You’ve probably noticed that regular Full Sus contributor Kate Slegrova has been a bit quiet of late, and that we’re pleased to announce it is because she’s pregnant. So we asked her to write about her experiences of staying active as her big day approached.
I got a phone call from my doctor to tell me I was pregnant when I was in Deer Park, in the Table Mountain National Park, with a client on mountain bike ride. I kept it for myself then – but had to grin happily for rest of the ride.
So my husband, Jean and I paid the doctor another visit for the first scans, for the excitement of seeing the heart-beat on screen and getting the first picture. I was about eight weeks pregnant at the time and my doctor suggested that mountain biking was out of the question.
This left me close to tears! Being a cycling and MTB coach didn’t help and I had a skills clinic planned, which I had to cancel since Jean was worried about me.
1sttrimester
I felt tired some days in the first trimester and had to eat regularly, and quite a lot to try to keep the nausea at bay. It was anyways there, but better with some food in my stomach. I went to bed pretty early most days and wasn’t very social. I continued doing two to three hour road rides and did few, secret, easy MTB rides (the road gets boring and also MTB is safer where car accidents are concerned). Some days I had to force myself to get going, but once I was riding I felt better.
The first trimester was not easy, as I started to get a bit rounder and wasn’t doing any races. People kept asking me what next big race I was training for, but we wanted to wait until 12 weeks to tell other people, so I had to say “I am just taking it easy for a bit” which didn’t satisfy people very much.
I did have to tell a few of my training buddies and some clients though. Once we reached the 12 week mark the scan confirmed everything was developing well, so I was happy to share my secret with everyone at last!
2nd trimester
At about 14 weeks I started to feel better, the nausea passed and my usual energy returned. The pregnancy books are right in saying you feel pretty normal and energetic in the 2nd trimester. I still kept riding on road, doing my two to three hour rides and I added an eight kilometre jog on the promenade once or twice a week too. I also did more cross-training in gym, like kettle bell training; core, upper and lower body exercises. I stayed away from heavy weights and stuck with functional training. The planks and push-ups really started to get harder as I got heavier!
As the weeks passed my husband was getting more and more worried about me cycling outside. He was worried about me falling or being hit by a car. Which in a way I can understand, but on other hand I am a person who likes to take a few risks. Luckily my new doctor at Cape Town’s Mediclinic, Martin Puzey, was happy with me exercising, cycling and running.
Eventually at 26 weeks my husband had had enough and put his foot down. So from then on there was no more outdoor cycling. I got tired of fighting with him and started to go to spin in the gym, which is unfortunately not as much fun but still better than nothing. If it was solely my choice I would probably have ridden until 30 weeks.
I haven’t mentioned the intensity of the exercise I did. Doctors used to say one should keep your heart rate under 140bpm. Then they realized everyone has a different heart rate, so they said if you are used to exercise you can push but about 15% less than your normal threshold.
I spoke to Doctor Jeroen Swart and he said I could go up to Zone 5 until 7 months, which is close to maximal heart rate! However I did keep my heart rate a bit lower than that, as I do get quite out of breath. That is because pregnant woman have more blood, up to double the amount by the end of the pregnancy.
For riding I was doing hill interval training in higher Zone 3 and the start of Zone 4 and recovery rides in Zone 2. While running I kept my heart rate mostly in Zone 2, because I could feel the extra weight when running and so I really didn’t feel like sprinting!
3rd Trimester
By the time you read this I’ll be well into the 3rd trimester. But when I wrote this with eight weeks to go I was still feeling good, even though I felt a bit uncomfortable when I bent down and when going for a walk in the evenings. Also the heat of January and February didn’t help. I hope I can spin until the end; I will probably add more swimming and stop with the running when I get heavier though. What I am really enjoying now is hiking up Table Mountain which is a very good workout with the extra weight! I do opt to go down with the cable car though.
Natural Birth
So with the due date approaching fast I am hoping to be able to deliver my baby girl the natural way. I started yoga this week which is apparently good for natural birth and I’ll be writing about the birth and getting back onto the bike once it’s all over.
For now though whish me luck for the last couple of weeks!
Bio:
Kate Slegrova is a cycling coach, personal trainer and the manager of Concept Studio (the altitude training and yoga studio in Sea Point, Cape Town). Her husband Jean Marais, has very fortunately for their unborn daughter, convinced Kate that their daughter should take Marais as her surname rather than the mouthful that would be Slegrova-Marais. Follow Kate on Twitter at @KateSlegrova.
