Weight a Minute

(That's a pretty catchy title, right? I just taught my fourth graders about puns a few weeks ago, and trust me, they'd think it was funny.)

It would only seem fair that if you're training for a marathon, you shouldn't have to worry about your weight. Well, as my mom would say to me, "Life's not fair and then you die." (The older I get, the more I appreciate the wisdom and honesty of my mother.)

My problem is that I try to double-dip with my "carb-loading." I'll say to myself, "I can eat that. I'm running 14 miles tomorrow." And then the next day, after running, I'll say, "I can eat that. I ran 14 miles today." And then the next day, I'll say, "I can eat that. I ran 14 miles yesterday."

So I guess that's triple-dipping. Technically.

In my two previous marathon training cycles (the first one in 2005 resulted in an injury and I had to quit running a few weeks before the race), I've lost weight. This time, the number on the scale just keeps steadily going higher and higher...frighteningly close to the highest it's ever been.

Although I know I really shouldn't complain (and I don't very often) because I'm very grateful that my body can carry me on these long runs without pain or injury, it's just kind of frustrating. Except for some short stretches here and there, I've not been real happy about my weight for as long as I can remember.

I have all the knowledge. Since elementary school, I've read hundreds of magazine articles, books, blogs, recipe books, and seen countless episodes of Biggest Loser. I know there are 3,500 calories in a pound and I can pretty much rattle off how many calories are in anything that I eat. I even know specifically what works for me (and pretty much everybody else): real food (not junk), running, and strength training. Yet I still don't apply all this information consistently.

Over the past few years, I thought I had grown up past all this superficial worry about my weight and didn't have it on my mind as much. When I lost 10 pounds this fall though (ironically, not the result of real food, running, and strength training- actually just the opposite: stress, not working out at all, and eating whatever I could grab), I was just so happy about it and really thought, This will be the time that I don't gain it back. I can maintain this.

Pound by pound, however, I let them creep back. That's the thing that gets me actually. That I let it happen. Watched it happen.

So, here we are again. I'm starting my next round of food logging, thinking about the calories in my runs instead of just the miles, and Jillian Michaeling. I wonder how there could possibly be a different result than the last time, but then I just think of all those times as practice- as learning steps leading me up to the time I will, finally, be permanently successful at this.

Okay, "weight's" minute is over. I really don't like to associate running with losing weight, because in my mind, they're entirely different endeavors, but sometimes their paths cross. Come back later for your regular dose of running rambling with nary a mention of calories!