Saturday, February 25, 2006

The gold standard

In the midst of an insane couple of weeks, I've tried to catch as much of the Olympics as possible. It is unbelievable what some of these athletes do (and, in some cases, what they fail to do). For example, did you know that the fourth place finisher in the women's skeleton competition was nine weeks pregnant? I remember how many people think I was crazy for still running at nine weeks (for the record, I finally stopped after 20 weeks). But how do you think my OB/GYN would have reacted to an announcement that I was going to slide headfirst on my stomach down a track at 70 mph (or whatever ridiculous speed they go)? The woman wouldn't even clear me to drink a glass of wine while pregnant!

All in all, I haven't had the same amount of interest in these games as I've had in the past. Perhaps it's the lack of Americans on the medal stand, or perhaps it's just that, since this is the first Winter Olympics since my daughter was born, I don't have as much time to watch. But to watch a pregnant lady hurtle headfirst down an icy track? That's pretty freakin' cool.

2 comments:

Kimberly said...

I try not to judge...yeah, whatever...but I don't understand why peopel get pregnant if they are headed to teh Olympics...especially in 9 weeks! Sure, things happen, but it is the Olympics! I waited just so I would look good in a bridesmaids dress and to finhish a half marathon! I would have abstained if I had to! Isn't that what a lot of high school football coaches recommend anyway? Maybe I am dating myself here...The last half iron man I did (with a team!) rumor had it that one of the women competing in the TRIPLE iron man on the same course was two weeks post partum! Obviously no C-section for her!

Caitlin Adams said...

She kicks b*utt! I would be terrified about the icy track, the hurtling, being headfirst, etc. But she was used to it, right? In control!

I ran until I was 35 weeks pregnant (rather slowly and I walked up steep hills after about 20 weeks) -- and my midwife was fine with it. And Iz was born a fine little guy.

All the advice I got was along the lines of "if you did it before, you can keep doing it, in moderation, and listen to your body."