I am currently expecting my second baby (due January 2020), and have been lucky enough to be able to continue running throughout my pregnancy.

What I will say first of all is that every pregnancy is different, and the advice of your midwife or doctor should always be followed! I checked with mine as soon as I was able to, and was told that I should listen to my body but otherwise was ok to carry on. Exercising in pregnancy is heavily encouraged, but with the caveat that you shouldn't start doing something new.

When I found out I was pregnant, I was in the midst of training for a half marathon. In fact, I had an 11 mile run planned for the following day. On the basis that I wouldn't be doing something my body wasn't used to, I carried on with my training but let go of any time-based goals. The little bit of research I had done said that not getting the heart rate up too high was the aim, so I have tried to stick to that throughout which has meant ditching interval training and anything else speed-related.

As I said, this is my second pregnancy and I didn't run at all in my first so I had absolutely no expectations for this experience other than wanting to keep as active as I could. Happily I have found running whilst pregnant to be a lovely experience. I've been extremely lucky in that I have (so far) had no horrible aches and pains or sickness, and am still going at 28 weeks. In the earlier weeks, I actually found that running helped with the dreaded nausea which was a godsend!

Of course I have had to make adjustments; I have adapted my run-walk plan which I usually use for distances over 10k, and now use it for all runs. I have simply adjusted the ratios to include longer walk breaks as my pregnancy has progressed and I have inevitably tired more quickly.

I have also had to change what I wear to run; obviously I am getting bigger all the time and that means that most of my kit now doesn't fit! I was able to get hold of a couple of second-hand pairs of maternity running tights, and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Most of my bigger race t-shirts and my parkrun milestone shirts still fit which is handy, as do my sports bras (for now!). Maternity running kit isn't cheap, so I would definitely recommend trying to get hold of second-hand stuff if you can.

During my pregnancy I have managed to complete a half-marathon and two 10k races, and am generally running about 2-3 times per week. parkrun is still the highlight of the week, and it has been great to be able to add to my tally whilst growing a little person! I know that the time will come when I have to stop, and I'm totally ok with that. I'm proud of what I've achieved so far, and am already looking forward to getting back to it after baby!