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Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility
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Hi Ladies,

Can anyone help me here? I've followed several threads here regarding pregnancy & training, and fertility & training. I've asked my Fertility doc, my regular doc. Does anyone have any idea HOW MUCH training is too much for someone struggling with unexplained infertility? My cycles are normal, my body fat is normal/average, my diet is above-average, my dear hubby's numbers are excellent.

I'm going to make an *assumption* that training hard for IM's (ie, trying to qualify for Kona) could potentially be too much.
What about half IM's? Training hard vs. training "to have a fun race"?
What about training hard for Oly's? Or, again, just training to have fun?

I took the entire race season off last year and went through several rounds of fertility treatments. While I'm still not pregnant, and while I would consider choosing pregnancy over training for IM's a no-brainer... I would like to do *something*. My husband is training hard and I want to join him in a few races this year. But I can't find a solid answer to help guide my training volume and race plan.

Any advice, stories, examples, personal history, would be completely appreciated!

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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [Tri tri again] [ In reply to ]
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I'm not sure how helpful this is since it sounds like our situations and personal histories are very different but for what it's worth...

I almost never ever have my period (have had it without BC only twice in my life) because of a combination of genetics and the fact that I was an elite gymnast for many years. When we decided to get pregnant I stopped all intense training. I'd still run, swim and get on the bike but nothing was even close to intense. I called them sorority girl workouts (no offense to sorority girls, but they reminded me of the workouts I'd see the sorority girls do on the elliptical at the gym in college). And I gained a few pounds. I think it was the gaining a few pounds that did the trick because both times I had my period was when law school was incredibly intense and I ate more because I was stressed and worked out less because I didn't have the time. We did all the testing and had braced ourselves for years of trying. We were very lucky in that I got knocked up after just one round of progesterone. And now I have a healthy little boy. But now we are trying to figure out when to start trying for #2 and we have to take into consideration that the progesterone may not work it's magic and we may not get as lucky with #2. We'd like a few more months of just enjoying our little boy before we have a second kid (and we are ONLY having 2, I don't care what my husband says) but again, there's the chance that it could take years so I struggle with whether we should start trying now or we should continue to wait.

So I'm not sure I've helped you at all in answering your own questions. In reading the blogs of others who have struggled, I've come to learn that each woman's experience is incredibly unique and it can be very frustrating to learn that something that works for one woman doesn't work for another. Good luck!
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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [Tri tri again] [ In reply to ]
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A topic near and dear to my heart. I'm sorry you are going through this and I hope it isn't hurting you too much. I really struggled with this and gave up 2+ years of living a truly active lifestyle to achieve my 1st successful pregnancy. I quit running and gained 15 pounds because I was right on the borderline of being below healthy on the BMI scale when I first started trying. Right before I got pregnant, I took up running again and decided to train for some short triathlons when BAM! Pregnant!

My opinion, and take it for what it is: train a healthy amount and eat great foods. By healthy amount I mean I wouldn't do any endurance stuff (over 2 hours) and I wouldn't try to go after a 10K PR either. But I think you can do harder than sorority girl pace. Put on a few more pounds and keep pursuing fertility treatments. Have you read about fertility diets? I think there was an article in Newsweek that talked about getting lots of fat in your diet and suggested drinking whole milk and eating ice cream. I really think there is something about getting enough healthy calories and having fat on your bod that helps, regardless of activity level.

I did every other month of Clomid with AI and I got pregnant during a fertility treatment month. I did get pregnant without treatments earlier but I miscarried that pregnancy.

As far as hubby training hard, don't be afraid to ask him to be with you during your less intense, shorter training. I would ask my husband to go on nightly walks with me which he initially hated but it turned into a great time for us to talk and connect with each other. It's really easy to resent the man in the situation when he runs off doing whatever he wants while you sit at home getting fat or tool around doing sorority girl workouts. You will both have to adjust once you have a baby anyway so don't be afraid to ask him to sacrifice some time to be with you. And you might try to justify by saying "he should do this now before the baby comes" but trust me! Your life already changed, you are already making sacrifices, be sure you ask him to come along on that journey with you.

Please feel like you can contact me if you would ever like to talk. I hope you achieve pregnancy soon! Then you can find out about sleep deprivation! :)
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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [Tri tri again] [ In reply to ]
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Even though it would be nice to know exactly what is the "right" amount of training for fertility, the reality is that every body is different. Some women have a very robust hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, and could get pregnant training for ultras, while others are quite sensitive to minimal stresses (exercise or other). The key is to find your body's optimal set point.
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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [Tri tri again] [ In reply to ]
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Going through this now so I feel your pain. Trying for over a year - no dice. Like you, my cycles are normal (like freakin' clockwork!), body fat seems ok, diet is good, and yet unexplained infertility.

I took most of last year off from training hard due to an injury and thinking in the back of my head that I would be getting pregnant any day now. Wow - glad I wasted a year of my life doing that (can you sense the bitterness?).

This year I'm trying to be better about living my life for now rather than for the future. That means I will be training hard this year and the only reason I'm not doing 1/2IMs is because of the above injury. I would like to try and get myself on a podium or two for shorter distances though. I just can't take another year of living my life full of what ifs - it's too hard emotionally to ride that monthly rollercoaster. And truthfully, training helps me mentally work through things which makes me better able to deal with the monthly letdowns.

Like others have said, what you can/can't get away with training wise is going to be incredibly specific to your own body. My advice would be to do what makes you happy. If that means waiting it out another season to create the best possible environment for a baby then do that. If that means training at XYZ level then do that.

Good Luck!


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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [lilpups] [ In reply to ]
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I am in the same boat...eat healthy, have backed off my training and intensity, sit right in the healthy middle of that silly BMI chart, have been temperature charting my so-very-regular cycles for over a year,hubby has been cleared to go....but nothing is happening. However I am only at month 6...I am impatient though so will be getting a test done soon to see if anything is wrong. Today my doc tried to suggest it could be my level of exercise. I told him I didn't think 7 hrs per week of low-moderate exercise should be a problem and asked him if he had read James F Clapps "Exercising for your Pregnancy"? he hadn't. Much as my hubby says I shouldn't feel like I'm in limbo, that I should just live my life and see what happens, once that mental decision has been made ie "we are trying to conceive", it is hard to not wonder each month if a certain workout will screw things up, if maybe I shouldn't eat this, that, the other...I'll give myself another 6 months experimenting a little with different workouts (next step is to back off from running and just ride, swim, walk, hike) then resume what I want to. With or without a child there are many adventures and activities to pursue in life, gotta play with the cards I'm dealt!
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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [cherelli] [ In reply to ]
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Hi ladies!

This might seem a bit off topic, but I don't think it is. I have personally found a lot of physical benefits from acupunture, and know that my acupuncturist (Jennefer Radojevik in Chicago) has helped a lot of women conceive. I know there's a lot written about fertility and acupunture/traditional chinese medicine, and that you all may have already done your research on it. But if you haven't, it might be a "fertile" avenue of inquiry (pun absolutely intended).
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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [Tri tri again] [ In reply to ]
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Hey Women's--

Thank you so much for throwing in your two-cents. It is so helpful to hear about others who are in the same boat or have been in the same boat previously. This seriously seems to take over your life... and I thought IM's took over your life. A couple months ago I "retired" from a high-stress job that I loved. I was working as a firefighter-paramedic and was away from home 1/3rd of the time. I am so hopeful that the regular sleep schedule will be MORE than enough to give my body the rest it needs even with a moderate training level. After a year of no racing I'm ready to get back to a few races this season. Maybe someday it will happen when I'm not even expecting it.... even though I never really "get it" when people say that. Whatever.

And... I'm going to get myself some ICE CREAM!!!!!

Again, thanks Ladies! Best of luck to all of you!
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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [Tri tri again] [ In reply to ]
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Hi firstly sorry you are going through this. I am a mom of five , the first 3 from my first marriage, after the third i had my tubes tied, met my second husband 13 years later had them untied and 2 more baby's, i have been active my whole life, i have always weighed between 100-105 (excluding PG), was never told to stop excercising in fact my friend who is a OBGYN said excercise is good, now that being said if your period stops then you have a problem, most of the time its not due to the activity its the calories, my sugestion continue to enjoy your activities be sure to consume the calories your body needs, if your in dought google a calorie counter and find out how many calories your body needs based on activity, weight, gender ect, ect...most of all enjoy SEX do not stress, now as i said i have 5 wonderful kids i never gave up any thing including cafene, wine, relax i did however know when i ovulated every month. i do hope this helps feel free to PM me.x
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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [Tri tri again] [ In reply to ]
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I think you will get many different opinions and experience from other women so sometimes we listen to the advice we WANT to hear. The amount or intensity of exercise that might be ok for one woman might not be ok for you. If you are doing everything else right, try truly backing off on exercise - maybe that is what your body needs. Our fertility is so fragile, I think that exercise really can affect some of us. Some women get pregnant while training for an IM, are able to run marathons while 7 months pregnant while others are not able to do more than walk. Maybe we should remember that traditionally, symbols of female fertility are not lean, thin triathletes!
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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [Tri tri again] [ In reply to ]
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I was thinking about this again yesterday while I was out riding by myself and wanted to share a few more things with you. The best path for you to take is to do your research, have a discussion with your husband, and then take the path that you both agree is best for you and don't think twice about what other people think about what you are doing.

I had the compounding problem that out of 6 couples in my close circle of friends, 3 got pregnant the first time trying, 2 got pregnant within 4 months, and then there was me, the one who was most active by far and struggled for 2 1/2 years. Every time I saw my friends I would have to answer questions about what we were doing and how I was doing, etc. I was in fertility hell for a long time. Some people even implied that because we used fertility treatments that perhaps we were cheating God's will in some way. You can guess what I think about those people.

I have no regrets about anything we did because I did what I thought was best for me to conceive and I committed myself to the process and I have no doubts in myself. Times were tough and I stuck with it.

Being a mom has cured 98% of the pain that I dealt with from the process. I think now that I have experienced pregnancy that adopting would be just as great if not more wonderful. I hope to be a foster parent one day when we have a bigger house and our baby is older. Parenting is all about caretaking and unconditional love and you can take care of someone who doesn't share your genes just as well.

I have a crazy awesome little dude in my life now and whatever it took to get there was nothing. I hope this advice helps you and that you find some peace in yourself and the process and that you get pregnant very soon!
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Re: Really, how much is too much? Training & fertility [Tri tri again] [ In reply to ]
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Infertility is not all about a woman's issue.
I work at a teaching university where they specialize in infertility, and these group of physicians will tell you the following:
When it comes to infertility, 30% of the time it is the female's issue, 40% of the time it is the male's issue, and 30% is unidentified.

If you listen to this... its pretty amazing how the interviewer (male) already proposes that its a woman's issue... then as soft spoken as she is, she told him the news. and he comes around in the interview
http://www.thebigtalker1210.com/...&audioId=1044360
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