Woman's five-minute mile run while nine months pregnant goes viral on TikTok

A 28-year-old US woman has shocked the internet after sharing a video of herself running a mile in five minutes - while nine months pregnant.

California woman Makenna Myler says she's been running five to six times a week during her pregnancy.

She told BuzzFeed, "I cut back my mileage a lot and have been a lot slower, but I have been very particular with my strength training to make sure my pelvic shift and added weight didn't/doesn't cause any injury."

In the early stages of her pregnancy, Myler was nervous about running when she was further along, telling her husband she was hoping to be still be able to run a seven-minute mile.

"To keep me motivated, he said he would give me $100 if I could break 8 minutes doing the mile at 9 months pregnant," she said.

She broke six minutes - and the video of her impressive feat was viewed over three million times on TikTok.

But how did her doctors feel about her running so much while heavily pregnant?

"My first doctor was all about it because he had dealt with elite athletes before," Myler explained.

"My second doctor asked me to be a bit more cautious because he didn't understand my background — and that was before any ultrasound. After ultrasounds showed a perfectly healthy baby, he's been more supportive, but emphasises the importance of getting enough calories (which, if he knew me better, he would know that's not a problem)."

View this post on Instagram

It’s really something else when a human hangs out in your belly. Absolutely loving and welcoming all growth. Turns out I still never wear a shirt during exercise. Crossing our fingers for Halloween. Stay tuned

A post shared by Makenna Myler (@benzmakenz) on Jul 28, 2020 at 2:08am PDT

US gynaecologist Dr Jennifer Lincoln told Buzzfeed that if someone has been doing a certain exercise pre-pregnancy, they can generally continue it during pregnancy, with a couple of exceptions (like hot yoga or contact sports).

"General precautions should be taken, such as staying hydrated, stopping if you become dizzy or feel unwell, or if you have high-risk issues and your doctor has advised you to modify or cut back," Lincoln said.

Myler said feeling capable was "everything to me".

"Running has been a big outlet for me in that way. Running during pregnancy has been a beautiful process of accepting effort and patience, not forcing anything, and letting go of pace and forced mileage."

Myler was due to give birth on October 19 and said she'd continue running until her due date.

"It's funny, I kept waiting and waiting for the day when I would just be done or my body would break, but that day never came," she said.

"So yeah, I'll probably still be running by next Monday."