marathoning and weight gain

calderst

Have any of you marathoners gained weight in the final stages of your training? I stopped keeping my journal for a little while because I was obsessing way too much about the numbers. So I was trying to listen to my body more... turns out my body was hungry. I've read that it's difficult to maintain much of a calorie deficit while in the late stages of marathon training and this seems to be the case for me. I may have a deficit after my long run but then I'm famished the next day. I also haven'y been doing much HIIT training or lifting as intensely as normal because I've been focused on long runs/recovery and trying really hard to avoid injury. Between eating more and not burning as much, I have an extra 5 pounds to lug around. I'm not super worried because I know what I need to do and once the race is over (12 DAYS!!) that can once again become a primary focus.

I was just wondering if any of you have ever found yourself in a similar situation. If so, how quicly did the extra weight come off post-marathon?

beki18

My first half marathon i put on 6kg, i relised that i was eating the wrong foods, muesli bars, too much dried fruit and nuts etc, i lost the 6kg plus another 7kg when i cut out all the so called healthy stuff.

mlb929

I always put on weight race training. I believe it's because my muscles retain water and state in a state of constant repair. After my marathon - I lost 18lbs - 10 beyond what I gained. For my last half marathon - I put on 5 lbs and I'm down 9 from that.

I'm currently reading the book Racing Weight by Matt FItzgerald. It talks about some of these issues and how to avoid them.

The thing about it is - I gain weight but I never gain inches. I also believe its from increased exercise induced cortisol levels and have recently started taking a supplement to address this issue - I don't remember the specific name but it sells as "PS" a shortened version of the real name. It was suggested by my ARNP to address these issues. I"m not race training, but maintaining the half marathon distance weekly and so far so good.

biobreak

Training for a marathon is a big thing to ask of your body, and you often build considerable muscle while doing it. You've got to feed your body - training with a calorie deficit can lead to injury if you're not feeding yourself well. Gaining a little bit of weight probably means that you're putting on muscle. Do your pants still fit? If so, don't worry about it.

Are you tapering? Most people that taper properly do put on a couple of pounds just before their race because they're eating a higher percentage of carbs (80-90%) in their diet. When your body stores carbs as wall-busting glycogen, it also stores 3 grams of water for every gram of glycogen. That's a good thing, because it helps you get past 20 miles feeling good during the race.

Good luck on your race!!

calderst

Do your pants still fit? If so, don't worry about it.

Are you tapering? Most people that taper properly do put on a couple of pounds just before their race because they're eating a higher percentage of carbs (80-90%) in their diet. When your body stores carbs as wall-busting glycogen, it also stores 3 grams of water for every gram of glycogen. That's a good thing, because it helps you get past 20 miles feeling good during the race.

Good luck on your race!!

Unfortunately, some of my weight gain is from donuts & BBQ chips-- I sometimes let myself fall into the trap of thinking "I just burned 2000 calories, so I can eat whatever." But I know this is bad for me-- even beyond a softer midsection-- so I'm trying to get out of that mode of thinking.

I am tapering, or at least trying to. I'm trying to be more careful with my food intake than I have been over the past few weeks so I don't suddenly blow up. I'll be going a bit carb heavy next week to make sure I'm all set. I'm sure with Thanksgiving dinner 2 days before, I should be in good shape.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!