Well, this should make you feel sufficiently lazy: Alysia Montaño, a five-time national champion runner who represented the U.S. in the 2012 Olympics, competed in the 800 meters race at the US Track and Field Championship yesterday. She also happens to be 34-weeks pregnant.
Montaño, 28, won the race at nationals the past four years and, earlier this year, locked in a time that qualified her once again. This year, nationals happened to fall about six weeks before she was due to give birth.
"More than anything, I wanted to be here, and I'm feeling that fire and that desire to be on the track and to race. What a better avenue than to do it at USA Nationals," she told reporters after the race (via NBC Sports).
"I've been running throughout my pregnancy and I felt really, really good during the whole process," she continued. "I just didn't want to get lapped and be the first person to get lapped in the 800.
In the end, Montaño never get lapped. She came in last, with a time of 2 minutes and 32.13 seconds, but she finished the race. And she finished to a "rousing ovation" from the fans.
For those concerned that a woman would compete while pregnant, The Guardian explains:
She took a nice relaxed pace from the start and maintained it throughout. That was according to the plan Montano laid out after consulting with her physician. Not only did doctors give Montano permission to run, they encouraged her.
"That took away any fear of what the outside world might think about a woman running during her pregnancy," she explained. "What I found out mostly was that exercising during pregnancy is actually much better for the mom and the baby."
"We see so many people in different avenues in their life start their family, and it looks so different than it does for a professional athlete, especially for a professional athlete woman," Montaño concluded. "This is what it looks like to be a professional athlete as a woman."
Turns out that looks pretty amazing.
0 comments:
Post a Comment