Weight up

When I began to train for Ironman Louisville, I knew that I'd be pushing my body harder than I'd ever pushed it before. Naturally, I thought that I'd also see the benefits weight wise. The funny thing is that I weigh about the same as I did at the start of my training. I started at around 178 and I've finished around 176 – this despite training around 12 hours a week. If I had put in the same amount of time running over the past six months, I'd bet I'd weigh around 165 or less. The difference is that I've gained a bunch of muscle in my chest and arms. It's not that I suddenly look like a body builder. It has more to do that I had no muscle at all in my chest and arms when I only ran. So the truth is that despite my weight being about the same (it dipped down to 170 before heading back up), my body is much more tone and a little thinner.

The old runner in me pays attention to the weight a little more than most because I know that every pound makes it that much harder (and longer) to complete the marathon. At 176, this will be the heaviest I've weighed going into a marathon. But it's also probably the best overall shape I've been in – so who knows. I may run a marathon a month or so after Ironman to see how slow or fast I am with the added pounds.