College and Beyond: The Workout Slump

I got a a great question from a reader, Hannah who is in college and trying to maintain fitness. She wanted to know what I did to stay in shape in college.

Umm…let’s see. There was Dominoes pizza and keg beer and donut holes every Tuesday morning at the dining hall. I got a lot of exercise diving off the fireplace mantel at Lamda Chi and running to class because I was late.

I still did have a little gymnast in me, though:

There were the occasional bursts of motivation my freshman year as the pounds crept on. I would go out to move my body in some way, shape or form (aerobics was cool at the time). My 8th floor dorm room overlooked the school track.  At that point in my life track and cross country and anything running were completely foreign to me. I had never run a race or further than two miles. I never once ran on that track (I did however, rappel off of my building. See me go:).

The actual view from my room:

JMU – Go Dukes!

I pretty much did NOTHING until my junior year. My apartment-mate had run marathons and had become a strong cyclist. She introduced me to riding. I bought a bike and we would go on 20 to 30 mile rides through the Mennonite country east of the small town of Harrisonburg, Virginia. I fell in love with cycling, with being out in the open country and away from college life for a few hours. Plus, the calories burned gave me more of an excuse to eat and drink crap. Yet, I still only did this once a week or so.

Cycling became kind of my haven, my escape. It also kept me in semi-shape. At that time I hated my thighs, which I thought were too big (i.e., muscular). My boyfriend at the time encouraged me to stop cycling if I wanted smaller thighs and to lay around more. He was such a  good influence.

Of course I am the one with her dress hiked up the highest

I wish I could say I did more, but really, I was inconsistent at best. I ate terribly. I drank cheap beer.  My favorite food was Velveeta mac and cheese with brussel spouts thrown in (preferably eaten at midnight). I spent a semester in Paris where I sat on my ass and ate almond croissants and drank huge bowls of café au lait for breakfast (yes, you know if you’ve spent time in France, they are bowls, not cups or mugs. Best way ever to have coffee, IMHO).

I guess this all goes to show you that it is not the end of the world if you aren’t in tip top shape while in college or at certain points in your life. We all go through ups and downs, times when we’re quite fit and times when our pants are tight and we hibernate.

For me, with all of the social and academic distractions of college, I just didn’t make tons of time for working out. While I gained a few pounds (5-10?) it wasn’t the end of the world. I did what I could to be active, but weight and exercise did not rule my life.

But, it is never too late. My true secret is that I am the poster child for doing very little until I turned 40, then getting in good shape. Sure I cycled some in college and the years following, but once I started grad school and then began popping out kids, I literally did nothing for an entire decade.

While I’m not advocating being a sloth and slug, I am saying that if you have been pretty inactive for years, or gained a bunch of weight while pregnant and then sat around for awhile, it’s okay. Start now.

Pick a goal, big or small and go for it. You don’t have to jump to marathon right off the bat – but pick something you can work towards and be proud of. Take the word CAN’T out of your vocabulary and never let anyone talk you out of doing something you want to do. In fact, never let yourself talk you out of something you want to do.

You’ve heard the saying, “Life is not a dress rehearsal.” Think about that. Now, think about it again. This is the one life you get, right here, right now. How do you want to live it? Do you want to turn around in four, five, ten years and realize you are in the same place you were before? Take charge. It is YOU who has the most to lose of you don’t make it happen. Plus, the people around you have a lot to gain from you being the happiest, most fulfilled self you can be.

Have you been in exercise/training slumps? How do you pull yourself out?

What was your college workout routine? Slug or superstar?

Ever been rappelling?

SUAR

Gaining Weight While Marathon Training: WTF?

Remember that episode of the Biggest Loser when Daris gained weight during marathon training and Jillian bit his head off? Runners worldwide gave Jillian the virtual finger, knowing that it’s in fact very common to pack on some pounds while training for the big “M.”

Daris ran his first marathon in an amazing 4:02!

I was reminded of this Friday night during a conversation with a friend who I am coaching towards her first marathon. She is about half-way into her 20 week training plan for the Marine Corps in October. I asked how training was going – she said she was plowing through with consistency and strength, and had remained injury free. She then added (while we stuffed guacamole and chips in our pie holes), “But, I’m totally shocked. I’ve gained like 7 pounds. I thought for sure I’d lose weight while training, and this sucks.”

Enough already. I decided I needed to get to the bottom of this weight gain conundrum. Seriously, if you burn on average 100 calories per mile (depending on age, weight, sex, etc.) and run about 30 miles per week, then technically you have 3,000 extra calories of eating to do just to maintain your weight. Right? Wrong.

Here are some reasons you may gain weight while training for a marathon (from HERE and HERE):

• You're building more muscle mass, which is denser than fat. So while that may translate to an overall weight gain, your body fat percentage has decreased and you're more toned than you were before.
• Your body is learning to store carbohydrates as fuel (glycogen) for your long runs. Those glycogen stores are important to completing your long runs and marathon without "hitting the wall", but you may see a couple extra pounds on the scale on certain days. Your body also requires additional water to break down and store the glycogen, so that will also add extra weight.
• You may have been increasing your calorie intake. Running a lot should not be an invitation to eat gallons of ice cream and trays of Oreos. The basic principle for weight loss still applies: You must burn more calories than you consume. To lose a pound, you have to burn, through exercise or life functions, about 3600 calories.
• You are drinking too many calories. Just because you're training for a marathon doesn't mean that you need to constantly drink sugary sports drinks. While it's important that you replace electrolytes during your long runs, you don't need to constantly have a sports drink at your fingertips the rest of the time. Plain water is fine for staying hydrated during the week.

Keep in mind too that if you go for a long run and then come home and sleep the rest of the day, you probably aren’t burning any more calories than if you were moderately active consistently for most of the day walking, hiking, cleaning the house, etc.

Also it’s important to eat enough food to keep you energized. Dieting while training for a marathon can be dangerous and lead to all sorts of issues like fatigue, illness, and injury. It is a slippery slope:  If you eat more calories than you burn, you'll gain weight. If you eat too few calories, you won't have the energy to train.

Do you gain weight while training for races?

During high volume training I am ravenous and eat much more than I would normally. Even with lots of pooping, that usually this means a weight gain of 2-5 pounds at the peak of training. The extra pounds are mostly muscle and help fuel me towards a better race. After the race, my training volume decreases and I tend to naturally go back to my pre-training weight.

Is one of your motives to train for a marathon or half marathon weight loss?

For me, NO. I am happy with my weight. Yes, you read that right. I am probably in the minority on that one. I train for marathons to challenge myself and to be in the best physical shape I can be. Weight does not figure into the equation for me.

Stay tuned for for scientific info from Dr. San Millan (who did my performance testing) on why, despite your best efforts, you may not be losing weight during exercise.

SUAR

Where's Fed Ex?

My new Garmin should come today. I am counting down the hours. Fedex: usually around 4:37 p.m.

My son looked at the pictures on amazon.com of the watch. He laughed his ass off. It looks pretty ridiculous on the wrist (so big) but I don't care. I can't wait. I would have loved to have it on my trail run the other day 'cause I got lost a few times and wanted to know my actual mileage. And like I said before, if I fell or got eaten by a mountain lion, I was hoping my link to the sky and the satellite (however that works) would save me. Just see Mall Cop if you don't believe me.


I am stir crazy this week. The weather in CO has been absolute perfection for running. I, however, have been stuck inside with a sick child. I worked out to a DVD yesterday (Jillian's Shred - she just yelled at me the whole time, but good workout). Today I am bound and determined to get out in the sunshine. The kids have a "late start" day today (they don't start until 10:30 a.m. due to teacher planning or partying or something). Em is still sick but I think Sam can hold the fort down for an hour while I run. I'm sure an 11 year old could do the Heimlich if necessary.

Two subjects I've had on my mind: a friend of mine who is training for a marathon said she has gained four pounds. Why is it that in intense running training you sometimes gain weight? I know it is muscle, but you are also burning a tremendous amount of calories, so what the hell? I'm luckily and naturally thin (don't hate me - I have really small boobs and am not especially pretty), so I don't run to lose weight, but just curious. Second issue: I was part of Team in Training but now that is over and I find myself without a team, a coach or a group to run with. How do you find such a thing??

Input..input..please comment...