Logic would dictate keeping stable blood chemistry, which would imply staying below threshold most of the time, but then how much time do you spend in zone 5 anyway?

I've known over a dozen ladies who have trained right through pregnancy, including one who went into labor shortly after a 4000M swim workout, delivered the baby and came back to work out about ten days later. She said she'd have been back sooner, but there was too much to do.

Maintaining a workout schedule (as morning sickness, etc., will allow) is just taking care of YOUR health, which is good for your baby.

Above all, however, listen to your body. If your HR is overly elevated (it should be just a smidge higher from all the "work" you have to do groing the little tadpole...) then back off on your workouts, but no need to stop, as long as you feel well.

Your OB might suggest a more conservative approach, but ask her/him how many world class athletes he or she has guided through pregnancy. First hand reports that I've had indicate that everything goes smoother (including the delivery) if you stay with the program you've been on, with a few modifications as your body dictates. Just ease off as the date becomes more imminent.

Of course running should be reduced as 3rd tri goes on, and cycling should be done conservatively (no maniacal 65 mph descending...) but don't let fear of negative effects keep you from training. Those stories are old wive's tales, and I've never heard one told by anyone with direct experience.

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

Thanks, there's so little good information out there, and so much FUD (fear uncertainty and doubt) that it's tough. My plan is to continue with my swimming 4x/week, running under 10k 3x/w, with 1 weekend 2hr ride on top of riding to work 3/w (20k return). I can't imagine that it'll be any worse than the two races I have already done; now I just gotta make sure my last two races are a bit easier on the run.

One piece of "info" I keep seeing out there is that pregnant women shouldn't be cycling past 1st trimester, as the likelihood of a miscarriage is high if they fall. I think this is hogwash, I think I could just as easily fall on the stairs as off my bike (and I'm a pretty experienced faller now ;-)).

Anyways, thanks C.E., I'm going to go out for a 2hr ride in the glorious Vancouver sun...

Triathlete Mag had a section for female triathletes an issue or two ago with some parts on pregnancy.
I don't think it mentioned racing but said easy moderate training is ok but don't get the heart rate way up there (no HRmax).
Not sure if you want to ride a bike, yes you can be as careful as ever but it is the other person (and the ones in the cars) that you have to worry about. One fall is all it takes to cause problems. I think riding on a trainer, stationary bike is a better idea.
Anyway, talk to your Dr. and congrats.

A

Was that the Women's special issue? Thx. I dunno, there are some pretty good places to ride around here, wide shoulders, low traffic, etc. I just don't want to feel like I *cannot* do something that is good for me, particularly when being a smart and alert rider makes a world of difference... Maybe until I see my OB on Wed, I'll go for a run instead... (stoopid me just bought the latest edition of Bicycling, now I want to ride... sigh)

Found it, Feb 2003. Thanks for the pointer. The article says riding in trimester 1 is ok, 2nd is up to your belly, and 3rd is stationary. As for running: it seems to be inconclusive: the obvious stuff (no spedd work, no vigorous long runs, no racing) but nothing concrete. Thank god I love to swim! AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

my wife became pregnant last july (smack in the middle of her season). she had the same concerns you do. we were told that as long as she is used to the level of training she was doing, don't worry about it. she also did 2 more races after she found out she was pregnant (even winning her age group in one of them!) as far as heat, the doc said she'd feel like stopping LONG before anything would ever happen to the baby. for biking, he said unless you sustain a direct impact to the abdomen, the chances of harm to the baby are low (by her 2nd trimester, she couldn't comfortably bend over on her road bike anyway, electing to ride her mountain bike instead). swimming was fine up to the end -she was, in fact, at the pool the day she was due...the lifeguards were very nervous:) for running, once she got "bigger" she wore a supportive device to minimize bouncing. you could probably find or order one from your local running store. basically, just be careful and don't increase your training more than what you are already doing. this past march she delivered our first child - a healthy baby boy!!! oh yeah, a previous post mentioned about returning to training afterwards. i would ask your o.b. we were told nothing for 6 weeks (vaginal birth) due to risk of infection (in the pool) and risk of blood clots if you do anything too strenuous too quickly. best of luck, and congratulations!

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"I'm happy when life's good,
and when it's bad I cry.
I've got values but I don't know how or why."
- The Who

Wow, that sounds pretty similar. Thanks for sharing her experience, this gives me much more hope for finishing those last two races at the end of the month, nice way to close off the "shortened season". What the hey, I can always go hard on the swim and bike, and dog it on the run ;-)... Those "baby belts" are really big in Australia - my 2 sister-in-laws there swear by them.. I've got one coming.

I rode 2h30 today, kept the average HR around 145, felt great, not exhausted at the end, so I think it's a "go".

Thanks all. Any other stories to share, I'd love to hear them: abrynjolfson@hotmail.com.

AP

Congratulations on your pregnancy. There is very little about hard exercise and pregnancy available, but I would agree with keeping up with your current level. This should allow for less weight gain (maternal) without harming the fetus, less pain meds during delivery, and less post-partum depression. As far as the biking I would agree that after 13 weeks, cut it out. Yes, the trainer is safer than outdoors (much more difficult to fall of a trainer if you use rollers maybe not). Yes, the risk of acutally falling and having a placental abruption (the cause of the miscarriage) is small, but if it does happen to you the consequences are huge. I have seen one person to actually have this at about 16 weeks. Some OB's are more conservative than this, and they would not be wrong since there is little info on biking during pregnancy. So as much as you will hate to hear it ask YOUR OB, and go with what they say. Remember they will be the one to take care of you if something bad does happen. Good luck

Well I've been doing tri for 18 yrs and I'm female. Started when my 1st son was 6 months old & my second one is now 14. Did a week long bike tour about 3 weeks after learning I was pregnant. Did my first IM when he was 4. I downhilled skied, hiked & biked continued in the weight room thru most of each pregnancy. Running was the first to go. It became uncomfortable. I was swiming up until the day I delivered. I've never heard of any stopping bicycling at 13 weeks. With my first I remember doing a 40 mile bike ride at about 7 months & being tired ast the end. That was about the last of the bike rides. I also had modified my bike at the time with some Mt Bike type handlebars so i was more upright. Back then those kind of things were just coming out.

Main thing is to listen & be aware of how you feel use common sense & modify as necessary as your baby grows and your gait & energy level changes. I always kept my awareness I was pregnant as a mental backdrop as just didn't push with the same intensity I would normally do. Following the same philospy I do during my race tapers where my motto is "less is more" (less now is more on race day). Don't worry about expectations (pre- pregnant) just go with what you can do at the time which is changing as the days goes by. It's a journey & you are not only nuturing a baby but yourself. The 10 months are nature's way of preparing both of you. With my 2nd the pelvic ligaments "relaxed" differently & I stopped x-country skiing around 4 months.

What's acceptable will depend on what you have been doing. Basically you can keep doing what you have been within reason(modifying/decreasing that as necessary) & don't under take anything new. Once your child is born you will be pleasantly pleased at how quickly your body responds to the maintenance schedule you held together during the pregnancy.

There has been some discussion about maintaining a HR below 140 particularly after 6 month to make sure the baby gets enough oxygen. My Dr didn't want me hiking at the 5000 ft level on Mt Rainer for the same reason. Also don't get overheated and drink lost of fluids etc.

Men, we are not worthy. Any woman who can train and race for tri's while being pregnant is one tough cookie. Hats off. Believe me, if I suddenly became Billy Crystal in the "Rabbit Test" I'd have my feet up on the couch, remote in hand, eating whatever I could hold down. My wife was pretty damned sick with both our daughters during pregnancy. If I felt anything close to the way she did, I'd probably never get out of bed!

Thanks for all the good advice & anecdotes. I plan on skipping those last two races and volunteering instead ;-). (I ran this morning and it was a bit of a slower, pleasant run, but I don't think I want to risk it by racing.) So far, the only real change is the slower shorter runs, and no more hill climbs on the bike. Other than that, it seems to be biz as usual. I am noticing that by keeping active, my fatigue, which was really bad a week ago, is dropping off dramatically, and I'm feeling far more energetic than before. In fact if I don't do some activity in the morning before work (at least 30min), I am wiped for the entire day. Each 30min-1hr session seems to keep me "alert" for 6 to 8 hours afterwards. So now if I want to keep alert at work, I'll have to get in that short run or ride in the am ;-)...

Ive posted our experiences on this before so that others would not experience the tragedy that happened to us. We had twins three years ago. We lost our daughter due to chord compression (in essence she suffocated).

Facts we did not know before we had our babies:
-after the 38th week of pregnancy the mortality rate of twins goes up to 1/112

-after the 40th week of pregnancy the mortatlity rate of singleton births rises up to approx. the same percentage.

Risk factors:
-low resting heart rate (very athletic mother)
-low bp (mother)
-first pregnancy
-twins
-early signs of chord compressions that were ignored by Dr.
-low amniotic fluid brushed off as OK by Dr.
-posterior placenta
-excellent muscle tone (mother)
-going past 38 weeks (we were at 39.5 weeks, OB has now changed several of their SOPs and twins are induced at 38)

What happened to our daughter was that there were all these risk factors that no one ever told us about. I feel that it is now my job to let people know about these risks. The consequences are easily avoidable by just having this information. Be careful, and if you do continue with a higher degree of exercise/racing then just make sure that you monitor yourself and the baby. You dont need to stop, just be careful, listen to your body, and ask lots of questions of your Dr. Make sure that they are paying attention to what is going on in your pregnancy, and not just treating it like just one more patient. If you have to be a pain in the ass; do it! This is your baby we are talking about.
We now have three beautiful children; but there is still a big hole left where our daughter ciara left us. I just pass on this info to help as many other people as I can. If you would like ANY further info, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Stephen Judice

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I believe my local reality has been violated.
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Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2