I start half marathon training! Now how much do I eat?

angela828
angela828 Posts: 498 Member
in Food and Nutrition
okay so I wasn't sure... this is a half marathon training + food question so what forum does it go in? who knows.

I am running a half marathon - my very first!!! - on June 9 and I am very very excited. My training begins Monday (I am using Hal Higdon novice 1) and again... very excited.


Right now my calorie goal is 1200 plus exercise calories because I was trying to lose a bit of weight since I regained 10. of what I had lost)... I am okay on this now but wondering should I just eat to maintain during training or is it ok to still eat at a deficit..... I was thinking if I stayed at a deficit I definitely will up my calorie intake especially as I upped my mileage, but if I stayed at maintenance I would just do that plus exercise calories. (I love exercise calories). I have heard you gain while doing a training plan and I would love to not gain too much but rather be healthy and if anything gain muscle and lose some extra fat I still have!

Anyone have any insight/advice on how many calories they ate while training for a half-marathon?


I am 5'6" and weigh 154.5. My lowest (and happy!) weight i hit last winter was 148 and my starting weight on MFP was 208 so as you can see I've gained a little back.
Thanks :)

Replies

  • ausped
    ausped Posts: 58 Member
    good luck on your first half marathon. I am training for my 5th but still struggle with calorie intake while training so I will be interested in the replys.
  • majope
    majope Posts: 1,325 Member
    I found that I can eat at a deficit during half-marathon training, but I have to keep the deficit small and eat back the calories I burn. When I lost my first chunk of weight in 2011, I at first tried setting my calorie goal to lose 2 pounds a week, and very quickly found out that it was too aggressive--not enough to fuel my runs properly. I readjusted to 1 pound a week, and it went much better. HOWEVER, I had more to lose than you do--I started at 200 and ended at 165--still heavier than you are now.

    I'm tracking calories again to lose more weight, and once again training for a half marathon. Now that I'm at a smaller weight, I've set myself to a smaller deficit--this time, half a pound a week, and again eating back my exercise calories. Even so, my body occasionally tells me it wants more.

    Like, I ran 8 miles Tuesday night, and even though I ate back almost all of what I burned (hint: on a big-burn day, don't wait until after you run--log your planned run first thing in the morning and try to spread the calories out during the day if you can), I was still more hungry than usual yesterday. There's an effect called "afterburn" where strenuous exercise causes your metabolism to stay revved up and continue to burn calories at an accelerated rate for hours afterwards--for me, it seems to happen when my runs get up to the 7-8 mile mark. Even when I'm not eating at a deficit, I tend to lose weight at that point in training (this will be my 6th half, and only the 2nd where I've trained at a calorie deficit).

    So, the TL; DR version: Don't set your calories too low, and eat back your exercise calories. If you get hungry and your energy flags, eat a little more. Also, consider going to maintenance calories the week before the race to make sure your tank is fully topped up.

    Best of luck!
  • KWKY
    KWKY Posts: 110 Member
    Congratulations on doing your first HM!

    Have no idea what the correct way is but I have been on MFP's and have been eating on a deficit (1lb loss a week) for all my HM training (I have done two and have a third coming up in May). I find though that I burn so much (esp the later part of training when you're really logging the KM's) there is no way I can eat back all my exercise calories.

    I think deficit is fine as long as it is small. I find also that if I can get a protein shake in straight after a medium/long run I feel much much better. Apart from that I kinda ate on instinct (ie eat only when I am hungry)

    There is a half marathon group in MFP if you're interested.

    Good luck!
  • sheepiegail
    sheepiegail Posts: 56 Member
    Runners world and women's running just had articles on this. Basically the article had recommended 1500 calories per day for weight loss. Obviously this is going to depend on your stats but it has been working for me. Only on my recent 10 mile run did I have an issue but my fault I forgot to bring almonds or something to snack on. I definitely needed that boost by mile 7. They say if your run is under an hour no snack needed otherwise bring one along. My first half is at the end of April! Thinking about getting "the runners diet". Put out by runners world.

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