Winter Garden Runners member completes 9 races throughout pregnancy

WINTER GARDEN  A few years ago, Winter Garden resident Julie Yenisch got into the habit of running, mainly because she wanted to stay active and challenge herself.

But recently, she completed her biggest challenge to date — running nine 5K races spanning all nine months of her pregnancy.

Julie and her husband, Steve, learned they were pregnant with son Ryker in early November, a week before they were supposed to run Disney’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon. Julie had undergone fertility treatments, so up until that point, the two were still working with their reproductive endocrinologist, who didn’t want Julie running the race so early in the pregnancy.

“In the very beginning, they wanted us to lay low and take it slow to make sure the pregnancy stuck, and we didn’t miscarry, and a lot of the time that seems to be the normal situation — in the beginning, take it slow,” Julie said.

She still walked part of the race, but because none of their family members knew they were pregnant, she had to fake an injury to keep it a surprise and avoid suspicion. 

“They know Julie’s the most accomplished runner out of the four of us,” Steve said with a laugh. “We needed an excuse to get her off the race without any suspicion.”

But Julie didn’t want to stay out of the running loop for too long. 

She runs with the Winter Garden Runners group, with which she got involved three years ago. The group is a fun, social environment that encourages progress. Through it, she said, she got faster and built up her endurance.

“I love running, it’s so much fun and I knew I wanted to have a healthy pregnancy, so once I got over the morning sickness, I started to try to get back into it,” she said. “My way of keeping myself motivated was to keep signing up for races. I love the race environment, it’s so much fun. I just kept signing up, and then I got to a point where I’d done four or five and then thought, ‘What if I got nine race medals in nine months?’”

“It worked out really well because it (the pregnancy) wasn’t during the summer months — that let me stay active a little bit longer.”— Julie Yenisch

She was able to walk the Clermont Clay 5K later that November, but by the time the new year rolled around, doctors cleared her to run and get back into it. It’s perfectly safe, they told her, as long as she listened to her body and didn’t overexert or push herself. Their first doctor didn’t want Julie’s heart rate climbing above 140. Another doctor explained to them that because each person has different resting heart rates, it’s more about level of activity than a set number.

“It’s more about your perceived exertion as opposed to a number, so it’s fine as long as you’re smart about it, listen to your body and stay hydrated,” she said. “It worked out really well because it (the pregnancy) wasn’t during the summer months — that let me stay active a little bit longer.”

According to WebMD, maintaining a regular exercise routine throughout a pregnancy can help women stay healthy and feeling good. Studies show it can improve posture decrease backaches and fatigue, relieve stress and build stamina.

Julie’s first official race while pregnant was the Clermont Clay 5K in November, which she did at seven weeks pregnant. Her final of the nine was the Clermont Tri 5K in June, at 35 weeks pregnant.

“I missed December and May, so there were a couple months where I doubled up,” she said. “Especially when I felt better in second trimester, that’s when I was the most active.”

And on July 2, Ryker Ethan Yenisch was born healthy as can be, weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces.

His parents can’t wait to tell him all about how he was “running” 5Ks before he was born — even fellow members of Winter Garden Runners joked that he would be born wearing running shoes.

“It’s really exciting seeing everything that she’s done, staying motivated and doing it not just for herself but for the baby also,” Steve said. “It’s really inspirational, too. I think other people would see her and think, ‘If she can do it, I can too.’ She’s motivating other people to be healthy. She’s been a big inspiration for our whole family doing the running. It’s had a big impact on our family.”

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].