Running While Pregnant: My Journey So Far

One day you’re finishing a 10 mile long run as you get back into your half marathon training plan, the next day you’re staring at a positive pregnancy test. At least that’s how it happened for me. I had just taken a trip out of the country only to return to a whirlwind of unexpected life events so I was finally ready to rededicate myself to the half marathon training plan that I had written for myself. But when the world hit me with the news of a baby on the way, I made a quick pivot.

Weeks 5-8

These weeks are really just filled with anxious thoughts and fear of the unknown. I had always heard people say that staying active in pregnancy is so important but with my medical history, I was hesitant to keep running at first. I have never received a true diagnosis but for my entire running career, I have had a strange heart rate response to running. I mention it to doctors and they look at me puzzled but when I say “it’s always been that way,” they tend to show more intrigue than true concern. I told myself that I would just keep an eye on things but ultimately, I did continue to run as normal. I wasn’t necessarily running my normal high intensity workouts at this point since I had decided to not run the upcoming race but my mileage did not change too much. The hardest part for me is that I was in the weird in between where you don’t “feel” pregnant yet but your brain is hyperaware that you are. So if you were in my brain while running for that first month or so, it sounded like this: “You’re probably fine. Or are you? Yeah you’re good. Just don’t think about it”. So that’s what I did…

Weeks 9-13

I finally was able to see my doctor for our first appointment so she got a flood of questions from me in terms of ensuring that I was okay to keep running as usual. Again, puzzled look as I tried to describe my “heart rate thing” (as I call it) but once she knew that it was considered baseline for me, she had no concerns with me continuing to run. For a long time it was thought to not allow your heart rate to get above a certain beats per minute in pregnancy but that is no longer the line of thinking for low risk pregnant women. So I got the green light for running but my body was giving me a different signal.

Thankfully I did not experience the common pregnancy symptoms of morning sickness and extreme nausea. I am extremely lucky and blessed to have avoided that this time around. But I did have many many days where the thought of running was enough exercise for me. Between the fatigue I felt and the small waves of nausea, I probably only ran about once a week (compared to my normal 3-4 times per week). And when I did run, I ran SLOW and SHORT. I got very familiar with every detail on the 1.26 mile loop around my neighborhood. I was starting to wonder if I would be able to continue to run while pregnant, something I always figured I would be able to do.

Weeks 13-20

I started to feel a lot more “normal” around week 13-14ish which is a relative term because that is also when I started to feel physical changes in my body, especially when running. Still no bump at this point but there was a distinct difference in how I felt. I described it as feeling like there’s a small dumbbell sitting at the base of my stomach on runs. It wasn’t exactly the baby but probably a mixture of the growing uterus and various changes in pressure on my pelvic floor.

Over the next several weeks I was able to get back to my normal routine of running 3-4 times per week for anywhere between 2-4 miles at a time. As a former competitive runner, you would think it would’ve been tough to make the switch to just casual runs but I loved it. There’s no pressure, no expectation. Even in the years after graduating from D1 athletics, I find myself feeling the need to prove that I am (well, was) fast. Now I get to throw in some walk breaks and smile while doing it.

Something that I did experience around this time was the onset of right sided low back pain, near my SI joint. Because of the hormones released in pregnancy, your joints and ligaments increase in laxity which can cause pain and/or discomfort some women in pregnancy. You would think as a PT I would’ve been doing preventative exercises knowing this was going to happen…nope. I never felt any discomfort while running but my low back would be really sore and tender later in the day. Only then was I mindful enough to start doing some rehab exercises to keep things from getting worse.

Weeks 20-23

I went on a 2 week vacation during this time so I was not running much but not for any reason other than time/location. We were in Banff/Jasper National Park in Canada so we were constantly on the move doing walks and hikes though. One thing I started to notice was my back pain was going away (I love it when PT works!) despite all the hills and rocky terrains we were navigating.

Weeks 23-26

I was nervous to return to running after taking the few weeks off. I now had a visible bump and did not know what it would be like trying to run with a new center of gravity. I was also scared that I would re-aggravate my low back pain that I had gotten a little break from over the past weeks. To my surprise, I got back to running my 2 miles every couple days and I felt great. No back pain! This brings up to week 26, where I am currently in pregnancy. I still will take small walk breaks when there is an uphill to minimize the spikes in my heart rate but overall I have felt great. I am lucky but I also have been pretty intentional about how I am feeling and continuing to lift weights on days that I do not run.

Final Thoughts

I am not desperate to keep running while pregnant. I enjoy it but the second I don’t, I will not be forcing myself to continue running. That is a common issue some women face when they transition from athlete brain: they keep pushing when their body has reached its (new) physiological limit. It’s weird not running my normal distances and paces but perspective overrides everything right now. My body is working overtime to grow our little baby boy. Any level of movement/exercise that it tolerates is an added blessing. But if I need to rest, trust me when I say you will find me lying on the couch watching my favorite show as my workout.

Written By: Morgan Kamau