Any other moms to be training

Not yet, but I've been wondering about this.  We are planning to start a family soon and though I'm still new to tri's, I've been curious about how it will affect my training.  I'll be interested to see your responses!  And congrats!!

I am a new mom to a 5 month old.  It took me a long time to get pregnant, and I was a slightly high risk pregnancy so my doctor adviced me to just walk as much as I could, and after I was 14 weeks he told me I could do pre-natal yoga.  As long as your doctor says it is ok, I would try and stay as active as possible.  Like others have said be careful if you decide to bike.

Not expecting but wanted to say a HUGE CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Best book out there is called Exercising Through Your Pregnancy by James Clapp. Very fitness friendly and won't give you dumb advice like keeping your heart rate below 140. It's a book for REAL women who are physically fit and want to stay that way through pregnancy. Good luck!

I think you should listen to your body and push yourself to what feels right. You are not going to harm your baby by working out-recovery will be much easier with continued workouts-labor, too for that matter-mental toughness.  What one doctor will tell you will vary to the next. I personally much prefer the advice of a midwife.  "Morning sickness"  usually slowed me down while I was hovering the toilet

Not currently pregnant, but a mom to 5.  I did an indoor sprint tri while 6 weeks pregnant with the youngest.  I swam throughout the entire pregnancy and biked until mid 2nd tri (on my mt bike, not my road bike, as it is much more upright).  As long as your pregnancy is complication-free, you should be good to go.  Good luck!

I'm not sure of your age or how difficult it was for you to become pregnant.  If you had a difficult time conceiving, if you are advanced maternal age, or if you might be prone to pregnancy complication, you ought to to consider the following:  During pregnancy one is somewhat more immunocompromised. And, rigorous exercise pushes folks into an even more immunoconmpromised state.  This might make one more susceptible to illness like influenza or exercised induced hyperthermia, both of which have been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes.  Further, rigorous exercise is proinflammatory and researchers are investigating the link between markers of inflammation and premature birth. 

I don't mean to scare you in any way.  But, I just wanted to furnish you with additional information so you can indeed follow not only your instincts (important to do so despite what a medical authority might tell you) but also current research.  Good luck! 

Congratulations
 

I agree with this in theory. Triathlon training in general does this if you spend too much time in the moderate-to-high HR zones. More exercise does not equal better health. There is a point at which exercise does not promote overall health and I believe many endurance athletes fall into this category. I think most women take pregnancy as a time to maintain fitness rather than to make gains in fitness, so hopefully it's pretty rare for that demographic to exercise too much. Short bursts of high intensity are better than long bouts of moderate to high intensity as far as the inflammatory response goes, so make sure your cardio is either long and EASY or short and hard.  No zone 3 12 mile runs, for example (IF you have any concern about exercising too much of the inflammatory response and suppression of immune function due to excessive cardio).

Hey guys

I just wanted to thank you for the great responses...I'm 23 and we are blessed that our first month of "trying" it happened....I've been slacking big time and going to start back today ( with the dr.s ok) The dr. told me to keep saying over in my head long and slow long and slow and use this time as a huge base builder. ( she does long course tri's I found out)

A woman at the sprint last weekend had to be 8 months pregnant.  She raced in tri shorts and sportsbra and they had bodymarked her tummy so the baby had a race #    She took it somewhat easy I'm sure because she looked great throughout the race and after -- not redfaced and dying.

that. is. ADORABLE.

to the OP: husband and I will start trying POST Ironman Cozumel ! ... so there may be a new crop of preggo triathletes

My wife is due in February.  General consensus is to keep doing what you are doing as long as you are comfortable.  If you were s/b/r before, keep it up at similar volume and intensity.  Do not start working out now if you weren't before. 

My wife's biggest motivation to keep training is that fit mothers have smaller babies. 

Congratulations.

I trained and competed during the first trimester of my second pregnancy.  I was advanced maternal age and high risk.  My high risk OB and my various other health providers were all extremely encouraging.  My training consisted of moderate s/b/r.  The two tris I did were at 5 and 7 weeks.  The first one was on a day with a forcast high of 90 degrees.  The second was much more mild.  I competed hard but not all out.  I did away with all tech gear (no watch, no computer on bike, no heart rate monitor).  I pushed only as hard as I felt comfortable and I had the most enjoyable two races of my tri career to date.  To the best of my knowledge, there is actually no evidence that even intense exercise is deterimental to a fetus.  Now I certainly wouldn't train for an IM, HIM or marathon but all the evidence now suggests that the benefits of exercising during pregnancy more than outweigh any risks.  After my second tri, the morning sickness kicked in.  I already had a 2.5 yr old at home so I was constantly tired even before I was pregnant. I tried to continue running and probably did so up until about half-way through my pregnancy.  Then work got really busy and all it took was missing a couple of weeks of training and I just couldn't do it any more.  I gained 10 lbs less than during my first pregnancy (I only trained and competed up until I was about a month along) and my second labor was much faster.  All the best for a healthy and happy 9 months.

Oh, I should add that your center of gravity will change once you get larger and it is not recommended that you continue biking after about 16 weeks (I think that is the recommendation).  If you have access to trails, I would consider it but I would definitely not be enthusiastic about riding on the roads.  Swimming is a wonderful form of exercise for pregnant women.

Edited by Malgal 2009-09-26 11:07 PM

LOL...In my family those ARE small babies!  I was the only one under eight pounds and two of my three sisters and both my niece and nephew were well over nine.   My youngest sister wins the prize though - tipped the scales at almost ELEVEN pounds.  (And no, my mother is NOT diabetic.)