Thursday, March 29, 2012

Pregnancy & running

I bought new running shoes today since my old ones (from sophomore year of college, I believe) were starting to look and feel a bit tired. 

I'm normally comfortable running my shoes into the ground (literally!), but since I'm continuing to run while pregnant, I decided against taking chances with my knees and hips.  Since I had both the day off and the car, I decided to make a trip to Hanson's Running Shop in search of shoe recommendations from people who probably know more than I do about them. 

While I ran occasionally before, I'm up to 2-3 miles, five days a week at present.  And it feels great.  I'm taking the best care of my body that I ever have as an adult, and pregnancy produces hormones which effectively prevent muscle and joint soreness.  My growing belly is an awkward running buddy, but it hasn't affected my form yet. 

I found shoes, first of all.  While they're not my usual Adidas Boston Classic, they're quite possibly a better fit for my feet.  I've known for awhile that Brooks makes shoes with a wider - than - usual toe box, which is a wonderful thing with feet as wide as mine.  I also found that the woman who happily brought out 10+ pairs of shoes for me to try on had run almost daily til the day before she gave birth to her son - at 38 years old, no less.  She had plenty of advice (qualified with a "but be sure to check with your doctor"), book recommendations, and encouragement. 

From what I've gathered (from asking customers with kids), it doesn't sound like most women do anything more than walking from the moment they find out they're pregnant on.  I'm hoping to keep running for as long as possible, so it's delightful to meet a real, running mother with a healthy elementary - age child.  Not only she (Michelle, I believe her name was), but also all of her female coworkers ran the entire way through their pregnancies. 

So to anyone who is reading this - I'm going for it!

1 comment:

  1. So cool! I became a runner in 2010 and loved it...Ran 8 miles a few days before I found out I was pregnant...Had some early on bleeding, weight gain issues and many other things so last week doc finally said no more running...So now Im walking which doesnt feel like a workout to me after that lovely runner high...I know many woman who have run well up until those last 1-3 months.

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