And enjoy it I am! What a treat to be able to just
go out the door and run where I want without looking at the pace on my Garmin.
I am running purely on feel, whilst trying to keep my heart rate down so as not
to distress baby in any way. Matt and I have been keeping up our Saturday
morning parkrun routine, but for me, there hasn’t been the added stress of
feeling like I have to hammer it and finish as first lady. I get there feeling
relaxed, maybe warm up, maybe not, saunter to the start line, position myself a
few folk back from the front line, and enjoy the run and admire the views. Then
the café and catch up with friends part still features afterwards, of course!
Some days running feels harder than others. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I work and I am on my feet for 7 ½ hours a
day. I feel pretty knackered by the end of these days and if I run on a Thursday, the effort feels much harder. I still record my runs to log the mileage
in my training diary, but that is purely because I like to keep totals of how
many miles I run in a year to add to my collective totals and see how my
virtual progress around the world is going! I don’t look at pace whilst
running, only after, and it does fluctuate. Parkruns tend to be the fastest –
obviously, despite feeling chilled, competitive Ellie is still lurking in there
somewhere and having others around me to work off brings out that bit of extra
speed – and some runs when I am on tired, work-weary legs, are over 9m/m. I really don’t care. I am out the door,
doing them and enjoying them. That’s what counts.
I also try to do a spin class once a week and a
swim. Swimming is interesting as this is the only sport in which my times haven’t
slowed. To be honest, they were so slow to start with, if I slowed any more I
would likely lose all forward momentum and sink anyway! I wonder if the added
buoyancy aid that is rapidly expanding around my middle isn’t giving me some
form of assistance in this regard?! The maximum I swim in one go now is 60
lengths, but often fewer, maybe 50 or just 40, depending on how I’m feeling.
Swimming usually finishes with a visit to the Cornish Bakery in Sidmouth for a
coffee and cherry and almond croissant… it’s kinda become a new ritual!
As far as peoples’ attitudes towards me continuing
to exercise during pregnancy go, I have noticed they are split into two
distinct camps. The first, occupied by those who aren’t avid exercisers, tend
to think you are bonkers, irresponsible and selfish for continuing to run
whilst pregnant. “What if you fall over?” (I could do that walking, or moving
around the house anyway) “That poor baby, being shaken about inside” (The baby is
insulated by a massive sack of amniotic fluid and not likely to feel much). “If
you are struggling with tiredness anyway, why put yourself through this as
well?” (Exercise actually energises you and I feel so much better on the days I
do a 30 minute run or swim than on the days where I do nothing). Besides,
current medical advice is that pregnant women SHOULD exercise throughout their
pregnancy (30 mins 5 – 6 times a week is in fact recommended, and I am not
exceeding that), but obviously making the relevant modifications as you
progress towards full term. If you exercised regularly before conceiving, it is
safe for you to do more than 30 minutes at a time as your body is used to it.
Studies show that women who exercise throughout have healthier pregnancies with
less complications than those who do not.
Then we come to camp two: people who are, by and
large, exercise fanatics themselves, including those who personally know of
other athletes who have successfully continued to not only exercise but also to
compete to a decent level throughout pregnancy. This camp is wont to imply you
are being overly cautious by only running 24 minutes at parkrun, as they know
someone who was still doing 20 minute 5ks at 25 weeks pregnant. They are the
people who tell you about so-and-so who competed in fell races at 38 weeks
preggers, or who continued to mountain bike throughout, so Ellie, aren’t you
being a little bit over-cautious by refusing to even get on your bike? To these
people I invariably say, maybe I am, but did these people take over 3 years to
conceive? If we had hit the target at the first time of asking, so to speak, I
might be a bit more blasé about cycling on the roads or pushing my body a bit harder
on a run. But we have been through hell and high water to get to this point and
so there is no way on earth I would do anything to jeopardise it… wrong place
wrong time at a blind junction on the bike and that’s all it takes. No, it
might not happen, but if there are safer alternatives, such as sticking to the
spin bike, then what’s the point?
I have read blogs by athletes who have done amazing
things whilst pregnant (scaled the Eiger, won international medals in eventing)
and who then went on to bounce back in no time afterwards and fit their
breast-feeding schedule around their training. Good for them. I do not judge these people, but
nor do I hold them up as some kind of totemic superhero either. Every woman
should be free to do what they feel is right for them, without pressure or
judgement from others. The current balance I have found of exercising on
average 5 days a week for a weekly total of 3 hours, at a far less intensive level
than pre-pregnancy, works for me right now. If I start to struggle, I am not
going to beat myself up if I have to scale that back. There has never been a
better time to throw the stats, numbers and averages out of the window and just
do everything on innate feel. Besides, I am really enjoying having some free
time to do things other than training, resting and recovering! I do miss Friday
morning long rides with the gang, but I am enjoying other things in their
place. Biking Fridays have become baking Fridays and I still of course have the
option of driving out to the coffee stop so I don’t have to miss out on what is, let's face it, the best part of biking anyway! Mostly, I am just trying to enjoy my pregnancy
as it is something I have been desperately seeking for a very long time.
Furthermore, when will I next get the freedom to be a bit lazy and sit on the
sofa watching crappy Louis Theroux documentaries on I-Player with a cuppa and cake
in the future? Maybe not for several years from February onwards, so I am
enjoying it while it lasts!!
@ 17 weeks.
