There was recently a great article in USA Today addressing running while pregnant. (Yes, dear male readers, you're excused again...unless you have a pregnant partner).

I ran through both of my pregnancies -- though, to be truthful, by the end it was more of a fast shuffle, but I counted it as running.

Both of my pregnancies were fairly easy -- I wasn't plagued by any of the problems some women experience (nausea, diabetes, swelling, excessive weight gain). I believe that running had a lot to do with that -- my OB/GYN said it didn't hurt, but was probably more related to genetics (skeptic).

According to the USA Today article and my own personal experience, running did make for faster, easier (if it can ever be called easy), complication-free labor.

I labored less than 3 hours with my first child and I did it without drugs (not that I wouldn't have taken them, there just was no time for them). I barely made it to the hospital with #2 who was awfully close to being born at my company picnic at Waldameer.

Most people were suprised (some were horrified) that I ran while pregnant. My baby belly bouncing down the road inspired more than a few dirty looks, some even yelled that I was harming my child (though they didn't say it that nicely). It got so that, at the end of my pregnancy, I would walk when I saw cars coming -- hiding my nasty running habit.

I searched for books on running while pregnant and the closest I could come was a book called "Fit and Pregnant" -- nothing that directly addressed running. I had every intention of writing one, but Runner's World beat me to the finish and released the first book on running through pregnancy -- released 3 months after I had my last child.

If you're pregnant, or planning to be, there's no reason your fitness routine needs to come to a complete stop for 9 months (unless, of course, you're experiencing complications). The bonus, staying active keeps the "extra" baby fat off YOU!

Here's a photo of me and the ERC president, Dave Comi, running the Weslyville 5K in 2003. I was about 8 mos. pregnant here.