"I thought it was quite common to train during pregnancy"
A pregnant woman named Makenna Myler has ignored critics by running a super fast mile less than a month before her due date.
Myler is a professional middle-distance runner from Orange County California and she committed to maintaining her fitness during this pregnancy just like she did with her first in 2020.
Her last run was at a very impressive pace and she actually beat her previous time by 8 seconds, wow.
Although there's been evidence to show the huge benefits of exercising while pregnant, many people have been
criticising this 30-year-old mum for her workouts.
People have said she shouldn't be running and working out so close to her due date nor should she be exercising so hard when pregnant.
Makenna explained: "I thought it was quite common to train during pregnancy but there turned out to be a lot of people who think it's not normal.
"Some of it has been genetic. I know some awesome runners who got pregnant and their pelvis just couldn't take running.
"I had people asking how I could do that while nine months pregnant when they can barely get off the sofa.
"A lot of it has to do with how you fortify your body before getting pregnant. I was running before pregnancy too which helped me.
"There were so many days I tried to run while pregnant and it just wasn't happening, so you don't win every time. But you just keep trying."
"At the end of the day, it's important to listen to your body and only do what you're capable of, because a healthy pregnancy is the most important thing."
When she's not pregnant, Makenna competes in 5km and 10km races for Asics and trains up to six days a week.
When she was pregnant with her first
child, the idea to see how fast she could run a mile came about from a conversation with her husband Michael.
She said: "It started out as a joke the first time, we thought it would be funny, but it went totally viral.
"The responses weren't all positive. Lots of people told me I shouldn't be exercising so hard."
Speaking about breaking her previous record by 8 seconds, Makenna said: "For me, it's not even about proving people wrong, but about questioning the reality of what you're capable of.
"I'm a big believer of listening to your 'internal governor' the voice inside your head that tells you to stop when you need to but you can push it a bit first.
"If you listen to that voice you won't do anything that will endanger you."
