I say try it and see what works for you. I did a lot of martial arts training along with my first and this time around I did plyo and weights and Yoga for a while, but i ended up dropping the yoga and cutting back the others.

I would think you will be fine, certainly up until you are further thru your plan and it's got you doing 18-20 mile long runs -but you should go by feel and ease up if you are struggling.

One question, are you eating at a deficit or fuelling yourself well?

I just ran my first marathon on a 6 day a week plan, I was eating at a deficit and cycling on my 'rest' day. Not smart. I burnt out long before race day and didn't make the fitness improvements I expected.

Good luck.

If Zumba is something you enjoy, I'm disinclined to suggest you ditch it now. There are very likely cross training benefits from it also. You are early enough in the marathon training where you can try it out and stop if and when it's taking too much out of you.

I have to say though that 1000-1200 cals a day whilst working out this much just is not enough. That's just my opinion based on my limited experience and mistakes over the past 20 weeks. If you aren't increasing that on running/zumba days it's no wonder you aren't feeling energetic.

I ate at a 500cal deficit during weekdays, eating back 75% of exercise calories and unmeasured eating (but certainly overeating) at weekends. Weight loss was good but I regret doing it now. I am certain that I wasn't fuelling my body to adapt and repair. Next time around I will lose the weight before getting into the specific marathon training.

On that point, you've got about 25 weeks until your race. Try to get input from people with more marathon experience than me, but I would suggest you think of those 25 weeks as two phases.

The second phase is the final 16-18 weeks. That's your targeted, marathon specific training. To get the most out of this I would suggest eating to fuel your runs and recovery. No deficit, but manage your intake closely so you aren't gaining weight either.

The first phase is where you are building up your base. I'd be using this time to drop the excess pounds. You've only got 5-8 lbs and you've 7-9 weeks in which to do it. Plenty of time.

If you don't eat back run calories, you will definitely feel drained. At 1200, there is not much room for error there, I would definitely make sure you are getting enough carbs and recovery nutrition. That could help with the drained feeling. You won't gain unless you let yourself eat more than those burns.

Oh and I'm 5'3" and maintaining at 114-117 lbs and am eating close to 2000 cals a day workout or not. While losing I was still losing at 1700 a day. hope this gives you an idea since the workouts we do look similar.

I think Zumba is good for flexibility and stretching. Its also fun! so you can keep that as the fun element of your training. I think you do need to eat a bit more though as you will feel really drained with all that you are doing. I know how you feel about putting weight on as I'm in the same boat but your body may start to resist if it thinks you are starving it, I've been there and it didn't work long term, I always had a big deficit and though it was cool until I got stuck! I forced myself to eat more in sneaky ways - eating nuts and adding olive oil to meals etc and the weight started to come off again. x

There's a zumba-like class at my gym on Monday nights that I love. During half marathon training I did my long runs on Saturday morning and then was fine to go to the class on Monday night. The last month of training (before the taper) my runs were 10-12 miles and I felt that my legs needed two full days of rest (Sunday and Monday) before my next run on Tuesday, so I didn't go to class that last month. I just really REALLY didn't want to get injured before my race so I was conservative about the amount of activity I was doing. I always went to class during training up until that point though, so I think if you feel good, you should keep going. If you're starting to feel overworked or you feel that your body needs the extra rest, take a break from Zumba. It will be there after your race.

I was going to say something about using the proper shoes, too. Zumba or dance shoes - because all the twisting can wreck your knees, which will mess up your running plan.

I like the idea of Zumba, even if you do it once a week. It will help you stay excited about both things. And if you need to drop it for the last month or so, so be it. Personally, I'd approach it as "this is my for-fun thing" and go whenever you can, but don't go when it's not in line with your primary goal - the marathon training - when you need recovery for whatever reason.

I did a Half-Ironman. After I was done training, I went back to some Zumba classes and found that they are only recovery effort for me now. I'd been gone for nearly a year. Looking at the people in class, I think she has toned it down a little. But even the dances I used to do at home aren't the effort they used to be, so I think the biggest thing was my change in fitness level. I still enjoy them, but, yes, you can use them as easier days, depending on what you do. I know what you mean, though, about wondering if she wants you to come just b/c that's income for her. Probably...you will need to let the Monday one go as your long runs get longer.