I can not run at all. I have asthma and I feel like my lungs are burning and my heart is going to crack into pieces...:(
So, all I can do is walk or bike.

Well what I said in my previous post about doing any exercise while pregnant that you would normally do (barring certain aspects of martial arts for me) was the advice of my OB/GYN to me when I thought I was going to TTC, as well as others I know who did conceive. You should always check with your doctor beforehand, though!

I have asthma as well and was once in your position! This is what I did when I started jogging (run it by your doc first if you'd like to try):

Take inhaler about 10-15 minutes before exercising
I started off with 15 minutes of walking, 1 minute of jogging and repeating. I expanded until I could jog the whole time. Sometimes I still need to slow down to a walk to catch my breath. It used to be that when I did that I also had to take my inhaler, but not anymore.
Bring water with you! Take a few sips when you slow down to catch your breath. I don't know why, but this REALLY helped me a lot.

As for running during pregnancy, I had every intention of doing that. In fact, I did in the first few weeks. I had two scares, though, when I bled after running only 3 miles (a 3-mile run is very short to me now). The doctor said running probably wouldn't CAUSE a miscarriage, but she thought I should switch to running just to be safe, and she reminded me that if something happened I would always think it was my fault for running. I'm just not taking any chances. If it had only happened once, I may still be running. But twice? Nope. I can walk for now.

Yea, Chela!!! :carrot:

I agree with everyone in the thread about exercise and pregnancy. There are a few medical conditions in which women should definitely NOT exercise, but for the most part, women can continue whatever they have been doing....as long as they don't injure themselves. Me and a bike would be very bad, for example! :cool:

I also agree with Lisa's doc about switching to walking right now. There are no studies that would indicate running (or working, or sex, or etc. etc. etc) causes miscarriages, but most women are scared by first trimester bleeding and try to control what they can. So, taking it easy helps emotionally and mentally, and doesn't hurt in the short term.

Swimming, yoga, walking, exercise bike, easy ellipicall-ing (is that a word?) are usually totally cool the whole time (barring pregnancy complications), but I'm glad Lisa is taking it easy for now. It gives me time to catch up to her in the running department. :devil:

Heehee! I'm not too hard to catch! I was getting a little faster (I was working on it anyway) and I had this whole plan to run a marathon this year AND to run a sub-25 min 5k. Ah well...2009?

My plan right now is a 30-60 minute walk at least every other day and prenatal yoga DVDs at least 3 times a week. Pretty laid back...

That would scare me, too! But you are doing good now, I assume. And you can still burn calories with walking :)

I have actually been out of the jogging business for a few months now (hip injury and am doing physical therapy). I know when I get back into the game its going to take me a while to get back to where I was because of my asthma :( I am not looking forward to that, but it will feel great to jog again!

I have asthma - I take a puff before I get on the treadmill if I am wheezing enough. Even though I think I am pretty heavy to be running, I still get on there walk briskly at 3.2-3.7 and then try into a smooth jog for as long as I can to get the cardio benefits, then walk, then jog etc...in intervals for as long as I can manage. I've only been doing this a short 2 1/2 weeks and I feel really strong. I know that the first week my shins started hurting the minute I tried to jog even a little, so I backed off at the first sign of pain and just kept up the brisk walk.

I've actually noticed that my asthma is better now that I have been exercising. It helps too that I am almost 14 pounds lighter than I was in December. My "real" starting weight or highest weight is actually 275.

Ginger

I started running at about 250lbs. I'm not running right now for a variety of reasons, but nothing related to my weight. I did want to chime in on the asthma and the sports bra aspects of things. I have pretty severe asthma and I can still run. I just make sure to keep an inhaler with me and use it as needed (for sure before I start running). I also keep water with me, it helps me to breathe easier if my throat doesn't get dry.

On the sports bra front, as a 36DD I've found Enell sports bras to be worth their weight in gold. They're a little pricey (around $65) but nothing moves an inch in those things. That's worth every dime, especially when running.

I forgot to say: Don't worry about what people are thinking. Other runners are (in my experience) always encouraging and the people that aren't encouraging just don't get it. I actually found that the people that were the least encouraging were jealous, they wished they could run but didn't want to try. Weird.

Good luck, running is a great sport!

PS- Absolutely get some running shoes fitted at a running store. One staffed by runners, not after-school teenagers. The right shoes will save you a world of pain.

On Monday I started the c25k program again. The last two times I had gotten pregnant in the middle and stopped. My tubes are tied this time so there shouldn't be any pregnancies in my future :)

Well, I am just loving this running stuff. Today, after doing 15 minutes on the elliptical, I did 25 min. of walking 1.5 min. and jogging 1.5 minutes. Feels so good. So amazingly good. I feel accomplished.

So does that mean I will get pregnant if I start running?

Wouldn't it be nice if it could be that simple?!

Yea, Dawnyal!! It's so wonderful to see your smiling face this morning! Good luck with Couch to 5K!!

I hope to see all you runners in the Cool Runners forum!

I don't know if it is this thread or just the fact that I happened to decide to try jogging again last week, but I am just in love with the whole thing. In one week, I have gone from a combination of walking 3 min. and some facsimile of jogging for 15 seconds to today's work-out of a combo of walking 1 minute and actually jogging (NOT running) 2 minutes.

I have to say - I think I might be a jock.

What a high. I am going to have to convince myself not to run tomorrow so I don't overdo it. I was going to stay on the elliptical today, but I started salivating while watching the joggers on the tread. I seriously had this conversation with myself:

"I can stay on the elliptical today. It will be good to give your feet, knees, and joints a break.

But I am really doing well jogging and it feels so good. Doesn't that look like fun?

It does look like fun, but I need to start slowly. No jogging today. Stay on the elliptical.

Of course, my feet are starting to go numb on the elliptical and that never happens on the treadmill. I could just WALK on the treadmill and not jog.

Or I could just walk tomorrow and get one last jog in before a day long break."

Seriously, it is the reverse of my old self-talk, which always ended with some oversized snack of chocolate.