When I became pregnant with Ben I was asked a lot, "Are you going to keep running?" I would answer yes and I thought I would run a lot more than I actually did. The hills of Morgantown, a full time teaching job and uncertainty over exactly how much I could do kept my runs under four miles a couple of times a week. I completely stopped running at around 30 weeks but I can't remember ever having a week where I ran more than 12 miles total for the week during the entire pregnancy. I walked a lot but didn't really do much running. My walk at the end was very much a waddle as I made poor Andrew shiver in the cold all bundled up while I was sweating in a t-shirt. I ended up gaining more weight than I originally wanted (about 44ish pounds) and didn't really enjoy having all of that weight to get rid of.
My first run post Ben occurred when he was 2 weeks and 6 days old. I wasn't comfortable but it was manageable and nothing hurt worse than before so I kept at it running a couple of miles a couple of days a week. Once I received the official "Okay" to start exercising I did a little crossfit and started running more. I hated feeling like I had to train my body to exercise all over again and it felt like I'd never run a step in my entire life.
When we found out I was pregnant with #2, I was already about 7 weeks along and while I felt a little off (because I was pregnant and didn't know it) during some of my runs, I was still doing about 30-35 miles a week and teaching body pump 4 times a week. Once the first trimester nausea set it I watched my weekly mileage plummet but any day that I felt a little bit like running I did. There were mornings where I tied my running shoes and immediately felt sick so I would walk instead. As my pregnancy continued and I started feeling better I ramped my mileage back up and until two weeks ago ran between 20-30 miles a week--with a big week of 37 miles thrown into the mix. I did a half marathon at 25 weeks and maintained a weekly long run of 9 miles until 33 weeks. Total I have run a little over 800 pregnant miles. Now, at 36ish weeks pregnant my running is slowing down. I am still making an effort to get out there but my mileage goals are gone, my speed goals are gone and I figure that every step I run right now will make it a little easier on the other side of pregnancy. A huge positive from all of the running/teaching body pump is that my weight gain has been significantly less this time.
What I've learned about pregnant running...
1. The bigger I get, the more weird looks I get from people.
2. A pregnancy support band is a MUST. It helps hold up my rapidly growing stomach, helps with lower back pain and just makes me feel more secure.
3. If I make a decision to cut back on mileage/running back to back days it takes me about two weeks to actually follow through. A couple of weeks ago I said I wasn't going to run two days in a row but I still tried to do it. This week however, I am only running every other day in an effort to conserve some energy.
4. It is okay NOT to run. There are days I just haven't felt great and taking a day off is okay
5. Never wear a watch! (Pace, time, distance--none of them really matter when you are growing another human.)
6. I can eat whatever I want before I go for a run and it doesn't bother my stomach. (when I am not pregnant I can't eat much at all before running)
7. I have to stay REALLY hydrated. If I am even a little dehydrated while running I get side stitches really quickly and have to walk. It took me a couple of times of this happening to figure out what was going on.
8. Running with a dog becomes nearly impossible at around 35 weeks
9. I actually have to listen to my body--when not pregnant I tend to ignore minor aches and pains
10. It isn't as hard to do as people think. People are a little bit in disbelief that I have run as much as I have. Running pregnant for me isn't that hard as the weight gain is very gradual and my body has adjusted each week to what I am asking it to do. Right now as I near the end it is getting a lot harder but so is everything else!
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