Running a race while pregnant?

[Greenlea]

I am signed up to do a Gladiator Assault Challenge obstacle course / race at the end of Sept. It is a 5-6 mile race that includes 30-35 obstacles, including crawling over baricades, crawling in mud, sliding down pipes, etc.

I signed up for this before I knew I was pregnant.  I was exercising and losing weight before becoming pregnant. Since finding out I am pregnant, I have not exercised due to being exhausted and nauseas.  I now have two weeks before the race and my DP doesn't think I should do it anymore due to me being pregnant.

WDYT? Would doing an obstacle race while pregnant be bad?  I would have to step up my exercising to get ready for it now though. But I'm still pretty nauseas all day long. Oh, and I'll be 10 weeks at the time of the race.

[wishin'&hopin']

I wouldn't--a regular ol' foot race, yes, but an obstacle course where the possibility for abdominal injury is relatively high...just seems like a bad idea.  

[pokeyAC]

It seems pretty likely that at 10 weeks you will still be nauseous and exhausted.  Not a good combination.  Stepping up your workout may not be possible or advisable.  I have been told not to get my heart rate above 160 while pregnant.  The obstacles could be risky too.  Sticking to running sounds like a good idea.   Congratulations on your pregnancy1

[MeepyCat]

I think your DP's right. 

I had absolutely no hesitation about running while pregnant, assuming that, on the day, I felt good.  I did a zombie run last spring myself (not while pregnant).  I would not take on a "safe but challenging assault course" (I googled the event) while pregnant.  I think you'd end up with pulled muscles, and put yourself and your partner through a lot of unnecessary stress about other incidental crap you'd encounter on the course, stuff that's unlikely to seriously harm you or your baby, but which is not going to be good for anyone's peace of mind.  I also suspect that if you told the staff that you were pregnant on race day, they would try to tell you not to run the course, to protect themselves from liability.

The race organization does not provide course maps or obstacle descriptions, which is standard practice, and even part of the appeal, for this kind of event.  However, I don't feel comfortable taking on that level of uncertainty about what I'm going to be doing on the course while pregnant.  I want to be able to train and make sure that I feel safe with the activity.

Rope nets seem to be a thing for this event - they show up in a lot of pictures.  Climbing unstable things (like a rope net with a bunch of other people on it) is a great way to pull a muscle if your hip and ankle are suddenly stretchier then usual, as they are when you're pregnant.

The website mentions slides, and so do you.  The pictures on the website include a bunch of tube slides that end (sensibly, really) in a big pool of water.  The pictures show only one guy in the water.  This almost never happens during the actual run.  Because of the multiple possible start points, the fact that people slide down at different rates of speed, and the need to keep runners moving through the course, you're highly likely to get slammed by someone behind you shortly after you hit the water.  The far side of that pit is built to be easy to climb, not soft to slam into.

Obstacle labeling for these events is not always what I'd want it to be.  For example, my zombie run included an unlabeled electric fence - a couple of my friends got zapped and briefly passed out.  Again, not okay by me while pregnant.

Take a pass and do this a few years down the road. 

[IronMam]

I was all set to say go for it when I saw the title of your post, but then saw that it's an obstacle course...yeah, maybe not so much.

Call the race organizers and ask if entry can be transferred (tell them why and they might take pity on you), then see if you can sell your entry to someone else. There are online forums for that sort of thing.

Then sign up for a road race so you don't feel like you're missing out quite so much. Bummer thou. Those obstacle courses look sooooooo fun!

Just FYI, current guidelines are that if you ran before pregnant you can continue running as long as you're comfortable and experience no problems. You don't have to monitor your heart rate, jut your perceived rate of exertion. Ideally you should be able to talk. If you're exerting yourself to much to do so, you may need to ease up.

[camprunner]

I'd do it. Thte baby should still be under your pubic bone at this point. Right?

[Greenlea]

Originally Posted by camprunner 

I'd do it. Thte baby should still be under your pubic bone at this point. Right?

Well that and I figured if I get bumped or fall down, its not like I have a baby bump yet and the baby isn't close to the "surface" to where it could injure him/her.

MeepyCat did make alot of good points though.

I think I'm going to up my exercise back to the level I was at before I found out I was pregnant. If I feel good doing that, I'll do the race. If I find it difficult or feel any pains, I won't do the race. The registration is non transferrable and there's no refund, so I can decide right up to the day if I wanted.