Marathons and weight loss

cathcakey

Just wanted to get some opinions....

Is it possible to train for a marathon and continue to lose weight?

Or should training become the primary objective?

I'm starting marathon training, and I also cycle to/from work (80-100miles/week) so I'm wondering if I should relax my weight loss a little and concentrate on fuelling my endurance training. I'm currently aiming to lose a pound a week, but thinking about changing that to 0.5lbs.

joehempel

I started my weight loss journey in May with running....I'm training for a Half-Marathon in October, so I don't see why not, I haven't blown up or turned into a gremlin

R4z0r4Mm0

I'm training for my first half marathon - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/R4z0r4Mm0
so I am doing the same as you - losing weight while training for a marathon.

I've been cycling my carbs and calories. High when I'm training and lower when I'm not running.

If you listen to podcasts - Marathon Training Academy had a really good episode with Ben Greenfield
http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2011/06/episode-149-full-transcript/
He recommends the same thing.

So far I've lost over 70lbs this last 8 months while building my running base. The last 5lbs came from my 14km training from last month's race. Enjoy your runs!

ineednapkin

I think it really depends... I think you will be eating more because you will be working your body more... I trained all summer (May-present) and finally started losing weight again now BUT I wasn't always eating the best and my goal is just to lose 15 more pounds. However I saw big improvements in the way I look and feel... for example my legs look a lot better to me now, and I think my stomach looks better as well. Not to mention I can run 10 miles and its no big deal.

Also as you inch up near the 20 mile mark it will become harder and harder to eat those calories back. Just do the best you can. As long as you are eating right I don't see why you can't lose weight.

(I am running the Air Force marathon on Saturday)

runrogrun

I am training for a half marathon at the moment (well, actually I am doing 3 half marathons in 4 months) and so far I have continued to lose weight - a pound a week roughly, although I have plateaued at the moment.

When I did a full marathon last year though I didn't lose any weight - mainly because I found I was SO hungry and tired all the time that I had to eat a lot. I trained up to about 22 miles and even though I wouldn't eat back all my calories that day, I found myself hungry all week and so over time I would eat the calories back. I was running 4 times a week plus one gym session and I just found if I didn't eat a lot I didn't have enough energy to run / work / have a life.

You will probably find you are fine to lose weight over the first part of your training but over the last month when the mileage gets higer (before you taper) I would focus on fuelling properly so that you don't jeopodise your running - you need enough fuel to train and to race otherwise you are going to make it much harder for yourself.

Good luck!

Azdak

I don't see why you can't do both. It's possible to refuel your body stores and maintain a calorie deficit at the same time--athletes do it all the time.