Looking for some thoughts and comments. I am 37 and recently learned that I am pregnant with my first child. While the pregnancy was not a surprise - it came much sooner than expected! I will be around 12 weeks pregnant for the 70.3 World Championships in November. I have no intention of racing hard at the event but am considering doing it by shooting for the time cut-offs in each discipline. There is a long thread out there about doing an IM. Having done both distances, I know that a 70.3 is significantly less taxing on your body. Last week I did a 4 hour easy bike and 30 min slow run and felt fine during and after. What are others thoughts and experiences?
Congrats!
Yes, congrats. You should be patted on the back!
You should also get kicked in the ass. 37 years old, second trimester, and you are going to do a RACE that is 5-7 hours long. Don’t give me some cock and bull story about going easy. It may “feel” easy to you, but any effort of that length is going to suppress your immune system at the very least, and you’re telling me this is going to somehow be good for your baby? Considering the fact the that percentages of miscarriage goes up significantly after 35, and you are thinking of stressing your body with a 5-7 hour event, tells me that those baby-making hormones have supressed your mental capacities. Exercise some maturity, instead of your body, and do what’s right for your family. Give the tri thing a rest for cryin out loud. It aint gonna kill ya. But it may kill your baby. Live with that if you want to, because if something goes wrong, you will always wonder.
Looking for some thoughts and comments. I am 37 and recently learned that I am pregnant with my first child. While the pregnancy was not a surprise - it came much sooner than expected! I will be around 12 weeks pregnant for the 70.3 World Championships in November. I have no intention of racing hard at the event but am considering doing it by shooting for the time cut-offs in each discipline. There is a long thread out there about doing an IM. Having done both distances, I know that a 70.3 is significantly less taxing on your body. Last week I did a 4 hour easy bike and 30 min slow run and felt fine during and after. What are others thoughts and experiences?
I think that rather than soliciting potentially uninformed, misinformed, or partially informed opinions here, you should buy and read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Exercising-Through-Pregnancy-James-Clapp/dp/1886039593
Don’t ask a forum, ask your doc! This is a no brainer flamer.
Congrats…first post and a baby!
Welcome,to you both.
t~
i would think that is a pretty big risk to take. Especially considering isn’t 37 “old” for having a child and aren’t the risks increased in the first considering you are 37? I have no idea but I thought I had heard that. I would certainly research it from many sides and consult a number of different dr’s to garner a better opinion than from us yokuls on ST. 
First ask your doc.
Second ours said that pretty much any excercise was fine if you kept the core body temp down. He was also not keen on very long duration stuff or pretty much anything that was overly taxing to the body. If you are in SUPER shape maybe a HIM isn’t taxing at all…but that’s a stretch for me.
However I can only say it’s not worth the chance IMHO. Even if the race has nothing to do with it and you do end up with problems it’ll always be in the back of your mind that Maybe it did have something to do with it. Again maybe you get thru fine, no problems, but why take the chance.
~Matt
It’s a stupid race that you aren’t even going to race versus your child. COME ON!!! End of discussion. Please.
experience: none, I’m 19
thought: TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR
.
I say you do it and have the baby at the finish line, thus ruining someones finishers photo.
But seriously… its not worth the risk.
even if you do not intend to go hard, there are factors out of your control. you could get kicked in the stomach during the swim, you could crash on the bike due to factors other than your bike handling skills (not everyone out there will have them).
reconsider. by the sucess of the 70.3 series, it will be there next year.
k
agreed with all of the people who say don’t risk it.
you don’t want to take any risk that something will happen to a baby who will give you thousands of hours of happiness just by looking at him/her:
and you’ll have plenty of time to do triathlons later, and so will your kid …
experience: none, I’m 19
thought: TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR
Hey Tigerchik, if you lived in the Ozarks, you’d have 6 kids by that age! JUST KIDDING OZARK FOLKS!!!
My wife is pregnant with our first, she’s 28 and 20 weeks in. All I know is that for weeks 7 or so to 16, she was exhausted, all the time. When she wasn’t at work, she was sleeping. She didn’t have the energy to do anything, never mind do a race. She hasn’t even had one sick day, but the exhaustion was very real for a while there… Everything is back to normal now though…
Aside from all the safety concerns mentioned above, if your experience is anything like ours, you won’t have the energy to entertain this idea…
This is the worse question I’ve ever seen here. Well after that “how to make a flat cola” I guess…
So if I say “I am doctor, don’t worry go ahead and try to qualify” are you going to listen me? What if I am a nut job sitting in his parents basement???
70.3? You should be lucky to get pregnant at that age, go have your baby in health enjoy the birth and then comeback think racing.
Where is swimfan when you need him!
I agree that the book, “Exercising Through Pregnancy” is the place to start. I read part of it with my friend (age 40) who got pregnant last year and wanted to know if she could/should do tris.
One of the things that that book points out is that your doctor is not NECESSARILY up to speed on the most recent research regarding exercise and pregnancy. Basically, the more recent research shows that it is way safer than once thought. However, my friend was doing sprint tris, and I don’t remember reading about the advisability of “long” (5-7 hours) bouts of exercise for the pregnant.
Maybe this is not all or nothing. What about doing the swim and the bike and skipping the run, for instance?
It is interesting to see some of the over-the-top replies from men on this forum, to your original post. I’m sure they are being warm-hearted and want what is best for you and the baby - but am less sure that they are in fact well informed on this topic.
I’ve read the book, and as many “myths” as he debunks I’ve seen other books supporting them. So, having had the same question and considering there is no definitive answer, you’re 37 and this is your FIRST child… I say don’t risk it.
“It is interesting to see some of the over-the-top replies from men on this forum, to your original post. I’m sure they are being warm-hearted and want what is best for you and the baby - but am less sure that they are in fact well informed on this topic.”
Women can be just as “over-the-top” and uninformed… trust me…
I did a 200k bike trek while 5 and a half months pregnant. I also did 2 OLY and a sprint tri in 1st trimester.
TALK TO YOUR OB. If (s)he clears you, go for it. Just remember you are going to feel VERY SLOW so TAKE IT SLOW.
AP