Pregnancy and Running

Sunday marks my 35th week of pregnancy (which I cannot believe) and before this pregnancy wraps up, I wanted to share a peek into what I’ve been doing with runs/workouts, my mindset on it, why I even run during pregnancy, and more.

Let’s back up even before pregnancy. October 2018, I hired my coach Seth and Lauren Totten and dreamed up some big goals. All summer 2018, I battled a discouraging season (a slow healing plantar plate injury) and really wanted to start with a basically fresh slate in November, working toward a full marathon in the spring. Landon and I were expecting to be expecting sometime too, which made things slightly up in the air, but I figured I might as well train as if I can run the marathon and then make adjustments from there.

A couple days after Christmas we found out we were expecting! I seriously cannot believe it has been that long ago we found out. I was so excited (although, if I am being honest it took my a half second to adjust my goals/plans.) BUT within a minute, I felt elated and couldn’t imagine anything more perfect. Through October – December, my coach and I had built my running with a slow, gradual build and I was running long runs in the 8-10 mile range, hitting paces I hadn’t for a long time (so fun!) and feeling more and more confident with my gaining fitness. Realizing I was going to end up loosing some of that fitness was a bummer, but I’ve been through pregnancy and postpartum running before, I knew I could do it again (Lord willing.).

In contrast with pre-Benaiah’s pregnancy, I was running at a much higher/quality level and much more fit. This really excited me to see what I had to give during pregnancy and how much I would be able to do. I went into pregnancy hoping to run as much as possible, while still being okay with not doing ANY running if I needed to.

Thankfully, this pregnancy (so far) running has mostly felt like a dream. There have been hard runs and tough moments but overall, running has gone well. I had a little secret goal to run a half marathon, pregnant and in March (the 17th – two days after my birthday) I ran my first ever pregnant half marathon, clocking in at 1:59:43. After that half marathon, my goal was to continue keeping up my runs and mileage as long as it felt good and continue running for the enjoyment of it. I hoped to squeak in at least one more half marathon and in May, I ran my second pregnant half marathon and first ever trail half marathon. I finished that one at 2:05 (my slowest solo half marathon to date) but one of my favorites.

Since May, I didn’t have any races on the calendar and honestly, was ready to not be running 10 mile long runs anymore. My body started craving more rest and I listened. June – July consistent of more slower runs, more stroller miles, and I think the maximum amount of miles I ran was 5-6.

And now, here we are August 1st and the past week I haven’t run a single step or really walked that much either. Last Wednesday, I went for a run and felt my glute/hip area really start to bother me. It ended with me hobbling around the house for a week and just a pain I can’t seem to shake (yet.) So right now, I am taking it easy and waiting until this hip area heals before I even think about running again.