Sunday, March 7, 2010

Why I'm not racing...I'm pregnant!

15 weeks pregnant to be exact! Phew, it feels good to share that with my fellow blogging buddies! Obviously I'm still running. I ran through my first pregnancy and loved it. Also, my OB is completely on board with my running. Her only caveat was that I should be able talk while I run, and if I can't talk then I'm probably running too hard.

Now that I've rediscovered racing (after taking seven years off), not racing is really hard. That's why I'm living vicariously through my mother. She can race, and I can help her out by being a running buddy. I have a few more races lined up for her. We'll be running a 5 miler next weekend, and if she's willing and available I have a 10K lined up for the beginning of May and a 5 miler lined up for the end of May. That will probably be my last non-race race. At that point I'll be heading into the third trimester, and who knows how I'll be feeling.

During the last two weeks, I've noticed that I'm feeling more energetic. My average weekly pace is getting a bit faster without additional effort and I don't need to go bed at 9:00 pm every night. Also, I don't constantly feel like I'm going to yak, which is nice. It's funny, for the first 12 weeks or so, I felt nauseous all the time, except when I was running and for about 3 hours after I ran. I'm glad I'm past that!

What do you think about running during pregnancy? I'm interested to hear from you all. I've found a number of lady runner blogs that shared their pregnancy running, and was surprised to see that they received a lot of negative feedback. I guess people have strong opinions about such things. I'm not sure what they were basing their opinions on, but it was still interesting to see. I also read Exercising Through Your Pregnancy by James Clapp. He conducted a number of studies on pregnant runners and the results were all in favor of running. And the runners in his studies were running 60 to 90 minutes a day, so they were serious ladies.


Training Journal 2/22 - 2/28
Total Miles Run: 44
Total Time Running: 6:22
Average Pace: 8:40
Total Stationary Bike Time: 60 min

Training Journal 3/1 - 3/7
Total Miles Run: 52
Total Time Running: 7:29
Average Pace: 8:38
Total Stationary Bike Time: 40 min

17 comments:

Michelle said...

Congrats again!! I am very excited for you. I wasn't super big into running during the time I was pregnant. At that point, running was a small part of my total exercise regime. I got pretty sick the first 12-16 weeks of all my pregnancies (God knows why I was willing to do it 4 times!) Puking, on medication sick. Blech. I was too sick to run, then just didn't go back to it, even after I felt better. I did exercise though, and did spinning classes up until the day I delivered (literally with 1 of them!) I alwaus figured it was easier to stay in shape than get back in shape! I was back to running and spinning less than a week after childbirth usually. ( I am the Queen of short, fast labors! Maybe that was why I kept having them!)

No reason you can't continue to run all the way through!

Katie said...

Michelle: thanks so much for the comment! I've been wondering how long I might have to take off if everything goes well. It's great to hear that you were back at it fast! The first time around I had an emergency c-section, so I had to take 6 weeks off! It was torture...

I can't believe you were so sick during your pregnancies. I am so glad that I'm not having that issue. That must have been so miserable!

Julie said...

Hi Katie,
Oh, congrats on being preggers:) I am so happy for you:) You are kicking butt on weekly miles and other training...very impressive:) I never ran through my pregnancies but I was not running then. I hear that many women run when they are pregnant and it is much easier for them to recover after the baby is born. I think that it is awesome that you will be helping your mother by being a running partner for her:) Congrats again, this is exciting news:)

GetBackJoJo said...

CONGRATS!!!! That's great news!
I think running during pregnancy is fantastic. :) Unless you don't want to. And then you shouldn't. ha! I did with all three of mine until it got super uncomfortable--around 6.5 months. I got lots of dirty looks when running, though, when I began to show. You know? yeah! Good luck! Congrats again!

Colette said...

Yay! Congratulations again! My doc had given me the guideline of keeping my HR under 140 bpm. That said, I got pregnant right out of tri season and 140 barely broke a sweat and felt way easy at the time. I was very active through my pregnancy, which I think is a reason why my pregnancy went so well, but I focused on swimming, biking, walking & strength training with lighter weights. My HR, although comfortable while running at a slower pace, just wouldn't stay under 140. So, I didn't run. Honestly, If I were to do it again, I would run. Running has been my toughest transition back and I think it would be easier had I been doing some running, even if it was at a crawling pace! I think you know your body best and there will be huge benefits as long as you are smart about it and keep the pace comfortable. Every doc is different, but I know people who ran until it just wasn't comfortable anymore due to the belly and everything worked out. you are in great shape so I say keep going! And great job on the miles! I am not getting those miles in and I am not pregnant! Where do you squeeze in the time?

Running and living said...

Congrats again! Nice to let the secret out. Glad nausea has past, that is the worst about pregnancy, in my opinion. You know how I feel about exercise during pregnancy. I ran, then I swam and I only had to push for 20 min and the little guy was out. I think if you can keep up exercise (even though running might be hard at the end) you'll get your body back quicker. Swimming was great for me (more like water walking..) toward the end of the pregnancy. By the way, you could not tell you were pregnant in the race pics you posted:)

Katie said...

Colette: It's not so bad finding time to run when you have a treadmill. The weather doesn't matter, time of day doesn't matter, you can just run whenever.

Ana-Maria: Yeah, I don't look particularly pregnant yet. I just look I'm in bad need of a good ab and core routine! It's hilarious when I look at myself in my running cloths! My arms and legs look the same and my belly just sort of pooches out. Like I have a little beer belly.

NY Wolve said...

Congrats! I have heard many people who run through pregnancy, including my wife. But not seriously, just more as a keeping fit thing.

Oh, and Paula Radcliffe running stories while pregnant are crazy.

ShutUpandRun said...

Congrats to you. I did not run or do much of anything while pregnant, so I am no help. I can say, though, after having two kids I became a runner...

workout mommy said...

Congratulations! I was able to run with my first pregnancy but fell apart when it came to #2 and #3.

Just listen to your body and enjoy your new running "partner"! :)

Lindsay said...

Congrats!! :) Im glad you have this "excuse" because you seemed like you were a little down before about not racing. This seems to be the season of pregnant runners! :)

Dr. J said...

Thanks for the visit!

My nurse, who ran marathons, ran a two mile race when she was 2 weeks PAST DUE!! She came in last, lol, but she finished. Gave birth one week later to a healthy daughter
:-)

Cascia Talbert said...

Congratulations on your pregnancy! You are pretty strong to keep running.

Unknown said...

HOW exciting, congratulations!!! You look great and I'm sure you're going to bloom even more! By the way, Yasso's are SO hard for track intervals, just like you said. Man, I'm dying when I run them but I think they'll work...we'll see next month, right?

Running and living said...

Katie, jsut saw your comment about the Nike free's. I got them from Nike Outlet in Kittery Main. I am sure that other running stores carry them, too. They do look different, kind of like the retro running shoes. They actually have quite a bit of support, which was surprising. But I tell you, once you run with those babies, it is hard to go back! Everytime I wear my Asics or Sauconies, I feel like I am carring bricks!

Terri said...

OMG, when I wrote you back on email, and said you were faster than me, I didn't realize you were 6 months pregnant, too! Hello speedy!

Ok, so I will definitely keep an eye out for you tomorrow. As of now, still running it!

Jill said...

Woohoooo!!! Congratulations for you!!! That is so exciting. I ran through all my pregnancies but ha dto cut the twins short as I had a lot of complications and I was massively huge! Big hugs to you!!