Registered/Training for Marathon - Just found out I'm pregnant...

[Anonymous]

I'm excited, but sad I'm not going to get to run my race! There is a half marathon for this race but it's full. Has anyone ever signed up for the longer distance and just "unofficially" run the shorter one.?

I run a lot, so I'm not worried about the distance while pregnant. I wouldn't run for a time. Just for fun.

[Anonymous]

I haven't done it, but I've been running marathons and shorter races for years. As far as I know, you are totally within your rights to run whatever distance you like if you're signed up as a marathoner. You might just be listed as a "did not finish." they need a good count for the total # of participants for race services and legal permit reasons, but by running a shorter distance, you'll be using fewer race services.

Good luck! I ran throughout my pregnancy (stopped early in my ninth month) but didn't do any races after a ten-miler in month 3. Just be super-careful to stay hydrated and pay attention to your heart rate - stop earlier than half if you need to.

[Anonymous]

When are you due and when is the race?

[Anonymous]

Race Directors are usually pretty understanding about the pregnancy thing. do you definitely want to do the half or would you want to defer until next year?

[Anonymous]

I am due in October (I think!) and the race is in March. I will still be first try.

The race directors won't let me defer or do the official half. i already emailed them! Sad, especially since the race was $100 and I've put so much time and effort into training.

[Anonymous]

Wow. Pregnancy brain already. I'm PP and the OP. I meant to say "tri" not "try." I just figured out I'm pregnant and haven't been to the doctor so my due date is just a rough calculation/guess.

[Anonymous]

Is this your first OP? I think you should just listen to your body and keep in touch with your dr. Train gently. Go to the race. Run as much as you can. Stop when you need to. There will plenty of marathons in front of you!

[Anonymous]

OP here again. No, its not my first marathon. I run a lot and have run marathons before. I am not too upset about missing the race. I was just hoping to go down and enjoy the half marathon experience (going slow/walk/etc!). Unfortunately, that's not totally in the cards as it's full...

I was able to run with my previous pregnancy but I had just completed a marathon before getting pregnant. That was my plan this time. I guess our plans don't always work out the way we envisioned them.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised the race director isn't more flexible given your situation. You paid for the marathon (which is always more $ than the Half Mar) so why not allow you to switch over to the shorter race OR defer for a year? Regardless of what happens with the race, I hope your pregnancy is a healthy, uneventful one.

[Anonymous]

I jumped on the course at mile 13 with some friends and finished at the Country Music Marathon a few years ago in this exact situation. Since then, I have heard other docs are not as scared by marathoners as my very conservative OB was, but have not gotten my act together to train seriously since kids (go figure). What about doing a Galloway walk/run thing to keep your body temp down?

[Anonymous]

13:06PP here. In 2008, I ran the Cherry Blossom ten-miler in April and had a baby in October. My pace was off by 20-30 seconds per mile from my previous ten-milers, but I felt fine afterward and it didn't harm me or the baby. Unless your doctor objects, I don't think it should be an issue to run the half or some portion of it, depending on how you feel. Looking back at my running log from that year, my running didn't start to taper off till after my sixth month, though I was only running 6-8 miles at a stretch by then. (my running dropped sharply in the third trimester - having to pee every 10-20 minutes really destroys your will to run for an hour at a time.)

good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP here again. To the PP, this is good to hear, since I'm also signed up for the Cherry Blossom and due in October. I ran with my first but I do hear every pregnancy is different. I hope I can keep it up as it makes me feel "normal" when most of the rest of my body doesn't!