I just got back from the OB and confirmed I’m 4 weeks pregnant! (Just the beginning!) My doc says the impact of running may be risky for the 1st trimester, and I should tone it down to speed walking.
However I’ve mastered my pre-run ritual to avoid lows (1 spoon of peanut butter, and a 35% basal reduction for 1.5 hrs, about 30 mins prior to my 3 mile runs) and since I figured that out the running has really helped me keep blood sugars more stable, which is really important when you are pregnant!
I’m trying to weigh the decision of keeping the runs for good control, or being cautious about the impact. Has anyone had experience with this? Think I could get some new running shoes and just slow it down?
((I don’t have a gym or pool that I belong to, and have been running 3 miles a day regularly for the past 10yrs.))
Here is what I was told, and you should take it with a grain of salt and consider your own situation.
Assuming you have a normal pregnancy (no complications), then it is safe to continue doing what ever exercise you were doing before your were pregnant, until your size makes it uncomfortable.
of course body contact sports are not recommended during pregnancy.
Considering you have been running 3 miles a day for the past 10 years (3 miles is not an excessive distance), and with no problems, you are probably fine. Pay attention to hydration, listen to your body. etc etc.
Everyone is different. I was not diabetic when pregnant, but I was high risk due to my age and thyroiditis. At the time I was pregnant, I was doing Triathlons. I promised my hubby that I would stay off my bike and stop running – not because the doctor advised it, but we wanted to take every precaution to avoid a miscarriage (we waited so long to get pregnant!).
I walked and swam. I continued to walk after my daughter was born until she was old enough to run on a trail in a baby jogger (avoiding brain movement in her little skull).
After that I got back into my strenuous exercise routine. It is such a short time when you step back and think about it.
Everyone needs to make choices based on their own set of circumstances.
Good thoughts. That is what I’m weighing… I thought maybe biking would be less impactful, but there is the fall risk. I prepped for this pregnancy by figuring out a select set of meals that work for me, and started being a lot more consistent with my runs, thinking that would set me up for a good pattern to continue. Now I’m getting conflicting advise and I can’t hide that I’m disappointed, Because running keeps my glucose (and my mental state) well balanced.
Cyclinglady: You’re right, it’s not forever to give up, and I’m 35, so would do anything to avoid risk. I’m just trying to figure out if it’s the right thing to do. When you switched to power walking, did you feel you were still getting the benefits of a workout?
I had asked my OB about running and heart rate, and do I really need to keep it at 140bpm, and she replied with the cardio is fine but she didn’t like the impact of running. She said the elliptical is fine, and power walking is fine, but she has had patients that have increased spotting w high impact exercise.
I just found a nearby gym w/ elliptical machines for $20/mo. So I think I’ll do that for the next 3 weeks till my next ultrasound, and asses from there. Also going to power walk on my regular running route, to balance out the gym… I prefer running outside to gym any day, but for baby I’ll give this a shot till I’m out 1st trimester, or given the green light.
I switched completely to an elliptical – in fact we got one at home intentionally – already when we started TTC (which took a while and in the end the success came via IVF).
I also used to do regularly 3-5 miles outside, but more jogging, not fast running.) I am happy I did the switch early on – both to minimize the jostling around (“impact”) your doctor is concerned about, but also because now towards the end of pregnancy (just started 33 week) even jogging has become impossible. Mind you, I have put on the recommended amount of weight only (18lbs so far with none of this during the first trimester), continued doing my 3/week yoga class until a couple of weeks ago and generally stayed active (biking around the neighborhood, walking, swimming on the weekends).
Basically, what I am trying to say is that the pregnancy will develop in phases and require CONSTANT adjustment from you on all diabetes-related fronts: basal, I:C, how activity impacts you, how quickly your body processes food, how much activity you can even do… So better get used to changing the routines you have, even if they have been working well for you until now. You are in a new (wonderful) world.
@Dessito ! Thankyou! You are so right. I feel like parenting has already begun for my little apple seed. Congrats to you for a good pregnancy so far! 33 wks! You are getting there. Keep me updated and thanks as always for your insight.
All the comments above have helped. I’m so glad I found this community.
I just wanted to update this thread in case someone has the same query and comes across it.
I have kept running. I do 2-3 miles 5 days a week (give or take depending on how I feel) at a very comfortable (read: slow) pace, and the baby is measuring great so far. At my 8 week scan the baby was measuring on target and we heard the heartbeat. And at my follow-up appt @ 9weeks pregnant we saw a healthy heartbeat on the ultrasound. This is still early on and everyone is different, but just wanted to share my progress so far with the community. Will update again.
I am now in my 37th week (so the most recent growth scan measurements are from the all-important 36th week check) and the estimated weight of the baby was at 58 percentile, with all individual lengths pretty close to the norm.
More to the point of this thread, running at any pace is completely out of the question for me, BUT I did just do the 5K walk for a local charity event yesterday. (Had always run it in previous years.) It felt wonderful!
Yay! @Dessito!! I’m so happy for you! Great news all around. Those walks are always so fun with lots of cheering and great energy, I bet you had a blast participating! Good for you!
