How Pregnancy Improved Lizzie Lee’s Athletic Ability For Rio Olympics

Some find that pregnancy is a gift but also a signal that some dreams will be set aside already. This is not the case for Lizzie Lee who got her way to the Rio Olympics after being pregnant.

Lizzie Lee is among the fastest Irish female marathon runners not just today but in history. She is 36. She made herself a few minutes faster in 2013, according to her interview published in Newstalk, and then decided to have a baby later. Now Lee is back and she is one of those to be rooted for in the field of Women's Marathon on August 14^th.

According to Lee, her pregnancy has kept her health and made her even stronger and able to compete.  She said that, "You're carrying two extra stone with the pregnancy so if you're training through that, that's going to make you physically stronger. I found that post-pregnancy, I was able to run about 20% extra mileage, which is huge. Then coupled with that, the increased cardiac output effect just made me faster and then along with that there's a peacefulness I got from being a mother. Little things like I didn't sweat the little niggles as much and Lucy was at home so I could play with my baby girl instead of running for the day if there was a small niggle or injury that needed taking care of, so I think just a sense of perspective that running wasn't the be all and end all - being a mother was way more important. So in general I have found it's in writing. My PB [personal best] is five minutes faster and I'm off to the Olympic games."

Pregnancy as a way to improve one's athletic ability has made intrigues many times in history. But with the testimony of Lee, it surely has its upside. Now if you think that child-bearing is the beginning of your end, think again. You have a long way to go! Chase your dreams and you will enjoy seeing your kid will be cheering you on when the time comes ,especially because you did not give up on your dreams.