Running and pregnancy

[JeanGenie23]

Good morning all, I found out on Friday afternoon that I am 5 weeks pg with DC2.

Now I enjoy running am was training for half marathon in September. I wanted to ask should I continue to run and if so should I continue to train for half marathon?

I currently run 3-4 times a week, I have managed to get my 11k down to an hour so I go at a reasonable pace, but I'm no no means an athlete. What do you suggest? I must admit I would be gutted if I could race in September, I have already received donations!

Not a runner but on the assumption that you are under the care of someone who understands exercise during pregnancy and that you and baby are in good health then there is no reason not to.
You will find intensity must decrease as the months go by.
I continued my normal exercise programme during my pregnancy. I was doing heavy weight training which I started to modify around 3 months; and karate which I modified later ( no contact from when I knew I was pregnant ) but still did a black belt grading at almost 5 months.... lol
Baby was healthy and strong.

I am in good health otherwise, I am going to see GP tomorrow so I will speak to them about it.
It's good to hear your story Socksey! Thank you

My midwife said running is fine if it's something you already do. You just have to really pay attention to your body, watch out for any niggles.

Imo a half marathon might be a bit ambitious, but only you know your body.

You can continue with any exercise you already do but don't increase intensity or add to your exercise regime.

With running you need to make sure that you're not raising your core temperature so don't run until you're out of breath or sweating. Also, as you get further into your pregnancy you will get more tired and will need to reduce the amount you run.

The only other thing I would say is that morning sickness usuall starts at about 6 weeks. If you're lucky and don't get it you'll be fine but if you do you probably won't feel like running at all and exerting yourself does make morning sickness worse.

Congrats on your pregnancy

Some useful info in this article:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36402624

Thank you potatosmum with dc1 I no sickness at all, but who knows with this one. So far I'm ok but it's so early.

Thank you sparechange I will give that q read now!

You should be fine to carry on running if it's something you already do regularly. The half marathon may be fine but listen to your body, and a PB is probably unlikely!

Hi Genie I was running quite regularly before my first pregnancy. And continued running when I found out. BUT for me, I found I brought on Pelvic Girdle Pain (pain at front pubic bone initially) quite severely doing some off road running. The annoying thing was the pain didn't start until AFTER the run. I think I may have got PGP anyway. But that this particular run made it more severe/happen earlier in the pregnancy than it might have done.
That said, I cycled through both pregnancies (to 38 weeks) and (after lots of reading/research) would still put in quite moderate-hard efforts as the mood took me. For my second pregnancy I stopped running (and all aggravating activities eg lunges, breaststroke) straight away. I was also working part time 2nd time round so not sat at desk 5 days (only 3) which I think helped. So just personally I would suggest complementary exercises (hiking/ fast walking up hill, cycling/static cycling, stepper in a gym) that don't have as much impact rather than running. Go with what feels right for you. Expect a peak in tiredness 8-13 weeks, before a bit of a energy lift 20 weeksish, then feeling just MASSIVE by the end. Congratulations!

I ran and raced while pregnant with both my children, and am a huge advocate of running in pregnancy.

But I'm not at all sure about this, OP. Is it your first half marathon? It's not clear from your post. Also, are you doing 10k or 11k in an hour? There's quite a big difference IMO.

To put it bluntly, if you're currently running at 10k an hour pace and have never run a half before, there's no way you should be doing your first half marathon while pregnant.
You're not trained up to the distance, your body isn't used to it, and at that pace you're realistically going to be out on the course for far longer than two hours.
That is likely to have issues for your pelvic floor, as well as on your joints that aren't used to being pounded for that long. Cardio-wise, you'll likely get hot and out of breath, which isn't advisable either.

But if you've done several halves before and are just training up to the distance again - and are currently at 11k an hour - that's a very different scenario. You should then be able to jog round at holding-a-conversation pace without it being too much of a shock physically. In that case, I'd go for it.

I recently ran a half, immediately postpartum, on sod all training. I was fine because i've run half and full marathons before. But there's no way I'd have done it as a first-timer either postpartum or while pregnant. It's simply too far,too long and too hard on the body.

Keep running, definitely - but don't push your body harder than its used to. I ran to 25 weeks in my last pregnancy and felt great. Best of luck.

I think the best advice is listen to your body. I ran up to 30 weeks this winter but it was slower, and shorter distances, and easier terrain (apart from parkrun where I just walked a lot!)

I actually ran my first half when 15 weeks pregnant, but had run a 10 miler just before conceiving, and had been running longer distances to train for that when not pregnant.

Basically, your body will tell you when you're over doing it. It's important to heed it.

Another who has read a lot about running in pregnancy being a good thing. And the HM sounds doable, so long as you're sensible about it and your training.

I was in a similar position to you, had signed up to a HM when I found out and I would have been doing the HM at around 16weeks. Unfortunately I was way behind you in my training, was only up to a distance of 5k when I found out. I was able to relatively comfortably increase my distance to 15k while pregnant, but going that bit farther I thought might be a bit too much so I changed to the 10k event instead a few weeks before (partly on the advice of runningupthathill! I must say on the day I was very glad I did as it was flipping roasting, and they say you need to be careful not to overheat when you're pregnant).

I'm a similar pace to you and still going comfortably at that pace now and I'm nearly 18 weeks. But I know that point where you just find yourself slowing down is near!

Another vote for listening out for niggles. I am 18 weeks, was running until last Saturday, and have suddenly had to stop running due to excruciating round ligament/pelvic floor pain. I had felt everything stretching a bit in the weeks prior to last weekend's aborted run, but it suddenly all got really bad. I guess my (jelly-like) abs suddenly couldn't hold everything together. What you don't want to do is give yourself pelvic floor issues by ignoring the pain until you've done damage... pregnancy and birth give you enough pelvic floor issues as it is!