We live in Dublin and I’m currently on maternity leave and
taking some respite from my job running
around the country as a fish vet. More
about that again. I am and have always been a pretty serious recreational
athlete who thrives on exercise and the buzz and gerenal sense of well being I
get from it. Everything from running to
triathlon to adventure racing, but the current obsession is track cycling. I
wanted to write something for the last year about a subject dear to my
heart - I love exercise ! I do and have always done loads of it. I love competition and would consider myself
a committed recreational athlete – and
know there are many women out there just
like me. Women who compete for fun, but are serious about doing well and
reaching their full potential for personal reward and fun.
Due to my circumstances I have become interested in is how
to fuse this personality with pregnancy and motherhood, which I have strived to
do this over the last year. Word got out that I trained all the way through my
pregnancy and since the birth of Tori I have received many emails from pregnant
women desperate for advice or reassurance. Most of these are like me, with a
passion for sport, and represent all levels of ability. Many were told to stop
exercising or cut down significantly on it because they were pregnant. They
want to know what I did, how much I trained, ask me questions like did I stay
on the bike all the way through, what I did in the gym etc. There is a serious
lack of good information and advice
out there for pregnant women who want to exercise. Note I specify “good”. There
is endless not so useful information,
and many willing to give advice. From hearsay and opinions of friends and
family – which can sometimes be bizarre, to guarded conventional advice from
doctors, physios, personal trainers and the likes, all probably afraid they
will get sued if something were to go wrong with the pregnancy or during the
post-partum period. Where there is
advice it is nearly always depressingly over conservative, especially for women
used to high levels of physical activity. The same “one shoe fits all”
guidelines are supplied to all those who ask. I very quickly realised the best
strategy for me when deciding what to do was not to ask, and to go on a journey
and find out what was best for myself and my baby, both during pregnancy and
for that time post-birth. . My 'shoes' wouldn’t fit or suit all either but I took my own path based
on my own feeling and research I did, enabling me to make informed decisions
about what to do. Despite my concerns pre baby I have found it is most definitely
possible to maintain good fitness, and therefore sanity, during pregnancy and
post-birth. Fingers crossed for the weekend with my new support team to cheer me on!
Check out the feature in this weeks Fit Mag (20/9/12)
ReplyDeleteNice pictures of me and Tori down at the track