Do a Sprint Triathlon when pregnant?

asilmegan34

I am currently only 5 weeks along, and am currently running about 15 miles a week, biking 15 miles a week, and doing 30 day shred DVD 1-2 times a week. Before I was pregnant I signed up for a Sprint Triathlon (300 yard swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run). I had an OB appointment on Friday and they encouraged me to continue what I am doing and stressed the benefits of exercise in pregnancy (yay!). My question for other mommas out there: Did you do any exercising on a bike when you started showing? I've read that women past the first trimester shouldnt ride a bike because they could fall, so that is why I am wondering. This Sprint Tri is a small one with just 400 participants, so it's not going to be overally crowded.

Carrieendar

I can't answer the bike question from experience, but I feel like continued training is the key. I ran and did martial arts throughout my 4 pregnancies under the care of a sports med OBGYN practice. Their one huge rule was that you had to maintain what you were doing, whether at lower intensity or not, if you wanted to continue. basically, what that meant was, if you stopped for a week, there was a big chance you would not be able to start back up because of the ligament and tendon softening that would occur. This is exactly what happened when I stopped running for a week with my second because of a hot weather week; when I tried again the next week in cooler weather, I really couldn't run much anymore, I could feel the difference in my muscles and connective tissues!!!! SO I would say stick with it, stay under alert care of your provider, share everything with them related to your training, etc.