Question for long distance runners! (From a newbie)

Are you eating anything at all during the run? I usually do a Gu pack on any run longer than 90 minutes and I find it helps me feel better after the run.

Are you eating back the calories you're burning from exercise?

I wish I knew a trick other than self control. I'm also super hungry, especially the day after a long run. I often hear, "Oh you're a long distance runner...you can eat whatever you want!." I wish, but I certainly can't if I want to maintain my weight!! (However, my 6'3" younger brother apparently can eat whatever he wants. He's a runner too, but he has an incredible metabolism and can eat so much more. My marathon time was faster than his though so maybe that's worth something...Lol!)

I just finished my 1st marathon, and I thought I'd be losing weight like crazy as I got into the longer runs. I pretty much fluctuated between my goal weight to +3 lbs though.

I did try to make sure I didn't eat back all my calories on my long run day so if I go over the next day, it's not going to hurt anything. Also, drinking lots of water helps. When I get at least 64 oz a day, I find that helps.

This is kind of interesting. Right after I run often I feel less hungry. Sometimes when I feel really strong hunger pains I will run to help control them. I guess you are however saying that it is controlling hunger next day that gets you. It is interesting to me about gaining weight when training for a marathon. From what I have seen this is almost always the case unless you really watch things. The truth is you are not going to feel good a lot of the time if you are trying to lose weight and building mileage. One thing that was interesting for me was I was dieting really hard before a big event a few years back and feeling terrible. My training runs were horrible. The week before the event. I switched back to more a maintenance diet. My body bounced back immediately and I was able to get a PR.

If you are training for a half marathon you need to eat more. I'd suggest eating at maintenance calories until after your race. You need to fuel those long runs- I found sweets like fruit pastilles worked well when I trained for a marathon- eat early and regularly during the run to keep your energy up. Good luck with your training.

If you're not eating any exercise calories back and you're running more than a couple of miles, your net calorie intake is going to be less than 1200. I highly recommend eating at least some exercise calories back. Yes, you will still lose weight if you do this.

I am just under 5 feet tall. I have been eating a baseline 1200 calories/day plus exercise calories for the past 2+ years. I've gone from C25K to training for and completing two half marathons, and am currently training for a third. And I've lost 95 pounds in that time, putting me at 5 pounds from my goal. I could not have done that if I hadn't eaten back at least a large proportion of calories I burned while running. My body wouldn't have gotten enough nutrients to recover properly from my training.

If you don't like Gu, there are other options--I like Clif Blocks or similar products, but I've also fueled with raisins. I wouldn't recommend Clif Bars during a run because they take longer to digest, and during a run you just want a quick boost of sugar. Clif Bars are better before or after your workout.

Track your exercise calories accurately, eat enough of them back, fuel your runs properly. You'll feel a lot better.

SaritaWolf wrote: »

@MeanderingMammal @_runnerbean_ @TavistockToad

What about losing weight? I am about 10 lbs away from a healthy BMI. Before I started training, I was eating only at 1200. I increased it to 1400 for the purpose of training. I would still like to lose that 10lbs before the race.

You won't make race day at all if you don't train properly - and that means eating enough food. You need to decide your priorities- do you want to be healthy and run the half marathon or do you want to lose weight (and probably be sick or injured come race day).

It's also really important that you fuel yourself properly to help your muscles repair after training (you need Carbs AND Protein, not just Protein) and nutritious foods to help prevent injury. I recently went on a low carb, low calorie binge to lose weight before a race, I can't tell you how much of a difference I noticed being under-fuelled vs eating at maintenance with 60% calories from carbs and 20% from P&F equally.

After I finish long runs I generally feel pretty sicky but try to make myself glug down a recovery shake all the same.

Like you though it is the next day that I'm then REALLY hungry (which is a bit of a headache for MFP since it works calories out per day). The only recommendations I have are to try and choose nutritious whole foods that fill you up as opposed to calorie dense non-satiating foods. E.g have scrambled egg on wholemeal toast rather than a fruit smoothie for the same calories. I have found a big breakfast bowl of Fruit n Fibre with skimmed milk meets my macro needs well and starts to fill up the massive hole that's opened up in my tummy overnight ;-)

I’m also training for my first half, and about 10lbs away from goal as a 5’ shortie.

But I care more about getting to the end of that HM than I do running a big deficit at the moment. And like many others, it’s the day AFTER exercise that I feel the hunger. After a run? Nah, not that interested (unless it’s fruit, gimme fruit after a run). I work on a daily average to get round the fact that MFP thinks I’m eating over on some days, and I aim to eat ALL of the exercise calories that my fitbit and/or tomtom gives me.

I do run a very small deficit, but we’re talking on average 50 calories here. As long as I can fuel my running then I’m fine with that. At this close to goal I’m also a bit more concerned with my physical figure than the number on the scale – I plan to bring in more strength training into my routine for that.

Maybe eat more before and during your runs to prevent the runger?