Running during pregnancy

September 25, 10:43 AMDenver Women's Fitness ExaminerBecky Dittmer

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Kimberly Bucey, one of five women
competing in the Road Runner Akron
Marathon. From the Akron Beacon
Journal. She is 8 months pregnant.

A few weeks ago I wrote some tips for running while pregnant. I am an advocate of keeping up the pace, but should you? Or, should you take the 10 months and really rest?

The consensus seems to be somewhere in the middle.

The fact is, some of us just aren't comfortable running when pregnant. There are still the hard days and the easy days. Gotta love the easy days, though. You know those days; you lace up, bounce down the street feeling like Tigger, and each step ups your "happy" juice.  By the time your run is done you're about to burst with accomplishment.

Of course there's also days when your feet are bricks, the hills are definitely steeper, and your watch has got to be running slow.... Muscles...tired...feet...hurt...it's too hot... You know those days.

Like I said, I'm an advocate for running while pregnant. Here's the hitch. I'm pregnant and I haven't run in two or three weeks. Pre-pregnancy you'd have to tie me down to keep me from running at least twice weekly. And, I'm pretty competitive when it comes to pronation movement.

Of  course, I've heard the stories of women who run marathons while pregnant. My roommate's sister ran until the day she delivered. My boss ran a 5k just a month before her due date. Do these stories mean we need to start adding race categories for pregnant women? Sure, I'm competitive, but is this the only way? Won't my competitive nature be satiated when I voluteer for PTA, buy the $400 BOB jogging stroller, and the $40 onesie? Hmm, probably not.

The more I "become" pregnant, the more I see this blatent competion going on with soon-to-be mothers. Who's gaining just the 25-30 lbs the Doc reccommends, who's a calmer mom, who's the champion breastfeeder, and who can lose the baby weight in a week? Really? Is running just a part of this? I run for me, and I run if it doesn't hurt my baby. That's it.

Running is about is keeping YOU healthy, while keeping the baby healthy. Will the bouncing hurt baby? No,probably not. Will the lack of oxygen if you go too fast or too much? Well, maybe. 

I'm right at the halfway point in my first pregnancy. I haven't been running in weeks, but I have been walking 3 miles daily (often breaking into a jog for a minute or so) to keep my fitness at least decent. And, I've started practicing Saturday AM prenatal yoga that totally kicks my butt.  Then there's those stairs near my condo that I make sure to hit several times a day as I run errands.  So, I guess I've learned something too. It doesn't matter how good a runner you are, sometimes your body is going to tell you to rest. Just be sure to listen to it.