I’m comfortable. Ok, I’m comfortable in my training. I’ve reached the point where I’m not nervous about being able to finish the race, I’m more curious on how FAST I can finish the race.
I remember the same feeling training for the Marathon. When I registered (for both the marathon & Mooseman) my only goal was to finish alive. But as my training continued, my focus shifted.
I don’t just want to finish Mooseman! I want to destroy Mooseman!!!
Coach Jen designed has great workouts to build my endurance and make me stronger for the race, and I can feel my self getting better everyday.
But one area I don’t feel getting better is my weight! Dare I say I’ve gotten fatter through all this?
Ok, maybe thats going a little too far, but I’ve definitely gotten heavier. I haven’t really worried about my weight since Marathon training started last March. My goal had been to be under 200lbs to start training. And I was!
For some reason I stepped on the bathroom scale yesterday morning and was a little shocked to see a big “200” staring back at me.
Coincidentally I talked to someone about a wetsuit yesterday and they asked what I weighed.
I said “200 pounds”
The guy asked “Is that your race weight?”
I don’t know, is it? … How the hell am I supossed to know what my race weight is! It’s not a prize fight, there was no option to run with your weight group instead of age group!
After talking for a few minutes and telling him when the race was, this guy (who has never met me, seem me, or talked to me other than this short phone call) decided if I’m 200 now, I “should be about 180 come race day.”
Apperently I’m going on a hunger strike.
So my question to any of you who read this is:
How do I find my race weight? How do I obtain that weight (outside of the 6 days a week I’m working out)?
Leave your answers, suggestions and liposuction discounts codes in the comments!
Phil Castello 
Phil, I laughed out loud at your post. Not AT you but because I know exactly what you’re going through. There have been so many years where I start out training and by the time the race comes around I actually feel heavier and actually AM heavier than when I started training. I’m sure your coach, Jen will be able to answer more clearly about your specific “race weight” but here’s my take on what happens to us from a weight gain perspective.
We compensate for what we think are a ton of calories that we are burning while training. We read about replenishing our glycogen stores for better performance, etc. So, between the electrolyte drinks, gels, bars, and post workout drinks for recovery, we take in an extra 200-500 calories around our workouts that we never used to take in. Coupled with the fact that our metabolism is running faster than ever and we feel hungrier than ever, we end up eating a little more than what we really need to at our meals. Now, it’s true we burn a ton of calories training but depending on your intensity, on average, an everyday triathlete burns anywhere between 500-1200 calories during their workouts. (This doesn’t include those long 5 hour training days that are not as typical). So if we’re putting back around 200-500 calories pre and post workout…which I we should be, then you’re calorie deficit could be as little as zero for that workout. If we over-eat at meals then we’ve created a caloric abundance.
Lastly, training hard is a major stress on our body and our cortisol levels are higher because of it. On top of our already busy life we push our body to it’s physical limits which places a ton of extra stress on it. With elevated cortisol comes a decreased ability to absorb insulin and utilize glucose for energy and rebuilding muscle tissue. Any excess insulin will be stored as fat in the body and result in weight gain.
Hope that helps Phil, great post!
– Mark
You’re right, that was worth waiting for!