Hi,
Hope this is the right topic to post this thread under:
I am pregnant (week 12). In my running I have for some time now been experiencing that I am becoming unusually slow (not that I ever was an especially fast runner... ;-) but I am becoming even slower).
Before my pregnancy, I ran about 5.45 min/km; now I should be happy if I can keep the time below 7 min/km!!
Is there anyone in here with experience with pregnancy, who can put my mind at ease..? Even though I am happy and excited with my pregnancy, I do get a little frustrated when I look at my "lap times". Will I need to start from scratch once my pregnancy is through, or can I hope to keep at least some basic shape even though my lap times are decreasing through the pregnancy...??
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Best advice? Speak to your midwife. Whilst it is obviously wise to stay in shape when pregnant you may be doing harm with the shock/impact on your belly. I seem to remember Mrs J being advised to take up water borne rxercise programmes during her pregnancy. the other good bit of advice she got was to whack loads of skin cream into the bump from ASAP and she got away without a single stretch mark! Not bad going as "little" Cole came out at 9lb 2oz!!
I quote from Claire Kowalchik's book 'Running for women' (p. 148 ff.)
'Cardiac output (in pregnancy) increases 30 % to 50 % and blood volume expands by 35 to 45 % during pregnancy. These increases mean your blood can carry more oxygen, but also, during exercise your body makes adjustments to meet the oxygen needs of the foetus and your working muscles.'
She says that you WILL run slower and probably running slower miles each month, but you will maintain your aerobic capacity and may even improve it:
(p. 150): 'Experts explain that pregnancy in itself is like exercise. With added weight you expend more energy standing, walking, running - doing any weight bearing activity. '
A word of caution is that during pregnancy you produce relaxin, a hormone that relaxes the ligaments of the pelvis and occurs in other joints too, making a runner more susceptible to injuries during this time. Also increased weight during last months puts additional stress on joints.
During both my pregnancies I have chosen swimming as my preferred fitness regime and found I went back, and exceeded, my previous fitness level withing four months.
Whatever you do, enjoy your baby!
Thank you for the encouragements. Glad to hear that there IS hope of maintaining some basic ground shape. The advice with the skin cream is also something to take up, I´m sure ;-)
I have just returned from my morning run and I must admit that a little swimming does not sound entirely out of the question, after a 5 K which took me almost 40 min!! big sigh ;-)
Well, I am enjoying my pregnancy on a completely other level than anything I have tried before, so doing some swimming besides running and a little spinning, I can stand the slower lap times. Thanks again for your input.