Yep! I've got my 2nd marathon coming up on the 31st, and since I started training Feb 1 I've lost about 6 lbs. I've been eating a consistent 1400-1600 net most of the time, which is not a very big deficit since I'm only 5'3" and nearing 130 lbs. Enough to make a solid .25-.5 loss per week, and it adds up over the course of a training schedule!

My coach has me trying to be done with the weight loss thing 8 weeks out from goal marathon.

I think, in your situation, you are in peak weeks. I would eat even for two peak weeks and then maybe you could do a little deficit in the taper weeks which would help ensure you don't gain in the taper.

i was losing wt at the beginning of my training (had set at 2lbs loss a wk)- now that i'm 3 wks out from my 1/2- i set it to .5 a wk- i found with a low cal intake i was soooooooo tired as my long runs got longer. it has been better since i uped my cals. but with the above suggestion--i might put it back to 2lb wt loss for taper wk!!

veganbettie wrote: »

I have give or take 10 more pounds to lose and i'm about 4 weeks off from my first half marathon. I'm trying to decide if I should stay at a calorie deficit, or give myself a break until after my half.

I really want to lose the last 10 pounds but I've been at this for a year and quite frankly I feel a bit burnt out and I was just instructed to eat more protein because my cholesterol is too low, and I've just been freaking tired.

I am not sure what you mean exactly at giving yourself a break. Mental break or physical break? How are your recoveries in between run workouts? If you find yourself not recovering fast enough then you have to take a look at your rest schedule and diet.

You run and workout to stress your body so that on your recovery time you can build it back up. This includes nutition as well as rest. Are you giving your body sufficient amount of nutrition to recover from your workouts and still be at a calorie deficit? If not, then you have a decision to make? Postpone losing those last 10 pounds until after the race or be under prepared for your race.

If you continue training at a calorie deficit, then you have to be really good with your nutrition, cause that means you don't have a lot of calories to spare. Make sure you get enough protein and good fats in. Make sure you have good sources of complex carbs and cutting the simple carbs out as much as possible. Make sure you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep at night. Make sure that each run is at different paces, some are specific workout paces but most should be easy runs.

It's hard to give the proper advise when I don't know much about your diet and workout schedule, but these are the things you have to take a look at.

Whoa just looked back at this thread and sorry about the triple post, you guys! My laptop keyboard got all wonky yesterday and apparently got carried away with hitting "post reply"!

@veganbettie: Since you're close to your HM, try eating at maintenance and see if that boosts your energy.
I don't know how you pace your runs, but you could also try doing your runs 20-30 seconds/mile slower than you are now. I was feeling a bit burned out a month or two ago and finally listened to folks on here about consciously running slower, and that helped me get back into the swing of things. It's taken me a lot of trial and error to realize that comfortable and easy aren't necessarily the same thing.

veganbettie wrote: »

kristinegift wrote: »

Whoa just looked back at this thread and sorry about the triple post, you guys! My laptop keyboard got all wonky yesterday and apparently got carried away with hitting "post reply"!

@veganbettie: Since you're close to your HM, try eating at maintenance and see if that boosts your energy.
I don't know how you pace your runs, but you could also try doing your runs 20-30 seconds/mile slower than you are now. I was feeling a bit burned out a month or two ago and finally listened to folks on here about consciously running slower, and that helped me get back into the swing of things. It's taken me a lot of trial and error to realize that comfortable and easy aren't necessarily the same thing.

i'm SO slow already... lol Thanks for your advice, i think i'll stay where i'm at for now and just focus on my macro, and then if i don't feel better within two weeks switch to maintenance for the two weeks before my half. My longest run so far has been 8.65 miles and i felt so dead after that....but maybe i'm supposed to? I'm not sure. That was this weekend.

"Slow" is relative. Could you have a conversation with someone running next to you during your long run? When I learned to slow down my training pace, I found I didn't feel so exhausted afterwards and enjoyed my runs more.

veganbettie wrote: »

The_Enginerd wrote: »

veganbettie wrote: »

kristinegift wrote: »

Whoa just looked back at this thread and sorry about the triple post, you guys! My laptop keyboard got all wonky yesterday and apparently got carried away with hitting "post reply"!

@veganbettie: Since you're close to your HM, try eating at maintenance and see if that boosts your energy.
I don't know how you pace your runs, but you could also try doing your runs 20-30 seconds/mile slower than you are now. I was feeling a bit burned out a month or two ago and finally listened to folks on here about consciously running slower, and that helped me get back into the swing of things. It's taken me a lot of trial and error to realize that comfortable and easy aren't necessarily the same thing.

i'm SO slow already... lol Thanks for your advice, i think i'll stay where i'm at for now and just focus on my macro, and then if i don't feel better within two weeks switch to maintenance for the two weeks before my half. My longest run so far has been 8.65 miles and i felt so dead after that....but maybe i'm supposed to? I'm not sure. That was this weekend.

"Slow" is relative. Could you have a conversation with someone running next to you during your long run? When I learned to slow down my training pace, I found I didn't feel so exhausted afterwards and enjoyed my runs more.

Yes I can.

When I started running I started with the idea that I just wanted to be able to run and never stop, because prior to last year I had never even ran a mile straight....so I've just never really pushed myself to go faster, once in a while i'll do my first mile as fast as I can and I'll normally average about 9:30, but I normally average between 10:30 on short runs (5ks), and like 11:40 on my longer ones (6ks +)....

I think after I complete my half I'll start working on picking up my 5k speed, but until then my only goal is to finish the half without walking.

Have you ever done any LT work? When I started doing those it was eye-opening to me how much faster I could go for short distances. I do 3-5 repeats of 5-10 minutes at a comfortably hard pace (10k pace-ish, hard to talk) with 2 min recovery in between. Add in a short warmup and cooldown and that is a solid mid-week run. Hill sprints can also be a fun way to switch things up and build speed. Pick a long, reasonably steep hill, sprint up it, and jog slowly down. Do that 6-8 times and you'll feel the burn later.

Re: food -- are you following the MFP macros & calorie recommendations? Are you eating back exercise calories? If you're feeling that tired I'd recommend looking at some BMR (basal metabolic rate) calculators and figuring out what your body burns / what kind of calorie deficit you're eating, then making sure you're eating enough protein to build muscle (usually 1g protein per lb of lean body mass). Fats are also awesome for increasing energy -- lots of vitamins are fat soluble, so eating veggies with some fat helps our body absorb all the good stuff.

I have been losing weight throughout half and full marathon training, but I think its best to try and knock it out in the early stages of training. The first 4-5 weeks, ideally. That is what I've read.
Its probably going to be a different experience for everyone, but you will know when its time to increase your calories, I think. I was okay with Half Marathon training, but when it came to full Marathon, what happened about 10 weeks into the 20 weeks of training, I just became super hungry all the time after runs, and would eat and eat and eat, I couldn't stick to the deficit I was eating. My stomach was bottomless. At that point I was bashing myself up mentally like "Omg why cant I just control it anymore?" "I'll put on weight!" and would punish myself by eating less the next day, and so on. But I realised I needed to put my health and training first. I already planned on being here a long time anyway, so who cares how long it takes me to lose the rest of the weight? After the race there'll be all the time in the world to get back into that. I was only about 5kg from goal weight anyway. So, I upped my calories and ate at a very very small deficit, with eating a bit more during carb loading before the race. If you're prepared to put your weight loss at a slower rate and perhaps even temporarily on hold in the later weeks of training, it might be the best thing for your performance. And sanity. And also the little bit of break has made me feel a bit more refreshed now its over and I feel more motivated to lose the rest of the weight

Matt Fitzgerald's "Racing Weight" is a great source for balancing weight loss with training.