that courses through our veins, our spirits. To act upon the desire to run brings us pure bliss. It is a path to our highest happiness.  

For those who feel the way I do about running (stated above ;), you understand the craving to return to it as quickly as possible post-hiatus, whether the break was due to injury, life changes, or, in my case, birth. 

(Note: Returning to running postpartum depends largely on the level of one's activity during pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. Click here to read how I stayed fit throughout pregnancy. Please keep in mind that each pregnancy, woman, birth, baby and life are different. My purpose in writing this is to provide a community, a platform, a guide for postpartum women returning to running. What inspired me to do so were the many postpartum running blogs that provided me with a sense of comfort, understanding, perspective and direction.)

My first son, Avie, now four years old, was born naturally at home with zero tearing or complications. I returned to running 10 days after delivery. It was not a gentle run/walk but an explosive energy burst of 2.7 miles that felt good in the moment but not so great afterward. The running prolonged postpartum bleeding to last for seven total weeks (the normal is four to six weeks), and I dealt with joint laxity and resulting injuries. Yuck! This time I approached it differently. 

After giving birth to my second baby boy, Grey, on April 2, 2017, I returned to running in the same fashion that I tapered my running toward the end of the pregnancy. In other words, I began by run/walking. Like my first son, I had Grey naturally at home without tearing or complications. This time I dehydrated and encapsulated my placenta, which assisted in ceasing postpartum bleeding. By day 20 postpartum, I went for my first run. No bleeding, injury or joint laxity occurred, so I continued to run. Below I give you a brief breakdown.

This is what my build-up from run/walking to running looked like:

Day 20 Postpartum: 2.5-mile run/walk
Day 21 Postpartum: 1.8-mile run/walk
Day 22 Postpartum: 2.08-mile run/walk
Day 23 Postpartum: Rest/Yoga only
Day 24 Postpartum: 1.3-mile run/walk with Avie (four years old) and stroller
Day 25 Postpartum: 1.91-mile run/walk with stroller
Day 26 Postpartum: Rest/Yoga only
Day 27 Postpartum: 3-mile run
Day 28 Postpartum: 2.62-mile run
Day 29 Postpartum: 1.05-mile run/walk with Avie and stroller
Day 30 Postpartum: Rest/Yoga only

This is my weekly mileage, from six to 11 weeks postpartum: 

Six weeks postpartum: 9.86 miles
Seven weeks postpartum: 12.16 miles
Eight weeks postpartum: 13.5 miles
Nine weeks postpartum: 15.26 miles
Ten weeks postpartum: 15.49 miles
Eleven weeks postpartum: 15.1 miles

Tips for Postpartum Running: 

1. Begin low and slow. 
The slow, low mileage brought me back to running and racing shape much more quickly than jumping into it like I did after my first birth. So far, I have only run up to 20 weekly miles and feel fantastic.

2. Take to the trails. 
​Another key factor to my easy return to running is my chosen terrain of dirt! It's soft, forgiving and simply more pleasurable to be in the woods. At age 11, when I began running, I only did so on dirt roads and on trails. While running on roads is convenient, my transition back to what I grew up mostly doing has felt natural and refreshing. Farther, I notice that when I run on pavement, my joints become unhappy (stiff and sore). So, take me to the woods!

​3. Run with other women. 
​The postpartum period of a woman's life might be one of the most vulnerable, fragile, exhausting and overwhelming times. Being amongst women just feels good! Three months after having Grey, I did something I've always wanted to do - I formed an all-female trail running group. We call ourselves the Trail Tribe, and we run in the woods at the nearby state park. I look forward to my time with these women in the woods like I used to look forward to Friday night sleepovers in grade school! I love these women. Some are mothers, some aren't. A 30-year age gap exists between some. Many haven't run on trails before - now they love it and do it on their own. Some run 6-minute miles and some 12. But on the days when we run, we stay together. And we share one common thread that binds us - running. It's our dharma.  

4. Honor where you are.
Does your knee hurt? Do something about it. Do you only feel like running twice this week? Then only run twice. Does it feel as if you'll never run fast again? So what! Do you feel like running fast? Don't be scared - try and see how it feels! Birth is a huge event, so respect what the body tells you and breathe into it.  

5. Minimize goal setting.
​Or don't make them at all. This leads me to the rest of the story - my first postpartum race. 

When Sarah, one of the members of the Trail Tribe, told me about a nearby 5K trail race she was doing, I leapt at the opportunity to join her. I invited some other women, and our fellow Trail Triber, Shane, signed up, too. I rallied my family, and we made a weekend of it. We reserved a campsite for two nights and took off!

On Sunday, August, 20, at four months postpartum, I lined up for my first race, the Laurel Hill State Park Mountain Laurel 5K. I had zero qualms about racing and also zero goals.

1. You will never hear me command my children to slow down or stop running... unless they are running toward danger such as into traffic or off of a cliff. Running down a steep hill or over rocky terrain does not qualify as dangerous territory. When I see my four-year-old run, a smile instantly spreads across my face, and I cheer! "Looking good!" or "You're so fast!" are positive phrases that encourage Avie's, and all children's, biological drive to feel the wind upon his face and speed within his soul. Humans were born to run, and children inherently know it and do it so well. Therefore, allowing our children the freedom of expressing such a desire lifts their spirits and fulfills their soul.  

2. Physical activity tops our daily activities. When I return from a run, I feel settled, refreshed, motivated and joyful. Children feel the same boost of endorphins after engaging in rhythmic, full-body exercise. In the same way that running keeps me balanced, running keeps my four-year-old son's energy levels in check. He is more content, at ease, less reactive and calmer after moving his body in a mindful way (so long as he has plenty of water to drink throughout his runs). When emotions are running high in my household, a run or something equally as physically stimulating is often just the antidote we need. 

3. Running gives us a reason to travel, explore and be outside regardless of weather. We are an outdoor-loving family! Running supports this love. Recently we spontaneously took a two-night camping trip, with one rainy night, to a state park because a 5K trail race was taking place, and I wanted to participate. The race brought us outside, in communion with good people and friends AND to a new place, a triple win (not to mention my win of first place female in the race!). In two more weeks, we're going camping because of a 5.22-mile trail race that I'll be running in a state park we've never explored. All in all, running allows an opportunity for my family to unwind while learning about, appreciating and enjoying nature, which offers the ultimate sensory experience, provides life skills and keeps kids thriving, according to the Patagonia article How We Can Inspire Children to be Stewards of the Planet.