Saturday 11 February 2012

Run, fat girl, run

I know a lot of people take up running as a means to lose weight, but I appear to be the first person in the world to take up marathon training and immediately begin to pile on the pounds. When I ran a reasonable 40 mins to an hour two or three times a week, combined with a few gym workouts and core conditioning sessions I consistently lost weight, shedding over six stone in the space of a year.

Well done me, but then I entered the marathon and upped my running in order to train for the massive challenge I had set myself. I imagined that by running 10 or 11 miles regularly, and burning around 1,000 calories in the process, the weight would fall off me. I would acquire the lean and honed body of a long distance runner and finally shed the last 4lbs I have been battling with for the past few months.

How wrong can you be? Instead I have put on around half a stone in the space of about two weeks since my training began in earnest. I credit this to a lethal cocktail of sub-zero temperatures that lead me to want to do nothing more than eat comforting, warming (read fattening) food and the hunger that comes upon you after a long run in the freezing cold.

I have trained myself to be pretty good a resisting all that yummy food we all love to indulge in. I spent a year turning down cakes, crisps and all that refined junk I know makes me fat. But when I ran in after doing 11 miles in the snow yesterday the coffee birthday cake left over from the twins' party was singing to me to eat it up. I felt that I deserved it after my ice cold run and gave in to its siren song.

This morning as I stood on the scales which had inched up yet again I regretted my weakness. Far from a lithe frame, I am worried that I will be dragging a fat girl around the course come April 22nd.

Clearly all the guff about calories in and calories out has bypassed my metabolism and it doesn't matter how far I run, I still have to live on lentils and grilled chicken if I want to ensure that my size 10 jeans will still slip on after the marathon - BOO!

5 comments:

  1. I know exactly what you mean! I've got several pounds sitting there that won't go despite lots and lots of calories burned off, and my rowing friends all put on weight when training for a rowing marathon, despite doing two hour ergo sessions. Apparently to lose the last few lbs you need to do speed work and explosive stuff (I know this as I pitched it yesterday!!!)

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  2. I know - intervals the way forward, but that was how I injured myself, doing hills and sprint intervals, so I am holding off on it until after the marathon. I am just scared by how enormous I might be by the time I get to April!

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  3. And you're probably adding pounds because you're bulking up on muscle? I definitely found that after I started running. But you're so much fitter. Kudos for carrying on in the snow - it makes it all so much harder. (You might be interested to hear The Doctor has now got the running/cycling bug too - he's lost 10 lbs since Christmas!)

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  5. It is an epidemic I tell you. Everyone is running, mind you I think I am possibly taking it to extremes as I worked out this morning that so far this year I am signed up for 1 marathon, 2 half marathons, a 15K run, an 8.2 mile run and a 10K trail run. Am contemplating one more half and a 5K run too!

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