How Can Someone Run a Marathon and Still be Overweight?

sirrunzalot wrote:

I am the same. I usually run 25-30 miles a week for shorter races and that is my max. I'm older and have a busy life (children) so I would have to wake up at 4 a.m. every day if I wanted to run 50 miles a week or more. And I'm incredibly lean on 30 mpw, I have to eat everything in sight to just not waste away. (5'10" and low 130s)

You would only need an additional 20 to 30 minutes a day to add 25 miles a week.

flaneur wrote:

I'm guessing it's training pace/effort. Conventional wisdom has marathon training as a lot of long slow runs. These people are barely stressing their system while training, or "racing" for that matter.

yep. i have an injury where i can only run slow. one day, i wore a HRM and saw that i wasn't even getting to 120 on my runs.

too slow and you aren't getting much of a workout...and this is the norm for most marathon runners these days.

After that, i added in the elliptical trainer getting to 130-140 on easy days. so far, no weight gain with the injury.

How comes some people don't run at all and they are skinny?

sdlfjgalkjj wrote:

How comes some people don't run at all and they are skinny?

It doesn't matter. There is nothing good about being SKINNY. You should aim for BUFF/SHREDDED.

I mean I'm 6'2" and 200 lbs which is overweight according to the charts and I can run a marathon. As for your 30 miles a week question its very easy to out eat that amount of exercise. When you exercise you get hungrier and eat more. We are talking about burning maybe 800 or so calories on the average workout, not hard to out eat/out drink that especially if they are drinking anything with calories in it.

That being said weight is the most accurate predictor of performance once you have a baseline. The 2-3 seconds per lb per mile rules holds up very well, at least from what I've found so if that girl in questions lost lets say 15 lbs in theory she should be able to break 4 hours which is the cutoff for a respectable marathon time IMO.

hottie alert wrote:

sirrunzalot wrote:http://www.movingcomfortmediahits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/6698.jpg

is she single?

Who cares? What kind of stupid question is that, loser. Just cause there's a goalie doesn't mean you can't score!

Frightened Inmate # 5 wrote:

SMJO wrote:

It's because 30 miles a week is hardly exercise at all.

Oh come on. Only on Planet Letsrun is running 6 miles a day for 5 days a week "hardly exercise at all".

If you run at 8min/mile, that's only 4 hours of running per week.

Doesn't CDC recommend 5-6hrs/week of cardio exercise? And that's just for maintaining general health?

sirrunzalot wrote:

I guess I don't understand how someone can physically run a marathon and still be overweight. A girl I know just ran a marathon and I would never in a million years have pegged her as a marathoner. She ran around 4:30 which isn't fast but isn't terribly slow for a female.

Even the most basic training plans have you running at least 30 miles a week. It's like the rest of the time they must be eating crazy amounts and sleeping.

Marathon maniacs website.

Go.

Learn about chubby finishers.

Or just volunteer for a small "20 person" marathon run by some guy that charges 60 bucks per person for his "course" that is unmarked and measured by google maps. True story.

Southern California race organizer that rips off marathon "runners."

LM wrote:

sirrunzalot wrote:

I guess I don't understand how someone can physically run a marathon and still be overweight. A girl I know just ran a marathon and I would never in a million years have pegged her as a marathoner. She ran around 4:30 which isn't fast but isn't terribly slow for a female.

Even the most basic training plans have you running at least 30 miles a week. It's like the rest of the time they must be eating crazy amounts and sleeping.

You can run 120 miles per week and still be overweight. It's called eating food.

Not to mention that running 30 mpw probably only burns an extra 500 kcal per day, and many people just assume they are training for a marathon so they can eat whatever they want

Each mile run burns about: 115 calories.

A pound is about: 3,000 kcal.

30 miles=3450 kcal.

3450kcal/7=493 kcal/day.

Nice estimate!

Amazing. The course consisted of a google maps or GPS measurement, had no markings, nothing was closed of, and when the participants finished, there was no stopping of watch. The runners would go up to him and say, "What was my time" about 20 seconds after finishing.

Race Director: "Oh...I'll stop it."

And the runners would take breaks and just chat for a few minutes before continuing on their "marathon."

And it cost 65 bucks. Lame. Lame. Lame. 65 per person to just organize a hang out. Can't believe people pay for crap like that.

I would like to see someone run 120 mpw and stay fat. I can easily out eat my exercise if I'm doing 30 mpw or so. When I get up to the 80+ range, I find it difficult to eat enough food to maintain my current weight, or not to lose too much too fast.

I've hit 100 mpw only once and if I wasn't running or sleeping, I was eating.

disclaimer - I did cut out most beer during that training episode.

joho wrote:

When I get up to the 80+ range, I find it difficult to eat enough food to maintain my current weight

disclaimer - I did cut out most beer during that training episode.

MORON.

You didn't lose weight because you ran 80+ mpw. You lost weight because you cut beer (=carbs and alcohol).

Almost all marathoners are fat, except some of those up in the elite corral. Have you been to a marathon lately? It is just a giant parade of fatties.

Yo Momma wrote:

Almost all marathoners are fat, except some of those up in the elite corral. Have you been to a marathon lately? It is just a giant parade of fatties.

Trust me, I know. Unfortunately, a lot of runners are hesitant in regards to my recommendation.

Their motto is: I ran 50mpw and gained weight, so I probably should run 70mpw.

joho wrote:

I would like to see someone run 120 mpw and stay fat. I can easily out eat my exercise if I'm doing 30 mpw or so. When I get up to the 80+ range, I find it difficult to eat enough food to maintain my current weight, or not to lose too much too fast.

I've hit 100 mpw only once and if I wasn't running or sleeping, I was eating.

disclaimer - I did cut out most beer during that training episode.

Many here seem to be like you, in that they can't eat much.

Then there are people like me that have no difficulty eating in excess of 5000 kcal a day even without exercise. For people like myself no amount of running can prevent weight gain without getting diet in line.

Xfit_guy_the_real_1 wrote:

joho wrote:

When I get up to the 80+ range, I find it difficult to eat enough food to maintain my current weight

disclaimer - I did cut out most beer during that training episode.

MORON.

You didn't lose weight because you ran 80+ mpw. You lost weight because you cut beer (=carbs and alcohol).

I know you are a joke account and all but you really push the limits of stupidity sometimes.

Changes in weight result from eating more or fewer calories than one expends.

LM wrote:

joho wrote:

I would like to see someone run 120 mpw and stay fat. I can easily out eat my exercise if I'm doing 30 mpw or so. When I get up to the 80+ range, I find it difficult to eat enough food to maintain my current weight, or not to lose too much too fast.

I've hit 100 mpw only once and if I wasn't running or sleeping, I was eating.

disclaimer - I did cut out most beer during that training episode.

Many here seem to be like you, in that they can't eat much.

Then there are people like me that have no difficulty eating in excess of 5000 kcal a day even without exercise. For people like myself no amount of running can prevent weight gain without getting diet in line.

Are you obese? What is the most mileage you have ever put in?

I find that when I am putting in the high mileage my metabolism works in overdrive.

runner who professes wrote:

Changes in weight result from eating more or fewer carbs

Fixed it for you.