23 mile charity walk

[Justme1523]

Hi all, I signed up to a charity walk before I found out I was pregnant. I am now 9 weeks pregnant. I'm used to walking and in March I did the 5000 step challenge every day of March. But I'm just wondering if it is safe to do the 23miles. I won't be trying to break any records, slow and steady was the plan and I will be stopping at every pit stop. I don't want to let anyone who sponsored me down, plus noone knows I'm pregnant yet. Has anyone else ever done something like this pregnant? Xx

How long have you got until the charity walk?
You should be OK if you can do some training walks between now and then to get your strength and stamina up.

It's tomorrow and I'm getting really nervous. I've continued to do weekend walks and lunchtime walks at work when possible. I have done this type of mileage before but never pregnant. My family are telling me to just do bits of it but I really want to compete it if possible. X

I mean it's entirely possible to do while pregnant but only if you're someone who walks a lot anyway. There's a huge difference between 5,000 steps and this. As it's tomorrow and you have no more time to train I think you'll struggle.
Good luck if you decide to do it, or some of it

I did the same but 6 weeks after birth. Never, ever again.

Be prepared to give up. Meet them at the finish. Don't be a martyr.

Go and try it and drop out if it gets to a point that it’s making you feel ill or worried. Take breaks as and when. There isn’t a safe or dangerous level of activity during pregnancy. It’s entirely dependent on your previous fitness. Don’t let yourself get totally exhausted or push it if you start having joint pain. Other than that, it should be fine. Walking/aerobic exercise in itself is not dangerous and at this stage of pregnancy you’re not yet at a point where things are physically more difficult because of the size of the fetus + your uterus. Be aware that pregnancy hormones make your joints/connective tissue more lax so don’t push it if you feel things getting inflamed etc.

I was “sleeping on the floor behind my desk at work” tired at 9 weeks so I wouldn’t have done this. Also 23 miles is about 10 times as long as 5000 steps.

i cant see why it would be unsafe but it doesn’t sound as if it would be much fun for you and I’d feel no qualms about pulling out.

I don't think it's unsafe but I do think you'll need to make sure you stay well hydrated. It's not a failure if you don't manage to complete it all because it's quite a distance.

Are you feeling well? In my first pregnancy I was very ill / tired and could hardly get out of bed. This time round I've felt much better. If you feel ok I would go for it- take it easy. If you feel unwell at all then stop. I don't think there are any risks as long as you are sensible.

15 miles was about my limit in pregnancy number 1 and I was really fit then. I don’t think it’s unsafe, but I think it’ll be difficult unless you are having a completely symptom free first trimester and you’ve done some good prep. It’ll basically be a full day of walking if you are going to complete it before sunset.

It's safe to do but I woukdnt recommend it. I did the KiltWalk (26.4 miles) a few years back. I thought, 'it's just walking, I like walking'. Did NO training whatsoever and was literally crying with the pain at the 12 mile point. The lactic acid build up was debilitating. Had I not been doing it as part of a group I'd have quit before the halfway point. I managed to finish it (took 9hrs) but could barely walk for a couple of days afterwards!

Thanks for all your comments. We done the kilt walk yesterday and I took everyone's advice and just took it easy. I managed 18 miles, at the time I felt I could do more but decided not to push it. I'm now glad I done that because I don't feel to bad today.