Running whilst pregnant

[Ellyr08]

Hi,
I've just found out I am around 5 weeks pregnant with my first baby and wondered if there were any other keen runners who are planning on running through pregnancy to share stories and chats about all things running and babies

Hi, I am almost 26 weeks and continued to run normal mileage (20-25miles) in my first trimester although a bit slower, like others some days it wiped me out other days felt great. I dropped down to 10-15 miles after a couple of weeks off due to back pain at 12 weeks and was feeling great. Then two weeks ago had to stop due to sciatica. I am doing everything advised by my physio to try and get back to it but have accepted this may be it until baby is here. I think everyone is different and you just take one day at a time. I was determined to make it to third trimester but my body has other ideas!

Hi @Ellyr08 I'm a keen runner and climber. My DD is now 1yo and I am ~12 weeks with #2. I climbed and ran throughout my first pregnancy and intend to do so for this one (climbing dependent on lockdown, but can run right now).

As long as you have no health condition preventing you and don't push yourself beyond your limits (but listen to your body), there are no drawbacks, only medical benefits to running. During 1st trimester I drop to ~1 run a week and less climbing because of feeling unwell and in my first pregnancy I was still feeling out what I was comfortable doing and learning how to listen to my body. After the sickness abates, I build back up. Also now I have a pregnancy harness, and I know I can do a 14km run at 40+5!

I carried on to about 24 weeks, but I just felt I had no acceleration at that point - I was running, but small children and old ladies were overtaking me, and when I tried to go faster nothing happened (so hard to explain - I wasn’t tired of out of breath, just didn’t seem able to go any faster).

So I switched to walking and swimming at that point. Went back to running about 12 weeks post-partum (had a c-section). Got straight back into it.

Hi all - mind if I join?

I got my BFP yesterday - was shocked to see the line as I'd been on a 9 miler in the morning and felt stronger than ever. Based on cycle dates, i'm only 4 weeks, so thinking I'll start losing some energy very quickly.. but very keen to keep up some miles. I had said to my husband that I wanted some form of fitness back before I got pregnant, so I'm really glad I got there. What's your thought on long runs? I was thinking of knocking these back to an easy hour?.. X

@Annamarie91 congratulations!! I'm 6 weeks tomorrow and up to now still managing to do 45-50 mile a week including a 13 mile on a Sunday. Some days it is harder than others but I think as long as I feel ok I'm going to keep to my normal routine for now (I know this may change soon) maybe see how you feel over the next couple of weeks as it seems from this thread that everyone is completely different

ah nice to hear from some other runners and how everyone is finding it! congrats on the BFPs.
About 12 weeks here and still managing 30-35 miles a week but massively found speed and stamina has dropped off. Last few runs i've had walking breaks when get to the hills as heart rate shoots up quickly and starts pounding and trying not to push it.
Hopefully will be able to keep going as long as poss but guess will find out, like most of u i guess not sure what ill do without running but know itll only be temporary!!
making concerted effort to do some strength/conditioning as well in hope itwont be my back that gives up first!@Annamarie91 id say go with what feels comfortable! did 10 miles in hills a few weeks back and felt fine but since then 10k is definitely my limit!

I would never have described myself as a "keen" runner (more someone who wanted to keep fit and couldn't afford the gym!) but did 5-10k 4 or 5 times a week before PG. In my first PG I had this idea that I should carry on as normal to keep myself fit through PG - I was getting a lot more out of breath really early on (5/6wks) but pushed through like I normally would on a bad day and ended up passing out on the pavement at 7wks (blood pressure dropped really suddenly - totally took me by surprise). I MC a week later - probably unrelated but I'll always wonder. This PG I've listened to my body more and that meant giving up running entirely around 7 weeks to keep my heartrate down - I won't do anything where I can't hold a conversation. I've kept up hiking (pace varies!) and added a bit of yoga. It's actually got easier in 3rd trimester as blood pressure has risen again and I'm less breathless - if it wasn't for the bump I could probably go for a jog now!

I also know people who've carried on doing competitive sport most of the way through and if you feel OK it's absolutely fine. I think it really is a case of listening to your body and doing what feels right for you but not having too many expectations one way or the other.

Thanks @Ellyr08 @leftitlate37 that's reassuring. I was feeling a little guilty yesterday for throwing in a long run, although I recovered easily from it. You read so much contradicting information, I know I've wanted to keep active throughout (if possible) and do have good base level fitness so hoping I can keep going for a while yet! Luckily I have a very supportive husband who has run his whole life so he's happy for me to keep going too 😊 best of luck ladies X

Hi ladies!

Hope you don't mind me joining too. I am Zumba instructor (3 times a week) and I do HIIT every other day. I am 4+3 pregnant and had small blood in my knicker (sorry for TMI, lol). I spoke to EPU and she said it might be implementation bleeding but ease of my exercise routine. Which I am confused what that means (the nurse was so impatient to explain it). I can ease of my HIIT of course but as of my zumba classes I can't as I am the instructor. Any advice of shall I cancel for this week (I cancelled last week)? or continue and try my best to do it slower? Thank you for any advise. xx

I'm not sure runners can necessarily help with Zumba, as the stresses on the body are different.

You need to find a solution for the classes you run, and finding a locum is probably better than losing clients because of repeated cancellations. You must have been expecting to do that at some point anyhow, so just bring it forward a bit.

There is no real definition of "ease off", which is part of what makes it frustrating, I know.

Rest assured that exercise is not going to cause a miscarriage - hopefully all will be fine with you, but if God forbid you did miscarry, it would have happened no matter what exercise you did. However, if you had say a small non-miscarriage bleed, intense exercise could make it heavier.

I'd just make sure you didn't push it personally. If you can do your Zumba without getting too sweaty/out of breath that's what I'd do. You can tell the class you're having knee trouble or something so you'll demo the move and then they take it, or you'll follow along but in a less high impact way.

@AuntieStella I know but it was the closest exercise to my problem . Yeah I thought I would in the last month of pregnancy not this soon. But I would if there is any chance to harm the pregnancy. I miscarried once before 5 week pregnant, don't want that to happen ever again.

@ScarfaceCwaw thank you so much for such informative response and great advise. I will use knee problem excuse and do it in low impact version. xx

There's a few good podcasts that I've listened to but in terms of other research with regards to running and pregnancy, there's just not much info out there!
A couple of ones I've listened to are;
Running medicine podcast - they do a pre and post natal running one
Pregactive.com have a pre and post one too!

I'm 36 weeks now and still doing 5k 3 times a week - just listening to my body! If I need to walk, I'll walk!

@sal1898 well done and congratulations to you! Not long to go now! I'm definitely going to check out your podcast recommendations and just try to keep happy and healthy