A non-newbie "newbie" question (running)

girlruns

I have finished my weight loss and am on to maintainance, but I'm having a hard time prioritizing my workouts and calories. I did a half marathon in November I have official marathon training beginning in a few weeks. I had intended to use the in between time to really pump the mileage and the strength training. Life and holidays have intervened, and I now find myself trying to cram in more miles so I am ready for my (fairly) vigourous training plan. My problem is eating back calories. Today for example--I already did 2 miles, I plan to hit 4 more for a run home. I also wanted to do about 40 minutes of kettlebells. Without the extra miles/weights, I'd be at calorie target. With them, I'll have 600-700 leftover. I guess my question is--do I skip extra cross training so I don't have such a huge deficit, or do I do it knowing it is good for training and just accept that I might lose some more weight with the deficit? Additionally, I have only added back in 100 calories since I don't know for sure what a good maintainance level will be. I could easily see myself at 2200-2400 in the future (cal+exercise)...Any insight would be appreciated!

xlizzislegend

THIS. I need this information, too. Glad you posted about it, because I was just about to.

sweetheart03622

I'd change your MFP settings to "maintain" to get a better idea of how much you should be eating. It's probably more than 100 extra a day. Regarding the extra food, I'd say listen to your body. Don't eat if you're not hungry. If you are hungry, eat something nutritious. And make sure that, since you're working your muscles more, that you're getting adequate protein. You'll probably shrink a tad more from the extra working out and toning, but ultimately you have to listen to your body.

boardedney

If you are very concerned about running that large a deficit and losing more weight, just add more food...but good food...maybe in the form of suplimentation like a protein shake...or smoothy as long as the sugar in is natural. Also, this site is great for figuring out your caloric needs. Just go back to your profile and edit your goals to find out your new calorie needs.

cheshirequeen

smoothies are great. Also some peanut butter and crackers or peanut butter and some veggies(do you think i like peanut butter:laugh: ) some something healthy but higher in calories

MsRaeJ

Everyone thinks they'll lose a ton of weight training for a marathon, but the truth is, me and most of my running friends have found that it just doesn't happen (although we all lose weight training for half marathons). Trust me, when your mileage gets up in the double digits you'll pretty much feel like you could eat 24/7....you'll probably suprise yourself at the amount of calories you'll be able to consume....especially the day after your long run. If you deprive yourself too much it will affect your next long run. When I really scale back my calories and then I try to go out for a 15+ mile run the next day I hit the wall bit time. There's been a couple of times I couldn't even complete my long run. So, I would go ahead and watch your calorie intake the days following a long run, but not so much that you don't give your body the nutrients and cals it needs to recover (your body will tell you what it needs....training time is not a time to go hungry), but make sure you boost those numbers up 1-2 days before your scheduled long runs. Granted on a long run day you're probably not going to want to consume the full 3000+ calories that you're allowed that day because you just ran 20 miles, in fact I sometimes eat less than usual because my body is so fatigued.....but the next day will be a "rest" day and your allowed cals will be much lower .....and you're going to be hungry, I guarantee it....so use up some of your "leftover" calories from the previous day. You might want to keep track of it by looking at your weekly calorie totals rather than daily. Also, your body needs efficient fuel when you're training at those levels so make sure you eat plenty of nutrient dense meals. Don't cut too much protein either. Too many runners push carbs carbs carbs, but don't get near enough protein.

boardedney

You are so right. I GAINED weight training for my first marathon... not this time! LOL

girlruns

Thanks everyone. I guess to clarify a little more--I JUST started maintaining. I know I will need more than the extra 100 calories, but I want to add in 100 at a time to find MY balance, not what the formulas of MFP think. Also, I have been running for years and have done a marathon before (where I also didn't lose, just toned up a ton). I love running and love putting in the miles-I actually had to stop myself just now at the extra 4...What I don't love as much is cross training. I know it is important, but that is what is giving me an even bigger deficit. So my question was more on peoples opinions on cross training as part of a running plan--does the benefit make the deficit worth it?

boardedney

YES! I do marathons and triathlons. Cross training, in my opinion, is essential....not only to make you better and stronger, but to also help prevent injury. You should also cross train with regard to cardio. So, replace some of your runs with a spin class or out door cycling, swimming, eliptical trainers. And strength training give your muscles and tendons they need to support the impact of running. What you will need to incorporate, is a little more stretching because strength training can make your muscles and tendons tight for running. Strength training burs some calories, but really it's not much of an accute burn....the burn off of calories is spread through out several days after the stregth training work out. Therefore, you only need to ad in about 15 to 20 grams of protein and maybe some high fiber carbs...like, more veggies or fruit.....about 100 to 150 calories all together. The cool thing about this site is that as you add in thigns like strength training, it will recalculate what you need to eat to maintain your weight. Y
ou just need to go in and change your goals. Best of luck!