Am I still a Triathlete?
A Pregnant Woman’s Perspective
by Carlyn Challgren-Hinds

This all happened so quickly- one year I finished an Ironman, the next I am top 5 in my age group for 3 different triathlons and soon thereafter I am huffing and puffing walking up the street to buy lottery tickets! “Whose body is this and what happened to mine?”

Here is the timeline:

My last triathlon was Wildflower Sprint in 2004 -- I came in 2nd in my age group. It could have been first but after doing a beer bong at the run turn around I realized I didn’t have my race number and had to go back to transition to get it. John Hinds and I were married in June 2004 and then I started training for the Malibu marathon which was to take place in December 2004 but was cancelled. John and I left for our delayed honeymoon in September (right after the Nautica Malibu Triathlon- of course!) and sometime after that we discovered we were pregnant!

Don’t get me wrong, I have never been so excited about anything (other than when I married John) in my entire adult life (getting those Presidential Physical Fitness patches 7 years in a row in junior high and high school ranked right up there)! But it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be able to do triathlon stuff all the way up to the doctor saying “It’s a girl!”

So this brings me back to “whose body is this”- and “what happened to mine?” The answer to the first question is “my body belongs to the baby aka Lily” and the second question- I still don’t know the answer!

Morning sickness? Never had it! Not one, week, day, hour, nothing! (I attribute the incredible headaches to going off coffee- cold turkey which lasted- oh, a day, and I said screw it, I need my caffeine!) But, when was the last time you took a nap? Well, I think I napped the entire months of October and November, 2004! I didn’t have the energy to eat (and if you know me, you know that eating is a passion of mine) let alone swim, bike or run! It took all my energy to do the Saturday workout with Team in Training group I was coaching- which I had to recover from the following 6 days. So napping for 2 straight months didn’t help my fitness level at all – which answers the second question “what happened to mine?”

When I was finally able to start running again -- my physical therapist husband would only let me run for 20-30 minutes at a time to ensure I wouldn’t injure myself. Who is he kidding- has he forgotten I finished an Ironman… 20 minutes. Whatever! 10 minutes into the run- I feel great, I could run forever! 15 minutes… my legs feel kind of heavy… my lungs are on fire and my boobs hurt! Thank God I only had to run for 20 minutes!

Biking
I just have to be careful I don’t tip over- so far so good. My form is still the same and it feels so nice to do something I can sit down for- even if it is on something much smaller and harder than I prefer! I rode 25 miles or so and it felt good!

Swimming
Everyone recommends it for the pregnant women, and of course the triathlete. I’ll admit, swimming is my least favorite of the 3 disciplines- the whole getting wet thing irritates me. I have been ocean swimming (with my Team in Training group) and feel pretty good. No one has yet noticed that I am pregnant (thank goodness for being 6 feet tall) - but I am sure they are thinking their coach is packing on the pounds! I have tried swimming in the pool but found my balance was all off and the buoyancy kind of made me sick to my stomach. (Well, those are my excuses for not swimming!)

Am I still a triathlete? Yes, I think so. At least for this first trimester!!!!!!



Additional Coach Articles:

Cherie's "Analyzing the Last Season to Have a Better Next Season" 
Ian's "The True Value of Group Training"
Konrad's "The Value of PreSeason Focus"
Mike's "Good Runners Are Made in the PreSeason"