Running a Marathon while Pregnant

If you know me, you know I like to run.  You also know I'm an pretty enthusiastic marathon runner.  I've run 5 marathons and missed qualifying for Boston by 35 seconds in my last one.  I ran (and by "run" I mean I awkwardly trotted at a pace slower than most walkers) until I was 37 weeks pregnant with Finley and ran marathon #4 six months and four days after he was born.

I finally convinced my dad, sister and husband to run one with me--the Walt Disney World marathon in January. (Sol has actually run a marathon before, but I beat him by an hour, so he's looking to redeem himself.) Unfortunately, I will be 26 weeks pregnant on race day (ironic, right?) and running a marathon is not a recommended pregnant lady activity.  The race goes through Epcot and the Magic Kingdom first, so I'm planning on running the first 10 or 11 miles (recreationally), then stopping.

Could I run the whole thing?  Maybe.  Would I want to?  Heck no.  I get slower and slower as the baby gets bigger and bigger--running an entire marathon would take for-ev-er. For those of you who question my sanity with regards to running--don't worry, I'm not going to run the whole thing.  Even though the Mickey Mouse shaped medal is tempting...

So my plan is to keep running 4 days a week with a long run on the weekend.  I'm also "planning" on doing some sort of strength thing because my hips are weak and I seem to recall my stomach muscles being really weak after Finley came.

So if you see me, tell me to go lift some weights or do some crunches or something.  Not my favorite thing to do.

PS.  In other running news, Kara Goucher and Paula Radcliffe are Olympic marathoners who ran ridiculously fast through their pregnancies and recently delivered their babies days apart.  And if you google "pregnant marathon," you'll be surprised at the number of hits there are!  As marathons become more and more popular, more and more women are choosing to keep on running through it.