Back in my TV watching days, I used to enjoy watching The Biggest Loser. Being a marathon runner, then marathon episode would usually leave me crying – knowing the struggles the competitors went through to finish.
Then would come the next weigh in and I would get mad. Sometimes competitors would weigh more after their marathons than before and Bob and Jillian would be yelling at them and looking disappointed, sure in the knowledge that the person they had trained had lied to them.
Really, Bob and Jillian? How do you know people are lighter after marathons? How many marathons have you run? How many people have you examined after marathons to see if they are lighter or heavier?
I know some people lose lots of weight while they run marathons. I also know lots of people that gain weight after running marathons. At least for about 5 days and then I start dropping again.
Friday I completed 32.5 miles without stopping. I had to force myself to eat and didn’t come near to eating the amount of calories I burned. I didn’t eat a ton of food on Saturday or Sunday either and yet today, when I stepped on the scale, I was 8 pounds heavier than I was last Monday. Gee – I wish I had enjoyed eating those 24000 extra calories. Somebody must have been feeding me in my sleep. I know I will be down again next Monday – but it is frustrating to work out so hard and see the gain on the scale.
Adventures in Running with Maurine 