A pregnant woman defied critics to run a five-minute mile - a month before her due date.<br /><br />Makenna Myler, 30, is a professional middle-distance runner and refused to let pregnancy get in the way of her training.<br /><br />The soon-to-be mum-of-two, from Orange County, California, US, kept up her training routine throughout her first pregnancy in 2020.<br /><br />She amazed onlookers by running a mile at nine months pregnant in an impressive five minutes and 25 seconds "just to see if it was possible."<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Makenna, who is due to give birth any time now, completed the pregnant mile - twice - to show what bodies can be capable of.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />"Some of it has been genetic - I know some awesome runners who got pregnant and their pelvis just couldn't take running.<br /><br />"I had people asking how I could do that while nine months pregnant when they can barely get off the sofa. <br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"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."<br /><br />Makenna races for Asics and competes primarily in 5km and 10km races - and before being pregnant would train six days a week.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />They wanted to see if she could do it in less than eight minutes - a challenge set by Michael.<br /><br />She said: "It started out as a joke the first time - we thought it would be funny, but it went totally viral.<br /><br />"The responses weren't all positive - lots of people told me I shouldn't be exercising so hard."<br /><br />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.<br /><br />But for others - including Makenna herself - because her body was already used to high-intensity exercise, she felt she could continue to push herself.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"If you listen to that voice you won't do anything that will endanger you."<br /><br />"Everyone's pregnancies are different, and I just look for ways to enjoy my own."
