Almost two months of running...no change

Mteach1

I have been training for a half marathon for almost 8 weeks and I have not seen any change in my weight, fit of my clothes, or speed.I was not working out much for a few months but since signing up for the half I now am following my training plan every day for the past 2 months.I am tracking all my food and am always right around my goal for the day. I am not eating junk or drinking anything, but water. I rarely go out to eat and don't drink alcohol. I gave up cereal, cookies, chips, fast food, pop, juice, potatoes, and rolls among other things. But I didn't eat much of those things before so it wasn't that much of a change.. I am 5'7", 165lbs and am eating around 1600-1800 calories a day. I feel so frustrated, I run outside in the snow and really don't know what to do. Even without losing weight,I thought I would at least get a little faster (more fit) or the runs would get a little easier...nope! I have strictly followed my training plan for the past 8 weeks, other than two days when I had the flu. My training plan is Hal Haiden novice. What should I do? My goal is about 10 minute miles.

AZRunnerGirlinErie

What I have found that works for me is to do interval training. It was amazing how much faster I got when I added this to my regular training.

One of my favorite workouts with a friend or by myself is "U Call Its" - you never have the same run twice.

Here is an example "U Call It" workout (you both do what the other person calls out):
Start with a 5 minute warm up
You call out - 30 second sprint
Recovery - 2 minute jogging recovery
Friend calls out - 1 minute fast jog on incline 5
Recovery - 3 minute recovery
You - 1 minute Slow jog - incline 10
Recovery - 2 minutes
Friend - Race Pace Jog for 2 minutes
etc.

It is amazing how fast the workout goes too. If you don't have a treadmill and run outside you can use landmarks. For instance - sprint to the next stop sign.

Even when I don't have a friend to run with I do these different interval workout. There are also a lot of interval running workouts online too.

I hope that helps!!!!

P.S. I forgot to mention - look for a local running club in your area. They usually have group runs and do different training too.

kellygirl5538

not always about the scale..I am the same weight as my lowest weight but I looked 10 pounds thinner when i was in better shape!

michellekicks

We are similar in size and I'm a runner too. I ran a half in August and was eating net 1700... so 1700 calories/day plus ALL my exercise calories. As I'm sure you know, those runs burn from about 3-400 for 30 minutes or up to 1500 calories for a 2 hour run. Eat them. Your body needs them.

Here's my argument for eating back exercise calories:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/mrsbigmack/view/finding-the-sweet-spot-452184

Type_A

I'm interested to see what kind of replies you receive to this. I have lost 57 pounds in the last 9 mos. or so using MFP by eating right and exercising regularly. I would run from time to time, did a few 5ks, etc., but not on a regular basis -- mainly elliptical, bike, etc.. I'm also doing the Hal Higdon Novice program for a half (although I modified it because I have 16 weeks until the race). Coincidentally, I have also signed up for a weight loss challenge whereby I have the opportunity to win $1000. SO...I am hoping I can do both...I will be annoyed if by running and theoretically building lean mass, I don't lose much weight. Grr!

Bobby__Clerici

What's your BMR, TDEE and exercise burn?
I don't know for sure, but sometimes progress is stifled when we don't eat enough.
Some folks refer to this as "starvation mode"..lol
That's a crude take on the simple concept that our bodies react to extreme and continuous calorie deficits by down regulating metabolism.
That's worth consideration.
:flowerforyou:

kimmysueneal

Maybe incorporate strength training 3 times a week? Any little change you can make to your routine may help. Just sounds like you're plateauing a bit.

katnord

Keep it up! I didn't loose any weight when training for my first half marathon (last October) but now I am training for my second, and seeing much more results!

toaster6

In regards to body shape, I had to add different work-outs to running to see a difference. Running alone didn't do much for my overall shape (I lost some weight and my legs became more defined but that's about it). I added in weight lifting, pilates (I think pilates did the most to change my body), and swimming when the weather allows for it before I started noticing a difference in my overall body shape-- though the change came very quickly once I started doing different work-outs. For speed, you might try pushing yourself to go faster? I don't know if it works differently since you're training for a marathon and I just run just to run. For me, I run on a treadmill and I just set the treadmill speed a bit higher and force myself to keep up the pace until I can't, then I lower it. I do that everyday and eventually I can run at the faster speed for the entirety of my workout. I'll keep that pace for a week or so and then up it by a little again-- basically I just repeat the process whenever I want to up my speed. Again, I don't know if it's different for you since your marathon training but that's worked for me. Hope this helped.

Mteach1

Thanks for all the advice! I am planning to start more strength training tonight to help with my speed and I will try some speed workouts tomorrow!

sunsnstatheart

We are similar in size and I'm a runner too. I ran a half in August and was eating net 1700... so 1700 calories/day plus ALL my exercise calories. As I'm sure you know, those runs burn from about 3-400 for 30 minutes or up to 1500 calories for a 2 hour run. Eat them. Your body needs them.

Here's my argument for eating back exercise calories:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/mrsbigmack/view/finding-the-sweet-spot-452184

^^This. If you're not eating back your exercise calories then you aren't going to have the fuel to get through it. I see a huge difference in performance when I don't eat.

amypomm

Weight training helped me lose when I plateau.