Riding under the influence of Baby

Most books and websites treat pregnant women as incompetent bumblers unable to make reasonable and measured decisions about personal life decisions including exercise.  The most common approach is to place very conservative and, generally scientifically unsupported, cautions on almost all forms of physical activity.   If you don’t want to be resigned to gentle walks around the block, prenantal yoga and water aerobics for 9 months,  I suggest reading the Clapp book on Exercising Through Your Pregnancy (my library had a copy).  So far as I can tell it is really the only scientific source on the benefits and impacts of excerise on pregnancy.  Another great resource for me were all the committed, fast, smart and experienced athletes that shared their stories on their blogs.  

I have never been one to dream of life events like a wedding or having a baby.  For years, I actively made sure that pregnancy wasn’t something that ‘just happened’ to me.  Scott and I happily made this decision together without hesitations or regrets.  There are still about 9 or 10 weeks to go until baby Beryl comes.  I am thrilled to see her rather than just imagining the hand or foot that seems permanetly lodged in my right ribs.  Most of all I am thrilled that part of her will be a reflection of my fantastic husband.  However, it has still been hard to lose my body.  It is unnerving to gain weight, change shape and have my entire core musculature reassigned to another purpose. 

While I have never considered myself a high level athlete, I know that my idea of a little bike ride or regular exercise is different than most people’s idea.  I also know that for fit women, staying active and moving every day helps the body and the mind stay happy. 

Here is what I can say from my own experience:

The First Third:

Beryl slowed me down even when she was nothing but a few hundred cells.  I had no idea that the effects would be so immediate.  It seemed like I simply couldn’t generate any power.  Instead of pedaling through the crest of a hill, I was coasting as soon as the front wheel crested.  There was frustration at not being able to keep up with Scott as handily as previously.  I hadn’t expected that the impacts of pregnancy would happen so soon.  I was able to keep up the ride volume which felt great.

Riding with other women helped me to see that slowing down on the bike during pregnancy doesn’t mean slowing down on the bike forever.  A week of desert mountain biking with Rim Tours in CO and UT with 6 other women all of whom have kids and rocked on their bikes.  Thanks ladies for your stories, sharing your experiences, and killing the singletrack!

All smiles in the UT desert

Although we had plans to race this summer (before my back injury, unrelated to pregnancy, took me off the bike and out of work for 2 months) I had to get rid of the computers, GPSs and heart rate monitors.  My heart rate was not inline with my percevied effort.  My hill interval times were slightly off.   I know pregnancy isn’t a time to get faster but there is the continued desire!  Ditching the electronics made me listen more to my body and less to the HR monitor beeping.

For these weeks I was easily able to keep up the bike commute to work — about 24 kms roundtrip. 

The middle third:

I don’t have a lot say here.  I spent 2 months off work with constant back pain and nerve pain.  It was bad.  I had healed enough to get back to gentle road riding by about 17 weeks and back to dirt a couple weeks later.  After 8 weeks off the mountain bike, I didn’t appreciate the changes that Beryl (she was still called Thor at that point).  An attempt on Kill Me Thrill Me proved that my core was no longer mine to use and technical climbing was now out.  Fortunately, non-technical climbing and all kinds of descending was still accessible.  We managed several good XC days and even a small bikepacking trip.  Some familiar rides on the North Shore. Sunshine Coast favorites.  Squamish happiness.  New joy in Cambell River.

Leavenworth for a long weekend

Ladies Only

Neds on Seymour

Squamish!!

Somewhere at about 22 weeks we found out that Thor is actually Beryl.  Since falling isn’t an option, my riding mantra became ‘Beryl gets her own first crash’.  I walked a lot of features that I’ve ridden without hesitation previously.  We also noticed that I was really seeing technical trail features through ‘preggo vision’.  20 inch wide woodwork looked like 2×4s!  Some folks think that my continuing to riding was risky but I’m a pretty decent mountain biker. I can tone down and slow down my riding a lot and still be comfortable on trails that might not be accesible to others. 

Off the dirt, my cyclocross commuting machine was uncomfortable by about 24 weeks.  We changed the stem to give a more upright position.  By about week 26, I couldn’t push the gearing up the 3rd street hill in North Vancouver so we got the Bandersnatch.  Upright position and mountain bike gearing are perfect for preggo riding.

During this period, I got slower and wider.  No one told me that my hips would get wider before my belly got bigger.   

The final stretch:

I’m just really getting into this phase but one word really comes to mind here:  heartburn.  Every ride. Every commute. Heck, every time I bend down to latch the paniers onto my rack. blah.  The second word to describe this period? SLOW!  I have almost accepted being slow.  That is totally not true. 

I cried on Frisbee Ridge when I saw that it took me over 90 minutes to climb less than 800 m over 12 kms.  Side of the trail. Off my bike. Tears.   I miss my body.  I miss how it would respond to *my* desires and wants.   I miss being able to go hard on a climb and push.  But I can’t.  I simply can’t go hard right now.  I don’t think I could go anerobic if I tried.  My legs don’t respond.  I know my body has changed and isn’t just for me to use!  But 20+ years of athletic training and racing are hard to overcome in 30 weeks.  Objectively I know I feel like this because of being pregnant.  Subjectively I simply miss the body I had used daily for so many years.

attack position compromised by belly!

Climbing shouldn't be this hard

Trying to smile

Thankfull, the smiles always return and Scott always manages to captures smiles as well as the struggles. I am hoping to get a few more days on mellow dirt before the weather turns shitty for winter.  Fingers crossed for Squamish singletrack Saturday!!

Some leftover thoughts:

While the midwives are happy with Beryl’s growth, I seem to be carrying pretty close into my body still and my balance hasn’t been greatly impacted.  Honestly, since I am so comfortable on a bike, I don’t expect that a change in my balance will put me at risk of falling of my bike (the only real risk that people can discuss).  The only way I am going to fall off my bike is if I get hit by a car!!

According to the books, I should be expecting to gain another 1 lb a week until Beryl comes.  Damn.  How do I get through the rainy season once I outgrow my commuting jacket??