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Health & Exercise
ollymay
member
Problems with first trimester running
ollymay
member
I'm eight weeks right now and have been an avid runner for the last two years. I've noticed the last week that I can hardly run a quarter of a mile without becoming completely winded. I feel as tired as if I had just finished a 10K. I'm having to walk most of my "run." I hear of women running all throughout their pregnancies and wonder if there is something wrong withe me. Anyone out there dealing with the same thing? Does it get better?
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Re: Problems with first trimester running
I've been exhausted lately. So I've been taking it easy and mainly walking / biking. I just ran 10 miles on Saturday, I'm about 8 weeks, and I took my sweet old time. I finished 2:12:16. It was my longest run but I didn't want to over do it and wanted to make sure that I could finish. This was the first time I ran since I found out two weeks ago that we are expecting.
Listen to your body.
I can only speak for myself, but I'm pretty sure that those of us who ran through pregnancy all had to drop down our speed and potentially distance.
For me, my speed was one of the first things to go (and how I suspected I was pregnant). I had to slow down throughout the pregnancy, but it started much earlier than I was expecting. I also had to drink A LOT more water on my runs. As in, I had to carry water with me even if I was just doing a 2-miler. All this was in the first few weeks of being pregnant.
So, like pp said, listen to your body. Think of it this way. Before, you were just running. Now your body is multitasking - you're running while growing and nourishing a baby, so it's like running while you're doing...um situps? Or some other activity. You're going to need to scale back as necessary. If you're getting winded after .25 mile, maybe slow it down a bit. Your speed definitely comes back after the baby is born!
I felt the same way with my pregnancy. I was training for a trail marathon last fall and was feeling really weak and fatigued. On a 20-mile training run, I ended up just running home after 5 miles... I felt faint and had cold sweats going on (and was emotionally a wreck!). Turns out I was pregnant but hadn't had the positive test yet.
The first trimester was tough for me because of fatigue/nausea. I still kept running because I had more energy post-workout.
It did get MUCH better for me, especially in the 2nd trimester. I ran the whole pregnancy and felt fine. I did use a maternity belt to support my hips 1/2 way through the pregnancy and that did wonders. Your pace naturally slows as your belly and baby grow, but it just feels good to get out there. And being in shape helped immensely with my labor/delivery!
I'll be 38 weeks Thursday and have been running the whole time. Each stage has its challenges! In the beginning, I was so exhausted I had to cut mileage (I had been training for a half and running 20 miles or so each week) because 2 hour runs just killed me. In the middle, round ligament pain slowed me down a lot and my time crept from 9 minute miles to 11 minute miles. Now that I'm at the end, I'm actually having some of the best runs of pregnancy! I did a 5k on Sunday and yes, I had to take two block-long walk breaks, but I did it and kept a respectable pregnant-lady pace (11:30). I run at least twice a week now, 3 miles at a time. I alternate that with lighter cardio and weight lifting.
Listen to your body! It's OK to slow down and cut distance. Your body is multitasking, like PP said, there is no way you could keep up intense runs the whole time!
Despite being a good runner prior to pregnancy, I had to stop at 10 weeks. I couldn't believe it--I had planned to run for as long as possible and was doing well, running 5 times a week even through early pregnancy. But I got really bad sciatica, and it just wasn't possible any more. Now I swim and see the chiropractor a lot, but I still can't go back to running. Sad.
Adjust as you need to because everyone's body is different and will allow a different degree of exercise at various stages.