When I was expecting my son Luca (he’s now almost 4) I was determined to keep running throughout the pregnancy. Although my midwife was strangely unenthusiastic, everything I’d read told me that it would be safe and even beneficial to keep running as long as I could (for me, this was up to 8 months, when I decided my “running” had degraded into ambling, then waddling, then barely moving, and it was time to call a halt). Women who run during pregnancy in general have easier pregnancies, and shorter labors— always a plus— which often require less medical intervention. In addition, running has always served as a stress-reliever for me, so if my hormone-addled self had been forced to quit for nine months, my husband would have been living in constant fear of bodily harm.
Of course, you can’t overdo it. But “overdoing it” means different things to different people; the old warnings about not exercising ‘til your heart rate gets up to 140 BPM have been disproved, although some doctors still base their advice on such obsolete parameters. General rule of thumb is to listen to your body, don’t get overheated, and cut back on— if you don’t totally eliminate— the speed work. If you are even slightly competitive, this is probably not a good time to run a race, as I can tell you from experience. During my first trimester I had the brilliant idea of running a half marathon and thinking it would be easy to hold back . . . it wasn’t. When that gun goes off you have to fight against the usual Pavlovian response, and that struggle continued for me throughout the 13.1 miles. “Never again!” I told myself, as I cursed having to hang out in the back of the pack with the folks who were wearing beer can hats and chatting on their cell phones all the way to the finish line. Once I relinquished the need for speed, though, my running became more enjoyable than ever. As I got bigger, my pace got slower, and soon I experienced the liberation of tossing out the watch and instead paying attention to the world around me.
In the end, the contentment produced by running will be worth all the disapproving comments and horrified stares. I received countless suggestions from strangers that I switch to walking so the baby wouldn’t get “jiggled around,” and was often asked by family and friends about the safety of running while pregnant, e.g.:
Couldn’t your uterus fall out?
On such occasions, just refer them to Chris Lundgren’s Runner’s World Guide to Running and Pregnancy (Rodale, 2003), which, in addition to being a great source of information for you, can also keep you sane during a period of life not notable for its sanity.
Jeanine Casler lives, runs, and writes in Evanston, Illinois.
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October 29th, 2008 at 11:33 am
[…] kidney stones (hint: put down the soda!), 21-year study of children on the way, running through pregnancy (if you MUST […]
January 7th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Are you kidding? I was hearing those remarks almost 19 years ago. It’s funny to think, that even in this day and age when there is so much information readily available to us, people still fall back on those “old wives tales”.
“Couldn’t your uterus fall out?”, “You’re eating for two now” and let’s not forget the men who like to fall back on the old excuse, “Honey, I can’t - what if I hurt the baby?”.
I guess some things will never change.
It’s wonderful to hear from women like you. Sharing your real life experience on a healthy and active lifestyle during pregnancy is a gift to many women who are going through or are thinking about becoming pregnant. And a wonderful trip down memory lane for those of us who have been there!
I am sure I will get alot of insight that I could pass on to and share with my daughters when it is their time. Or at the very least, they might not look at me as if I were crazy like I did when my mother tried to pass on some of her well-meaning but completely ludicrous advice (old wives tales).
February 19th, 2009 at 1:47 am
[…] >6 months and counting, I’m getting to the stage that some of you mothers out there may remember; my run is now more […]
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Every time i come here I am not dissapointed, nice post