I knew the day would come when I would start getting “the look”…the wide-eyed, head-shaking, disapproving look of someone who thinks it is preposterous that I am running…pregnant. (Oh, the horror! The HORROR!) It happened to me for the first time, or the first time that I actually noticed it, last night. And, to be honest, it caught me completely and totally off-gaurd.
I am now at the point where I am obviously showing. I keep trying to convince myself that I am not really “out there” yet, but I think I am in denial. You know, especially when people in my run group who had not been there in a couple of weeks see me and say, “Whoa! You have really popped out there, haven’t you!?” Yeah, so, I am *officially* baby bumpin’.
Other than my belly poking out, I am trying to keep on keepin’ on as much as possible, in as much as the same way as before, but with my activities modified as I feel I need to. When I found out I was pregnant, it never really crossed my mind to not run. I mean, surely women did it all the time, right? I used to have a step aerobics instructor who taught classes until she was 8 months along. If she could bop up and down on a step, I could keep running, right? After consulting with my doctor, explaining to him that before getting pregnant my body had been used to some serious weekly mileage, he agreed to let me keep running as long as I felt that I could. I promised him that I would listen to my body and use common sense…and then I went on my happy little runner way. No big deal.
And it was not a big deal…until I got “the look” last night.
Last night’s group run took us up along the Mississippi River levee. I love this route because it is a straight out-and-back route that allows me to see all of my fellow runners. These days, my back-of-the-pack runner status lets me take in all the views and really watch the group as a whole. It is really fun to see that many people participating in a hobby they love so much. Ah, I digress…
Anyway, what is different about the levee route is the number of spectators. Keep in mind that these are not intentional running spectators, they are just people who happen to be up on the levee, enjoying the view of the river…they also just happened to get caught in our flash mob of running awesomeness.
NOT me, but she's my hero!
Say what? Did I really just get called out…by a total stranger?
By the time my brain wrapped itself around what this woman had said I was well on my way down the route and was not able to respond. Besides, I am not sure if I would have even wanted to break my stride and interrupt my run to do so. I have read plenty of articles on pregnant running (after all, I wanted to know what I was getting myself into), and I new the stares and comments would come at some point. However, I figured I would be prepared with some snappy, well thought out, and educated come-back about how I know my body better than anyone else and that, when done with care, running was a perfectly acceptable activity for a woman with child.
I missed the boat on this one. Oh well. I have no doubt that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I better think of that snappy come-back pretty quickly. I have a feeling that I will need to whip out my “why pregnant running is okay” factoid card more often in the coming weeks. I suppose it just comes with the territory.
So, just as a courtesy, if you are out there tearing it up on the road and you see a baby bumpin’ runner, please don’t stare or give a look of disgust. Jog on over to her, give her a high five, and tell her to keep on keepin’ on!
Have you ever run through a pregnancy? Have you ever run through some sort of injury or in a situation that caused you to get disapproving faces/comments from others? How did you respond to that?
