I keep gaining weight while running 70 mpw

you need to control your eating

yes, eat less. your recovery from the lifting will suffer though, because of less food. double edged sword.

eat less, tubby.

I ran my entire Jr and Sr years of college at 5'10" 165-167 after entering college at 5'9" 138. Two things could be happening: You, like me, are the type who put on muscle when lifting. OR Your body is finally reaching maturity and filling out.

Either way talk to your coach now about your weight. Talk to him about stopping the lower body weight exercises to help get your weight down. It will help your racing and any potential injury issues you may have in the lower leg, ankles, and feet.

Regarding eating: just eating less is usually not a good thing, because most college kids really don't eat healthy even though you think you do. Check out this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Performance-Series/dp/1934030996

. This helps you control weight but keeps the nutrition very high so you can actually recover and perform. If you're eating in a typical college cafeteria, following proper eating guidelines to keep weight down while nutrition up will probably be difficult.

I dealt with a lot of foot and lower leg injuries running that kind of mileage at that weight. It wasn't until I was in grad school and started cooking for myself that I got my weight down and could really train again (although more like 50-55 mpw).

@Xfit_guy usually has good suggestions for maintaing or losing weight while gaining muscle. But he doesn't seem to be around much anymore.

You will gain functional muscle if this is your first time doing that kind of mileage. It coorelates with Speed Development.

Important that you are consistent. Get strong of get slow.

No skinny girls.

90% of success in weight management comes from watching what you eat, not from the exercise you do.

You Are What You Is wrote:

90% of success in weight management comes from watching what you eat, not from the exercise you do.

This is true. OP is eating too much.

Flagpole wrote:

You Are What You Is wrote:

90% of success in weight management comes from watching what you eat, not from the exercise you do.

This is true. OP is eating too much.

90%, yes. But keep in mind that chronic cardio leads to elevated cortisol levels (will lead to belly fat). And the common high carb runners diet will do the rest. That's why you see so many SKINNY FAT endurance "athletes". Skinny arms and legs, big belly. Yuck.

You Are What You Is wrote:

90% of success in weight management comes from watching what you eat, not from the exercise you do.

Calories in, calories out, bro. What's the difference between 100 calories consumed vs. 100 calories burned? Other than essential nutrients, minerals, and vitamins, eating has no more bearing on weight than exercise.

Enraged Redneck wrote:

You Are What You Is wrote:

90% of success in weight management comes from watching what you eat, not from the exercise you do.

Calories in, calories out, bro. What's the difference between 100 calories consumed vs. 100 calories burned? Other than essential nutrients, minerals, and vitamins, eating has no more bearing on weight than exercise.

No

Get Moving

Aerobic exercise can directly reduce cortisol levels and speed up your metabolism so you can burn off the extra calories that contribute to weight gain.

When to Eat

When trying to control your stress levels to get rid of fat caused by cortisol, when you eat is just as important as what you eat. When you eat, cortisol levels rise, so it’s best to eat larger meals earlier in the day and let your meals become smaller as the day goes on. Eat breakfast within an hour of waking up and don’t let more than a few hours pass between meals.

What to Eat

Cortisol plays a role in regulating blood sugar; keeping your glucose levels balanced through your diet will take some stress off the adrenal glands and help level out your cortisol levels. Eat three meals and two healthy snacks throughout the course of the day. Avoid foods that cause inflammation, which can cause elevated cortisol levels. Inflammatory foods include those that are high in saturated and trans fats and low in fiber, such as fried foods, red meat and full-fat dairy products. Focus on consuming high-fiber foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, bran and other whole grains. Men should consume 30 to 38 grams of fiber daily, while women need 21 to 25 grams. Include avocados, lean meats and fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Avoid refined carbohydrates, ditch caffeine and minimize alcohol intake.

Manage Your Stress

A large part of getting rid of cortisol fat is managing your stress levels. Learn to meditate, start taking a yoga class and keep a stress journal to identify and deal with regular stressors in your life. Don’t stretch yourself and your time too thin; learn how to say no when friends or family members ask you to do something you just don’t have the time or energy to do. Get enough sleep, and avoid people who make you feel stressed or anxious.

Find time for fun and do things that you really enjoy. There may be some stressful factors that you can’t control, such as mishaps at work, but reducing the stressors you can control will have a big impact on your stress levels.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/182548-how-to-get-rid-of-cortisol-fat/

keys to losing cortisol fat wrote:

Get Moving

Aerobic exercise can directly reduce cortisol levels

True for slow moving activities - brisk walks, recovery runs, etc. As soon as you get anywhere close to tempo run territory, it actually increases cortisol levels.

Avoid foods that cause inflammation, which can cause elevated cortisol levels.

True

Inflammatory foods include those that are high in saturated and trans fats and low in fiber, such as fried foods, red meat and full-fat dairy products. Focus on consuming high-fiber foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, bran and other whole grains. [..]

http://www.livestrong.com/article/182548-how-to-get-rid-of-cortisol-fat/

What do you expect from Livestrong (a Lance Armstrong brand)? Ok, avoid trans fats and fried foods (high in n-6 fats).

But red meat and full fat dairy products such as Greek yogurt are not inflammatory. And of course they mention the oh so healthy whole grains in the same sentence as vegetables. OMG. Morons.

How do you remedy the "skinny fat" look if you are running/exercising regularly and eating in moderation?

Skinny Fat wrote:

How do you remedy the "skinny fat" look if you are running/exercising regularly and eating in moderation?

. Please don't encourage the troll/crazy person. You know better.

(And for every supposed "skinny fat" runner there is, there are 10 "husky fat" cross-fitters or weight lifters. Or you could simply call them FAT fat. Cult-fit-paleo-clown is clueless on nutrition)

Enraged Redneck wrote:

You Are What You Is wrote:

90% of success in weight management comes from watching what you eat, not from the exercise you do.

Calories in, calories out, bro. What's the difference between 100 calories consumed vs. 100 calories burned? Other than essential nutrients, minerals, and vitamins, eating has no more bearing on weight than exercise.

The difference is that you can consume 100 calories in about 10 seconds. You cannot burn 100 calories in 10 seconds. I'm talking about reality, not about theory. I'm pretty sure the OP is more concerned about finding what works, not about how smart you think you are.

Two words: count calories

We are talking here about a SERIOUS runner. No such a thing as "skinny-fat", if you seriously compete. Please, save those phrases for the hobby jogger crowd. You cannot have fat on the belly (well, any significant amount), if you are at 4-6% BF, which serious competitor should be at. Skinny legs? Yes, that's desirable, if you have genetics for that, if not, ripped would have to suffice. Skinny upper arms and shoulders? Again, yes, at least for the distance runners. Any supposed benefit you get from bulk in the upper body (i.e. strength) is far outweighed by... well, weight.

You want slender, aerodynamic look, which would bring comments from outsiders about being little bit malnutrished, if you want to run fast.

So, OP, stop overeating. The food won't bring you fresher legs. Sleep and stretching will, no extra calories, which you'll not be able to burn. Keep the core exercises, skip or drastically reduce lower body lifting, except for plyometric exercises. Eat less.

Save bulky chest and nice biceps for the years, when you'll stop competing. Not that it is detrimental to your health, to the contrary, but it won't help you to run faster - again quite the opposite.

To paraphrase Mark Wetmore: look at the cover of Track & Field News. They look like a condom pulled over a skull.

Watch your portions. Remember, a single serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards. Running does not give you license to eat everything in sight, especially if you are prone to weight gain even when you are running 70 mpw. I remember reading that Meb was struggling with weight gain as he got older despite running 120 mpw; he had to limit his junk food intake and his weekly cheat treat is a Fun Size Snickers bar.

Granted, this is all about perception. To the rest of fatty-boom-balatty 'Merica, you are one fit dude. But if you want to burn it up on the XC course over 8k and 10k, gotta be lighter.