7th August 2011
I’m guessing that one of the first questions for a dedicated (obsessed) runner when they fall pregnant (females only – obviously) is “can I still run?” That’s certainly how it was for me.
I have been pregnant 3 times. My son was born 7 years ago, when I was aged 37; I had a miscarriage 8 months ago at the age of 43; and I’m presently 9 weeks pregnant at the ripe old age of 44. So far, none of my pregnancies have stopped me running, although they may have slowed my running down and given me a different focus.
Paula Radcliffe very publicly continued to run throughout both of her pregnancies. During her second pregnancy she trained with American athlete Kara Goucher. Both of them found that they had to cut down their running in terms of time, distance, and intensity. Neither of them were immune to the usual pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and fatigue, and they both enjoyed their running in a different way. Significantly, they both gave birth to healthy babies and returned to competitive running pretty quickly.
The basic advice that is generally given is that you can continue to run whilst pregnant if you are already a runner, but that pregnancy isn’t a time to take up running. Pregnant runners are also advised to monitor their rate of exertion – either by measuring heart rate or using a perceived rate of exertion. The recommendation used to be “keep the heart rate under 140 BPM” but some women (me included) would feel frustrated that they wouldn’t get a sufficient work out using that particular constraint. An alternative would be to keep your effort in the “slightly to moderately hard” range, or at a pace where conversation remains possible. It is also advisable to stay well hydrated and to keep cool as overheating could cause problems for the baby.
As a competitive runner it can be hard to think about slowing down, but in my experience pregnancy simply takes over. I recently went from running significant PB’s to getting breathless going upstairs virtually overnight. This pregnancy was something of a surprise, but once I’d worked out the cause of my sudden lack of form I was more able to accept my limitations and was instinctively cautious every time I went out for a run.
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