People have been looking me up and down lately and giving me compliments about how I look and how I'm running. So first of all, Thank You! Others have been asking me to reveal how I did it and to tell my secret. The answer is, I don't know, I don't have one, and I really haven't done anything special. It's now 15 months since Daniel's birth and, aside from having this wonderful little person in my life, I don't feel any different. Actually, I may even feel better'Sure, I get less sleep, but getting up for those early morning runs is no longer a problem, since Daniel is generally awake around 6:00am anyway.

Rumor #1: Women runners come back fitter and faster after having babies. I have heard this rumor from several different sources, and, in one case, I've seen it in action. I was just hoping it would prove true for me. My return to running was a challenge, but actually quite fun. One thing's for sure, after the first post-baby run, I knew I could only get faster! For your interest and amusement, I've put together a little chronology of how I "came back."

Daniel arrives on the scene and chaos ensues for the next several weeks as I discover the joys of getting up every 2 hours around the clock to nurse. I have difficulty walking due to having a C-section, and wonder if I will ever run again. Actually, I wonder if I'll ever stand upright again. I console myself with the memory of my midwife saying, "Wow, look at those stomach muscles! You must be a belly dancer!" during the surgery.

I complete my first post-baby race, the Women's Distance Festival 5K, in a respectable 27:26. I'm helped by supermom Joanie Koss whose 3rd baby, Michael, was born just two days before Daniel. We exchange diaper tales on the start line, much to the amusement of Carol Brooks, and run together most of the way until she outkicks me on the track.

I somehow make it through the summer, running on the treadmill a lot because it's way too hot outside and Daniel is still too small for the BOB Sport Utility Stroller anyway. He flops around in it and the harness doesn't hold him in properly. I have visions of him rolling out of the thing when I go around a corner. I put him in his bouncy seat while I run on the treadmill and he drifts off to sleep, either due to the hypnotic repetition of my running, or sheer boredom.

I'm getting a bit anxious. I'm about to turn 30 and, while my friends are lamenting that fact because it signals the end of their twenties, the end of having any fun, the slippery slope to the midlife crisis, the slowing of the metabolism and the arrival of the spare tire, etc., I'm lamenting the fact that it means I'll enter a new age group. A tough new age group. Where do all these fast 30 - 39 year-olds come from? Did they skip their twenties or something? Which leads to Rumor #2: Once you hit 30, you get fitter and faster. Hmmm, so if having a baby and hitting 30 both make you fitter and faster, I would soon be tearing up those race courses'No, I didn't believe it either.

My last race as a 29-year old is the SterlingFest 5K. My husband, Stuart, and Daniel come out to watch. I speed up when I see Stuart holding Daniel and shouting "Go, Mommy!" I place 2nd in my age group and enjoy getting what will probably be my last award for the next 20 years.

Daniel is now big enough for the baby jogger and so I bundle him up in about 12 layers and out we go. Running with a baby jogger takes some practice. You can't pump your arms, which feels odd for a while, and I have a tendency to hang on to the thing when I'm going up hill, effectively pulling it back down and therefore countering my efforts to go up. Eventually, I get the hang of it. Unfortunately, this happens precisely when the temperature drops to sub-zero and so it's really too cold to take Daniel out. In fact, it's almost too cold to take myself out. Fortunately, I can now leave him for several hours at a time as he'll finally take a bottle, so I can run on my own. I enjoy several freezing cold, soaking wet runs before I finally throw in the towel myself and return to the treadmill. Daniel is learning to crawl and enjoys practicing on the treadmill at a nice steady pace.

I purchase a rain cover for the baby jogger so that I can take Daniel out now that it's warm enough but raining 99% of the time. He really enjoys it. Most of the time he falls asleep, but sometimes he looks around and checks out what's going by. He particularly enjoys bumps, and has a tendency to go "oooh" when we hit one! I'm so relieved he enjoys it. He hates sitting still, but put him in a stroller and he's happy.

I run the Patriot's Cup 8K and, to my amazement, finish in 37:47. I consider myself officially "back." I place 2nd in my age group, too!

The Tim Harmon 5K has a baby jogger division! I figure I can place in that! On the morning of the race I'm particularly pleased when Stuart discovers that the jogger's tires are pretty flat, and inflates them for me. I've been training with underinflated tires! This will seem easy. I cruise up and down the hills and finish in 24:11, first place in the women's baby jogger category. Daniel and I collect our first trophy.

I run the Women's Distance Festival 5K in 23:01. I place 3rd in the 30-34 age group, and collect my 2nd trophy in two weeks.

I'm starting to think there may be some truth in those rumors.