Training for Marathon - change activity level?

Kalerae79

So I have a sedentary job (work in an office, lots of sitting) and have my activity level set to sedentary. However, I've started to train for my first marathon so I am running 5 times a week and over the next few weeks my weekly mileage will slowly increase to about 40km++ a week. Should I change my activity level on mfp? Or simply adjust by eating back my exercise calories? Right now I have 1200 calories allotted to me daily (I'm only 4ft11")..... I am trying to lose about 12 pounds in hopes to ease up the stress on my joints and well and I'm carrying some extra weight that I shouldn't be. Any insights would be appreciated!

apullum

I would leave the activity level as is and log exercise separately, since the activity level is what you do in your usual daily routine (i.e., your sedentary job). You absolutely should eat your exercise calories regardless of which option you choose.

RelCanonical

apullum wrote: »

I would leave the activity level as is and log exercise separately, since the activity level is what you do in your usual daily routine (i.e., your sedentary job). You absolutely should eat your exercise calories regardless of which option you choose.

Agree, activity level is mainly to track burned calories from unintentional activity that's difficult to log as a single "exercise". Since this is intentional exercise, you can log it as exercise and keep your activity level the same.

spiriteagle99

Log your exercise seperately. With marathon training, you'll have some days where you run for 2-3 hours, others where you only run for 45 minutes, and then rest days where you may not run at all. Just log your runs and any cross-training you do, then eat back your exercise calories.

4legsRbetterthan2

You may want to look into the TDEE method - basically average your exercise across the week instead of logging them by the day. It may be helpful once you get into really long runs to have a more consistent calorie goal instead of 1000 calorie variation between run and rest days

lporter229

I agree with the above, but also want to add that when you get into the heart of your marathon training, you may want to consider eating at maintenance. Trying to lose weight while training for a marathon can really affect your energy levels, your performance, and ultimately, your health. Marathon training is very demanding on the body. One of the hardest elements of marathon training is making it to the start line healthy and uninjured.

NovemberSkye

Beyond what was mentioned above, I'll add that when I've been training for marathons, my activity level outside of exercise tends to go down since I am pretty wiped out from all the long runs, speed work, etc... So I definitely wouldn't change the activity level. I've always found my appetite off the charts during training too, and usually end up gaining a few pounds during the training period (when not logging food). Another reason to really log the food if you are still hoping to lose some weight during the training cycle. Good luck! Keep us updated on how the training is going.

NovusDies

If you would like to eat more calories each day right now you can manage yourself weekly instead of daily. If you know you will burn (using this number for ease) an excess of 700 calories each week you can jump to 1300 and then deduct 140 calories from the actual training day calories you intend to eat back.

This assumes it doesn't create any energy issues for you to eat slightly less of your exercise calories back on training days.

grimendale

Agree with the above. I have a pretty sedentary desk job and am currently training for a half marathon. I left my activity level as is and just track my exercise each day I run, eating extra to account for the extra burns.

mitch16

Although you are bound to lose some weight as you start your training (or maybe not--runger is real)--I would highly suggest NOT intentionally cutting during marathon training. You will perform much better if you are eating at/around maintenance.

Kalerae79

Thank you for this feedback. It's useful. I definitely see my hunger levels rising the more I run...I know it's hard/a struggle to lose weight while training for a marathon...but I also know that even if I could get 5lbs off, it would help with my speed, pace and ease at which I can do these long runs (haha, by "ease", I mean, that 25km run will feel awful, but maybe a tiny bit less awful on my knees and lungs if I lost a bit of weight). I have done a half marathon before (2 years ago) but was 7lbs less than I am now and just ate whatever I wanted during that period - because as someone mentioned, runger is real! I am still in the early stages and hope I can get a few pounds off this first month and when things ramp up - eat all the delicious things....thank you!