I was poised to PR when I stepped into the corrals of the Los Angeles Marathon two years ago. It was my first injury-free training cycle—up until this marathon, I always had knee pain while running—which meant I was finally able to follow my plan to a T. My long runs felt great, and my marathon time was, in fact, faster than ever. I snagged a 23-minute PR that day.
You’d think I was also more toned, the SoCal sun reflecting off my super strong (injury-free!) muscles. But the truth is, I felt a little more flabby than usual. My weight doesn’t fluctuate all that much, but hey, we all know when our clothes fit better and when our legs look a little more sculpted.
Walking Could Add 11 Years to Your Life, Study.
It seems counterintuitive, but I changed my workout routine a lot during that training cycle. Most notably, I gave up the heavy lifting I had been doing for years in the name of injury prevention. (Don’t @ me, weightlifters. Keyword is: heavy; I didn’t give up strength training completely. Lifting lighter helped me prevent injury—and still does.)
I knew that giving up barbell squats and deadlifts would change my body, and I accepted this as part of the process. Testing my injury-prevention theory was more important to me than building muscle for the sake of vanity—plus, the barbell would still be there when the marathon was over. (FWIW: I now lift lighter and do more HIIT-style workouts, Running in the Cold.)
Point is, marathon training changes your body. And, of course, some runners feel they look their fittest when they’re training. Lindsey Clayton, cofounder of the Expert-Backed Ways to Be a More Body-Positive Runner, was surprised by how much her body changed when she trained for the New York Marathon, her first 26.2.
A trainer at Barry’s Bootcamp, Clayton’s first marathon was hardly the first time she worked out regularly. But she dropped ten pounds as her mileage doubled—and she noticed the difference when the race was over, and she needed to take a break due to an ankle injury.
“I found myself pinching and poking at myself, comparing my post-marathon body to my marathon body,” Clayton said. “I’m usually more concerned with how my body performs over it how it looks, so I thought, ‘If I’m going through this, a lot of other runners must be, too’.”
Indeed, lots of runners experience weight fluctuations. Alesha Anchundia, who blogs at How Does Weight Loss Actually Affect Your Speed, lost 65 pounds when she first started training for 5Ks and half marathons. But the number on the scale—which, yes, has had ups and downs over her ten-year running career—doesn’t define her as a runner. “I gained some weight back after I was in an accident and stopped running,” she said. “But you’re a runner when you start running—it has nothing to do with your weight.”
And it’s not just weight loss that affect those of us in the midst of training. We hear from runners all the time who end up gaining Running in the Cold.
So if you find yourself picking at changes in your body (because, let’s face it, it will change throughout your training cycle), here’s how to manage.
Beware of before-and-after weight loss photos.
It’s okay to take note of how far you’ve come, especially if that motivates you—but remember: There’s no finish line if you’re trying to lose weight or build muscle. “The journey doesn’t end with an ‘after’ photo,” said Nicole Detling, Ph.D., sports psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Utah. “Perhaps the ‘after’ indicates a particular part of your journey is over, and it’s time to move on to another form of exercise or healthy eating.”
Focus on non-weight goals.
If you want to drop pounds, experts say you should still make weight loss more of a side goal than your main marker of fitness. “Weight loss typically isn’t a strong enough motive to sustain healthy behaviors on its own,” Detling said. “But when you look at weight loss as just one part of the picture—paired with workouts and healthy food you enjoy—you can sustain behaviors that just so happen to result in weight loss.”
Plus, body composition greatly affects your weight. If you are training hard and gaining muscle, you may see the number on the scale creep up—but that’s a good thing. So being a slave to the scale is a slippery slope you want to avoid in order to build the healthiest habits when it comes to your training.
Don’t burn yourself out.
“Fixation on weight loss and body image will, by and large, lead to injury or burnout,” said Greg Grosicki, Ph.D., an assistant professor and director of the exercise physiology laboratory at Georgia Southern University. So, make sure you’re fueling, recovering, and listening to your body—regardless of what the scale says. “Keep in mind that overall health is more important than a short-term change,” Detling adds.
Understand the process.
“If you’re a seasoned runner, you’re probably already aware of how your body responds to changes in training, so you can mentally prepare for them,” Detling said. If the ebb and flow is new to you, Detling suggests recording any weight fluctuations in your training log. “It’s easier to deal with these changes when you accept them as an inevitable—and short-term—part of your program.”
Combat the post-marathon blues.
Clayton partially blames that post-marathon low for her feelings of body negativity. “I felt sad once the glow of the marathon faded away and the ‘what’s next’ started to set in,” she said. “But your happiness shouldn’t lie on the other side of a finish line, a medal, or the number on a scale.” And neither should your worth as an athlete.
