Pregnancy Has Changed My Workouts

My post, Our Path to Parenthood, is being featured on the homepage of Blogher.com and I’m so excited!  I had a huge spike in traffic yesterday and that’s the reason.  If you found your way here via Blogher then welcome to RunBakeRace!

While I was running my best run since August yesterday on the treadmill, I started thinking about how my workouts have changed since becoming pregnant.  I went from have a training schedule to letting my body dictate my workouts.  Here’s how things have changed:

1. Running – When I hit the treadmill at the gym, I go for 60 minutes.  In that time, I let my body tell me how far and how fast I can run that day.  Some days I am really slow and have to walk more, other days I can run a little faster with shorter walk breaks.  I have also realized that my pregnant body doesn’t like to run two days in a row.  Last time I did that, I had a horrible backache on day 3.

2.  Swimming – On my non-running days, I am hitting the pool.  My goal each time is to swim for 30-40 minutes.  My pace has definitely slowed so I’m not able to swim as many laps in the that time frame.  I also take a 1-2 minute break between every set of 10 laps, it helps bring my heart rate down a bit and give me a breather.

3. Lifting – This is something I need to start since I stink at it.  I usually use my 5lb arms weights at home twice a week but I need a gym routine. Any suggestions?

4. Cross-training –  I try to cross-train at least once a week and it is usually biking or elliptical.  During the 1st trimester on sick days, I would use the recumbent bike for an hour.  On non-sick cross-training days, I like to hop on the elliptical for 60 minutes.  If I’m sick of the gym and it’s beautiful out,then I like to take a 3 mile walk.

5. Rest Days – I am sticking with my one scheduled rest day a week that I always had during marathon training.  If I start to feel sick or I’m just too tired, then I’ll take an additional rest day.

Pregnancy has made me realize that I have little control over how my body reacts to exercise right now.  I do know that daily exercise is good for me and the baby so I’m going to continue as long as possible.  The doctor is very happy that I started swimming again as he doesn’t want me running past the 7 month.  I can swim until the end though .  Has pregnancy changed your workouts?

I am baking up a storm this afternoon and trying out a new recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  Can’t wait to see how it comes out and share it with all of you!  The husband and I are hitting the pool tonight for a swim.

Posted on October 7, 2011
This entry was posted in Pregnancy, Running, Swimming, Uncategorized and tagged daily workout, gym, pregnancy, run, running, swimming.