Eating back calories during marathon training

RoyalMoose11

I'm about a month away from my first marathon. Today was a 20 mile run, next will be Sunday will be 18, then 20 again. I burned roughly 3500 calories today and it was a hot one here and haven't had the appetite to even get near my normal calorie intake for the day. I imagine I want to eat the calories back to fuel the muscles and stay strong in training. Do others eat all their calories back? Ant recommendations for high calories foods to help? I'd live to just eat donuts but. Feel like that wouldn't be productive

MinimalistShoeAddict

I suggest you join this group:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/111-long-distance-runners

Different runners may suggest different strategies. Personally I don't worry much about my calorie/macro intake from day to day because I track my targets on a weekly basis. If I am not hungry enough on the day of a long run I will make up for it by adjusting my intake the day(s) before/after.

Test out different strategies to see what helps you perform best during your long runs. You don't want to try anything new on marathon day!

GiddyupTim

Eat healthy and eat to your hunger.
Sometimes after really strenuous exercise, you just are not hungry. I think that is pretty normal. That's why it is so important to eat healthy, to make sure you are getting the nutrients you need.
I suspect if you get lighter it really won't be the end of the world. You'll just get faster.
On the other hand, many people actually gain a bit of weight when training for a marathon. They run so much they get super hungry -- and they feel they have earned it -- so they overeat.
I would be more worried about overeating during training, than undereating.

ThickMcRunFast

Its a common problem - a lot of runners have little appetite after a long run. I spread my calories out through the week to make them up.

Generally though - 1g protein per pound lean mass. carbs and fat will depend on you and your goals.

RoyalMoose11

You folks eat at main thence or a surplus?

For long run Sundays I change my macros on Thursday to 65 carbs to load up.