Pregnant runners' club

I've just tested positive...due on 2 August! Can't run at the moment due to sprained ankle, but it's healing fast. Usually do 30-40 min 2 x pw with a longer run on Sundays--training to do a 10K. Been running since July ish, done one 5K in 38 mins.
I'm 44 and I have a son of 4. Last year I had a miscarriage so I want to do everything possible to stay healthy--so I'm not going to push things too much when I am well enough to get back out running (got a sprained ankle at the moment).
Would love to hear from other mums to be.
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Comments

  • Big Congratulations. I was a big runner until I got pregnant and then gave up after I was 4 months gone, but continued to go swimming, go on the cross trainer and attend a a yoga pregnancy class (highly recommended if you can find one in your area). Just becareful (especially due to your sad story last year)instead of running slow your pace to a jog. You know your own body it will tell you when you should start to take things more slowly. I'm now trying to get back in to running after the birth of my daughter.
  • oooooooh
    no advice
    but just wanted to say congratulations

    lovely!
  • Americano

    Congratulations, and like Mini MoJo said, do take it very easy. Someone in a similar position to you posted last week, and she hadn't been running for very long either. The general consensus seems to be that if you've been running for over 6 months, it's fine to continue at pre-pregnancy levels of training (as long as you feel OK and the doc/midwife don't forbid it). Otherwise, you probably need to ease off a bit. It's definitely a good idea to carry on exercising though, and as Mini MoJo suggested, swimming, x-training etc are really good for you and baby as well.

    Pregnancy is NOT a time for trying to improve your fitness, or take on new fitness challenges, so perhaps postpone the 10k until after baby's born?

    Anyway, good luck and hope everything goes really well for you!
  • Hey Caramel--another coffee related name. I have been running 'seriously' for around 6 months but my fastest pace is probably only a jog.
    Thanks for the congratulations PH! I can't really believe it especially as I am so old. I'm not expecting everything to be OK though, but obviously it would be fab if it all works out.
    MiniMJ, I will also be working out at the gym, and doing preg yoga after 12 weeks. I am getting a new gym programme sorted as soon as ankle is better. Why did you stop running--did it get too uncomfortable after 4 months?
  • you aint old
    silly moo!
  • For a start my boobs got really big really quickly and couldn't keep up in buying new sport bras every 2 weeks!!! All that bouncing around started taking its toll and got a bit uncomforatble. I know this sounds stupid but when I got to the 4 month stage I could feel the baby plodding up and down inside of me as well and didn't want to risk anything, so decided to take it easy. As Caramel said this isn't the time to be thinking about improving your fitness and that 10K - even though its important to you. Just think it will be something to aim for once you have had your little bundle of joy.
  • Americano

    Forgot to say that all the advice I've seen says that, if your body is used to exercise, then it's best that you keep exercising when you get pregnant. You will need to tailor what you do to how tired/sick/sore-boobed you feel, but you are much less likely to develop the annoying side-effects of early pregnancy, and you can protect against the potentially dangerous complications of later pregnancy, such as high blood pressure, diabetes etc.

    Your body is going through so many changes in early pregnancy that cutting out exercise altogether if you have been used to it is actually thought to make it more of a challenge for your body to cope.

    But, as with all these things, I suspect it's based on conjecture and anecdotal evidence (ie. one woman didn't run in first pregnancy and felt rough/had high blood pressure, but ran in second and felt better/didn't have high blood pressure etc), because, as you can well understand, no woman is going to allow her pregnancy to be subjected to serious medical experiments to test the affects of exercise on the baby. They've done tests on pregnant ewes, making them exercise hard for extended periods of time, and come to various conclusions - everything from 'it's very dangerous' to 'it's absolutely fine', but these days, it's generally acknowledged that exercising at an intensity which the pregnant woman feels is 'quite hard' is perfectly fine. No-one will tell you how long it's OK to run for - ie 30 mins, an hour or longer? It depends on how YOU feel.

    Wow - that was a lot of waffle, wasn't it?

    I'll get me coat...

    All the best!
  • MoJo, I'd forgotten about the sore bouncing boobs--I can already feel mine expanding if that's possible after 5 weeks!
    Caramel, that's exactly the conclusion I reached from what I had read. Before I tested, I noticed a book about running and pregnancy in my local library--the woman who wrote it was an elite runner who said she went for a 5-mile run on the day she gave birth!!!!
    As soon as my ankle is better I'll go for a gentle jog around the park and see how I feel.
  • Yes it is possible. I'd already gone up a size by then and continued all the way through, to an impressive 42D and I'm only a wee gal.

    Was that elite runner for real. I just urge you to becareful. If you've only been running since Jul I think it may be a bit much on your body to continue running -stick to that very gentle jog and just keep up with alternative exercise. You'll soon know how you feel once you've been round the park.
  • Am so glad have just found this thread. Found out my girlfriend is 3months pregnant, and she is getting miserable about what training she can or cant do. She's just been accepted into marathon, and cant accept that she wont be able to even walk it- she is due on 10th June.

    Best of luck everyone!
  • Congratulations
    can i join even tho not preggers ? am actually on fertility treatment, FSH injections, second cycle and totm just came this morning, so am a bit down today, however treatments are working and i am ovulating, unlike the 18 months of hell on clomid !!!
    Have been running and consultant happy for me to keep running even though i am on fertility treatment, as long as i just keep to what i'm used to and don't overdo it and run at comfortable pace, i usually run 3 times per week, one longer run of about an hour and 2 shorter ones about 30 to 40 mins and do a yoga class
  • btw i have been running for about 6 years, Americano, tell me i'm being nosey, but what age are you, since you reckon you're 'so old'
  • Mrs O, I am 44! But am v immature with it, still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. How long have you been trying for a baby?
    SDadtobe, congratulations! I know someone who's got a FLM place and is deferring it to next year (although training with a small baby in tow is not ideal)-is that an option for your partner?
    MMJ that elite runner is very definitely for real! I think you can view the book on this site somewhere. Obviously though, she was used to running long distances and probably weighed no more than a flea even with a bump!
  • Slippery Daddy big congratulations to you both - you've got so much to look forward to.

    Good Luck Mrs O - hope you have some good news soon. I'm not preggers either - just a Mum to a 9 week old girl.

    As for that elite runner - bloody mad! Mind you I did go shopping in Tesco the morning my waters broke as worried we wouldn't have any food in the house and would we have time to go once the baby arrived...
  • Been trying for about 2 and a half years now, already knew i might have trouble so docs put me on clomid after being of pill for about 3 months as my periods never came back. On clomid for nearly 2 years right up to highest doses which gave me horrible side effects, basically pmtx10 and visual disturbances and i didn't ovulate once. On FSH injections now and seems to be working really well, just need to let nature take its course. Apparently even normal couples would expect to take up to six months or even a year to concieve naturally so probably a bit much me expecting to fall pregnant on first or second cycle, maybe third time lucky !!!!!
  • Mrs O you never know Santa may bring you an extra special present this year - fingers crossed for you.
  • thanks a lot mini- congratulations to you as well!!
  • Congrats both Americano and SDTB, I start my fertility treatment tomorrow so really hope to join you guys soon :-)
  • Mrs O, just re-read your post, fingers crossed for you. Its Clomid I'm starting on tomorrow.
  • Cinders, don't take too much notice about my experience with clomid, the doc's reckonned i was 'clomid resistant' and it was just because they tried me up to a high dose (200mg) that i got bad side effects. For many folks, they will ovulate on the lower doses. You may feel a bit grotty one or two days of your period and just warn your other half not to take it personally if you are a bit grumpy, but on the lower doses for me it was no worse than normal pmt really. According to my Dad's cousin, one of her neices had to take pills to concieve both of her children (so it worked twice for her) so i'm assuming that she took clomid as i haven't heard of any other fertility drugs that come in pill form. Good luck and if you want to ask any questions about clomid or my experiences feel free to ask anytime.
  • Thanks Mrs O, can be grumpy then with a good excuse :-)

    Will let you know how things go!
  • Can I join in? I am pregnant but am not running at the moment. I ran back from the park with my 6 year old son when I was only 2 months pregnant and have had quite a few problems since. I would normally agree with the 'listen to your body' advice, however my body doesn't seem to tell me when to stop.... I am now 5 months pregnant and after spending 3 months in bed I am finally allowed to walk around the house a little.

    Initially I was planning to keep on running throughout my pregnancy but I am now hoping to just be allowed to go for a walk outside.

    Best of luck to all of you and I hope you wil not overdo it, it is just not worth it.
  • Crikey, Annemieke, what happened when you ran? Was it a pregnancy-related injury?
  • Started loosing blood. I spend a few days in bed and seemed ok again. One week later it happened again spend some time in hospital got out spend another week in bed and as soon as I got up it happened again. I was having contractions nearly continuously. Thankfully I am much better now.

    I guess the blood loss would have happened anyway, whether I would have run or not but I still think it is wise to play it save.

    All the best with you pregnancy Americano. I hope you will be able to continue some sort of running routine throughout your pregnancy. Every pregnancy is different. Just don't overdo it.

  • Annamieke, am so pleased your pregnancy is progressing well now. It must have been so frustrating and boring to have so much bed rest-and scary, too.
  • Did anyone bother to get a HRM when pregnant, to monitor heartrate and make sure you're not going over the recommended (140bpm ??) limit and not over doing it, or did most folks find that they were able to judge how far to push it by themselves ??
  • I got a HRM when I found out I was pregnant (now mum to a lovely 7 month old). Unfortunately I was diagnosed with sky high blood pressure at 16 weeks and spent the rest of my pregnancy either in hospital or resting :0( So not really much help I'm afraid!! I did find though, that for the first 3 months that I continued to run it was very hard to keep my HR below 140 so it makes me wonder what it was like before.... And it was nothing to do with fitness as I was up to 18 mile training runs when I found out I was pregnant!

    I firmly believe in doing what feels right (although obviously there are exceptions as for Annemieke). I started running again 4 weeks after caesarean delivery and have been training as normal ever since, even though I know that is not the norm.

    Yoga and swimming are a good way of staying fit when pregnant - I was allowed to do that until 24 weeks when I had to go into hospital (baby born at 36 weeks).

    Best of luck all you pregnant ladies!

    Hegs x
  • I ran through both pregnancies. With the first baby I stopped after +/- 4 months and carried on swimming up until the birth (went swimming on the morning of my daughters birthday). I was able to start running again around 3-4 weeks after the birth (run/walk - very, very gentle). During the second pregnancy I kept running until well into my 7th month pushing my daughter along with me. Although in the end I was very (!) slow. My body did tell me during pregnancy what to do and when to stop and I think it is very important to listen to that and not to overdo it!
    My baby is due in January so I am taking things easy at the moment and head to the pool again. I only hope that I am lucky again this time and able to start again so soon. It really helped keep me sane!

    Good luck to all other mummies to be!
  • K9K9 ✭✭✭
    wow! running until 7 months pushing a baby! I'm so impressed. Hope I manage that without the baby jogger!
  • The best advice in pregnancy is to continue what you would do normally. Don't increase your exercise and listen to your body. Never start a new exercise regime in pregnancy. I personally found my tummy kept going hard when I got to about 16 weeks and tried to run so I stopped. However this was my fourth pregnancy and the only one I ran in and I also bled on and off throughout (which i hadn't done in my other three) so maybe running is just best avoided and stick to aqua aerobics when your growing tummy is supported. (p.s. I'm a midwife)
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