- Makenna Myler became a sensation on social media after a video on TikTok showed her running a mile in 5 minutes, 25 seconds.
- Myler is a running enthusiast, but her husband bet her she wouldn't be able to run a mile in under eight minutes by the end of her pregnancy.
- Experts say it's safe to continue your normal exercise routine during pregnancy.
Working out during pregnancy can be challenging, especially if you're doing movements that require speed and coordination. But that didn't stop one Utah mom from running a super fast one-mile sprint just days before giving birth, winning a bet with her husband in the process.
Makenna Myler of Heber, Utah, is an avid runner, but she didn't know how pregnancy would impact her sport. Discussing it with her husband Mike brought up a friendly wager.
"Neither of us had any idea what to expect during a pregnancy," Makenna told Today. "We've always heard I'd just kind of shut down as I got further in. In month two, Mike was convinced running an eight-minute mile in my ninth month was a pipe dream, so when I bet him I'd run a seven-min mile, he put $100 dollars down, and gave me an extra minute."
On October 11 — just eight days before Myler's due date — she took to the track. Mike posted a TikTok video that showed her running a mile in 5 minutes and 25 seconds, a blistering pace for anyone, let alone a woman running for two.
The video went viral, getting nearly 700,000 likes.
"Someone find whether this is a world record," Mike captioned the video.
Myler said her friends and family were more impressed with the fact that she went viral than how fast she could run, but she hopes that other people will be inspired after seeing the video.
"I think [the people who know me] were more impressed by the TikTok views," she told Today. "However, I think the mile put the entirety of my training into perspective for people close to me. I hope it inspires women, just as I was inspired by other pregnant athletes, to pursue goals in spite of what the status quo says we ought to pursue."
While some internet commentators wondered whether Myler should be running while heavily pregnant, she said her doctors encouraged it.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that pregnant women get the recommended 150 minutes of exercise a week that all Americans should aim for. In most cases, it's safe to continue your existing workout routine while pregnant.
For his part, Mike said he wasn't surprised at all that his wife won their bet.
"Most people don't get to fathom how much faster Makenna is than the average person, but I do because I see the backs of her heels so often," he said.
Myler wasn't able to gloat in her impressive run for too long before heading into her next major athletic feat — labor. On October 22, Mike Myler posted another video, showing Myler holding her newborn daughter, Kenny Lou.
He captioned the video, "In case you were worried running hurts the baby."
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