When Alanis Morissette wrote that song in the 90s about irony, I feel like there should have been a verse in there about gaining weight while training for a marathon. Sing along with me…
It’s like training for your marathon day
But the more you ran the more you weighed
It wasn’t supposed to be this way
And isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?
But just like the rest of the song, it’s actually not ironic at all. When you are training for a marathon there is no guarantee of weight loss. Isn’t that a jagged little pill to swallow? (You see what I did there?) In fact, it is quite common for runners to gain weight during marathon training. Runners of all shapes and sizes are kicking-ass across finish lines all over the world. So what gives? Running obviously burns a lot of calories, shouldn’t we all be losing weight when training to run 26.2 miles?
The first thing to consider is that there is a difference between running for performance and running for weight loss. When training for a marathon you are running for performance. You are training your body to have the capacity to run 26.2 miles and that is a pretty amazing feat (but you “earn” less amazing-looking feet.) To lose weight you have to be in a calorie deficit, taking in less calories than you burn, but that is not ideal for running performance and recovery.
WHY YOU GAIN WEIGHT DURING MARATHON TRAINING (IT’S NOT ALWAYS NEGATIVE)
YOU GAIN MUSCLE
One reason the scale may seem to be moving in the wrong direction is a positive thing. You are building muscle mass that wasn’t there before. Muscle is more dense than fat, so when you lose fat and gain muscle your body fat percentage goes down (yay!) while your weight goes up or stays the same. The number on the scale may have gone up but you improved your body composition. Check these resurge supplement customer reviews.
YOU INCREASED CARBOHYDRATES (GLYCOGEN) STORES
When you run long distances you are training your body to increase carbohydrate (glycogen) storage in your muscles and liver, which also increases water storage. This is a necessity when you are training to run a marathon. The more glycogen you store the farther you can run without hitting “the wall”, but it can add numbers to the scale. It’s important to note that this is not fat gain.
YOUR BODY ADAPTS TO THE STRESSES YOU PLACE UPON IT
This is the whole point of marathon training. You train your body to be able to run long distances. You are able to run longer and farther month after month during training. Your body becomes more efficient over time. That means it feels easier to run and you are not expending as much energy. When you first start running your body is less efficient at running, so it burns more calories. Over time your body adapts, becomes more efficient and you burn less calories during the same activity. For marathon training this is a good thing. For weight loss, a double edge sword.
YOU EAT MORE BEFORE YOU RUN
We’ve all heard of carb-loading before a big race, but when it’s used as an excuse to eat junk foods in large quantities, it can be a factor in weight gain. Fueling for your long runs should include a slow increase of calories from carbohydrates from a variety of mostly whole foods. It doesn’t mean three servings of pasta and four servings of garlic bread the night before your long run. Dangit, I wish it meant that.
YOU EAT MORE DURING YOUR RUN
On average we burn about 100 calories per mile, obviously this varies from runner to runner. After about 90 minutes of running we usually start needing to fuel during our runs. It’s necessary, but another reason that weight loss and creating a calorie deficit while marathon training can be so challenging.
YOU EAT MORE AFTER YOU RUN
Are you seeing a trend here? You just ran 10 miles and your are hungry (or hangry, amiright?). You gulp down a protein shake, take a shower, then meet some friends to treat yourself to an indulgence meal. You can easily put down 1000 calories of burgers, fries and beer. While there is nothing wrong with an indulgence meal, try not to get into the habit of rewarding your hard work with junk food. After all, during marathon training you will be running a lot. If you reward every run with indulgence foods, you can easily out-eat your calorie expenditure. Check out the latest blood boost formula reviews.
YOU MOVE LESS THE REST OF THE DAY
After running 14 miles you crash on the couch with your compression socks snuggling your calves while watching a NetFlix marathon. When hubby asks if you want to go to the mall, you grunt out a no-way Jose (even though his name is Russell). The house isn’t getting cleaned, the dog isn’t getting walked (by you) and you’re not moving until you hear the doorbell ring with your dinner delivery.
The calories you burn while walking around doing everyday activities add up. So while you increased your calorie expenditure during your run, you decreased it the rest of the day. With the added food intake, the decreased activity outside of running, you can easily put yourself into a calorie surplus, which can cause weight gain.