Pregnant Makenna Myler defied critics to run a five-minute mile a month before her due date. The 30-year-old is a professional middle-distance runner and refused to let pregnancy get in the way of training.
The soon-to-be mum-of-two kept up her training routine throughout the first pregnancy in 2020. She amazed onlookers by running a mile at nine months pregnant in five minutes and 25 seconds "just to see if it was possible".
Makenna - who is now pregnant again two years on - challenged herself to see if she could do it again last month and beat her own record by eight seconds. Despite being a professional athlete, Makenna said trolls waded in during both pregnancies to tell her she shouldn't train so hard while expecting - but she brushes them off.
Makenna, who is due to give birth any time now, completed the pregnant mile - twice - to show what bodies can be capable of. She said: "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.
"But 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."
Makenna races for Asics and competes primarily in 5km and 10km races - and before being pregnant would train six days a week. Her intense training regime saw her complete runs twice a day - on top of longer runs on the weekends too.
During her first pregnancy, Makenna and her husband Michael, 31, a marketing manager, joked about how fast she could run a mile while nine months pregnant. They wanted to see if she could do it in less than eight minutes - a challenge set by 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."
But she explained due to her rigorous exercise schedule as a full-time athlete, her fitness level was high meaning she felt her body could handle more while pregnant too. Makenna, mum to Kenny Lou, two, said while pregnant she wasn't able to reach the same standard she was meeting pre-pregnancy.
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But because of her fitness levels it was still higher than most. She explained it's still "luck of the draw" as some people find themselves unable to run while pregnant due to the anatomy of their pelvis.
But for others - including Makenna herself - because her body was already used to high-intensity exercise, she felt she could continue to push herself. During her second pregnancy - which is now full-term - Makenna wanted to test if she could beat her five minute and 25 second pregnant mile record from 2020.
And she smashed her previous time - completing the new mile last month in five minutes and 17 seconds. She 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."
While some people criticised her for being so active while heavily pregnant, Makenna, from Orange County in California, said she didn't feel a need to prove anything. She said: "The people who are outright blatantly mean, they're taking something out on me, but it has nothing to do with me.
"Sometimes it comes from a person who has doubts in themselves and compare themselves to what I'm doing. But the only person I'm comparing myself to is me, and trying to beat my own time.
"Everyone's pregnancies are different, and I just look for ways to enjoy my own."
