A lot (most?) women work through their pregnancies, right up until the day before they give birth. Paula Radcliffe was no exception. Even full term with her first baby, she did the work she was accustomed to doing everyday: lacing up her shoes and heading out for a run.
The elite marathoner continued training throughout all nine months of her pregnancy. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl. And 12 days later, Radcliffe hit the road again to resume her running schedule.
Sunday, with her 9-month-old and husband watching, she’ll run in the New York City marathon – her first 26.2-mile race in two years. ** UPDATE Mama Radcliffe won the women's division Sunday running the course in 2 hours, 23 minutes and 9 seconds and taking home the $130,000 first-place prize. **
Radcliffe altered her training schedule when she found out she was pregnant -- for the first five months, she ran twice a day, 75 minutes in the morning and 30 to 45 minutes in the evening. (Is that all?) She cut back in the last trimester, running an hour in the morning and riding a stationary bike at night. (You know, during those months you were complaining about stairs and snacking a lot.)
Lots of scientists and sports doctors will have their eyes on the 33-year-old Radcliffe in the race, wondering whether the recent pregnancy will make her perform better or worse. Research into the effects of pregnancy on sports performance is difficult, since not a lot of women want to subject the fetus to potential harms.
Did you keep exercising all through pregnancy or quit the minute the stick showed a second pink line. Or, like me, did you promise to start and never quite get around to it, pregnant or not?
