Retaining muscle while marathon training

[Thundaxat]

Hey guys,
I was wondering if I could get some pointers.
I'm interested in running a marathon in 4 months or so, which means I should start training now. I am currently doing a lower rep, high weight body part split 4 days a week at around maintenance. Ive made some good strength gains lately. So I was hoping to continue making strength gains while training, which wont be so bad the first few weeks, but as the mileage increases I'm afraid my arms won't be able to hold up the bar. I know the basics of keeping my protein intake at least 1gm for 1lb of lean mass, but what other suggestion are there for me to be able to keep my muscle and strength gains in check, and increase them if possible.
Thanks.

 

[P-funk]

scale back your strength training.....a lot! lift with low volume to accomodate for the increased amount of running volume and prevent further tissue breakdown.

 

[gtbmed]

Is your goal to run many marathons in the future or are you just doing it once? How big are you currently?

 

[Thundaxat]

At this point its just to run it once, in the long run I couldn't see myself doing it more than once a year specially if i lose a lot of muscle. I'd have a better estimate after I run it though.
I am 6'0 and 170lbs at 19yrs old. I couldn't really say my body fat because Ive never gotten it tested. My guess would be around 10%.

 

[Merkaba]

I agree with p funk. And you need to make sure your calories are adequate. I will still suspect youre gonna lose a bit. I mean you don't see many built up marathoners for a reason.

 

[gtbmed]

If you're serious about running a decent marathon, you will burn a lot of calories and time training. That usually means people put themselves in a caloric deficit and don't spend as much time weight training.

Now if you just want to run the marathon for kicks and giggles and you don't care much about your time, you can keep doing what you're doing. If you want to run well, you should figure out some sort of tapered program.

The problem is that distance running and bodybuilding (or retaining muscle mass) are counterproductive to each other.

 

[Ben dur]

im about 20, 175, and 5'11"

never "run" a marathon, but in the USMC i run many-a 10 milers
and humped a few 20 milers (which includes a good amount of jogging) with pack

if your getting enough sleep
and eating enough

you shouldnt have any trouble maintaining weight

 

[gtbmed]

Eating enough becomes a bigger trouble then you think when you're running 10+ miles a day...

 

[Ben dur]

i dont think ill ever have trouble "eating enough"

2 scoops of whey and a pb sandwich is like 500 calories, and it leaves me hungry
add a couple fish oil caps and its pretty balanced

this would just about cover the calories burned

 

[Ben dur]

not enough?

add some dextrose to the shake, and put jelly on that sandwich

maybe a couple extra yoke and a couple graham crackers at breakfast



say you burn an additional 700 cal a day while training for this run

700 calories is covered by one quarter pounder with cheese
or 2 mrp's

i probably have something like a +-300 calorie deviance in my regular diet already
when im not cutting

 

[Thundaxat]

Thanks for the advice so far
Ive ran a few 8milers working my way up
and looks like im definitely eating enough, well at least enough carbs
cause my water weight seems to have gone up a bit. ill probably give some feedback on this thread in a few months and get yelled at for bumping it up.

 

[Ben dur]

ive never been bitched at for bumpin a thread...
lol

yeah thats one thing about cardio, it can cause the cellular volume to increase
this isnt necessarily a bad thing

make sure your getting enough protein (id suggest a little more than 1 to 1 grams/lb)


and how often will you be running?