training for a marathon and gaining weight - struggling - need help

Hello  I am about 9-10 months RNY Post op-   In the first 7 months I lost 155lbs, from 337 down to 172. I have started training for a half marathon in mid October and a possible Marathon the first week of November.  (I am 50 years old) Since I have started running and especially running long distances I am hungry all of the time. I have worked up from walking 12 miles to jogging 17.25 this past weekend. I am really not a runner, I can only jog. I cannot do an 8 or 10 minute mile, I am very slow at 13-14 minute miles. Most of you guys probably walk faster then I jog :) . I am trying to build up endurance for 26 miles and it will take me about 6 1/2 hours to complete the marathon about 3.5 hours to complete the half marathon. When I jog the long distances once a week on Saturday I take the energy gels one per hour and it is 100 calories and 22 carbs. This past Saturday I took 4 gels and it took about 4 hours to jog 17 miles. When I jog like this I am hungry all of the time. I am very worried about stretching my patch out. I continue to eat protein supplements, Isopure, Pure Protein Bars, and Quest bars.  I have added a lot fruit grapes, bananas, and strawberries. Unfortunately I eat a lot of food at night. I am jogging 40-45 miles per week.  In the past month I have gone from 172 up to 180. I have a lot of feelings about the weight gain, frustration with myself, panic, guilt, and saddened thinking I am going to gain so much weight back. In other forums and my close family have told me maybe I should just quit jogging and not train for a marathon so that I do not gain weight. I guess I have made a commitment to myself and want to continue on. When I was 30 I ran the half marathon twice, but have never made it for 26 miles. I would like to go to a support group at my program, but they are only on Monday nights at 5:30 and it is a 3 hour round trip and I work full time. There is another program close to me but they only meet twice per month and I am having trouble getting to the meetings because they are during the day and I am at work.  When I started jogging longer distances and just had probably less then 100 carbs per day with no fruit I actually felt week and had to sit down many times. I feel like I need the carbs to keep up my energy.  This morning I jogged 7.5 miles, I have had 1800 calories, 130 grams of protein and 118 grams of carbs , 32 grams of fiber, and 38 grams of Fat, I have not had any regular food, just protein bars and isopure.  Anyway I have gained 2lbs a week for the past month and I am up to 180.  When I had my last office visit about a month ago they told me I should keep my weight range between 172 and 178 and not go above and here I am at 180.00 . I struggle with hunger and craving food all of the time. I am looking for suggestions? constructive criticism and good advice about what to do.  I hope it is okay if I cross post this in the RNY forum. I am really worried about regaining all of my weight. I do not understand how I can gain 8lbs while jogging 40-45 miles per week. Any advice or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. So thankful for everyone here .- thank you! 

Please do not give up on your running.  Please remember A) you could be gaining muscle. How are your clothes fitting. Are they getting tight. Start measuring yourself and you might be surprise that you are not putting fat on. B) Humans need carbs. I learned the hard way when I try to cut carbs out and ran into issues. I have said this many times and I pass it on from my trainer who I trust with my life. As she said to me a car needs gas or it can move while look at your body as a car and the carbs is the gas. No carbs your body will become weak and not work. It is learning about good carbs and the bad carbs. Stay away from the bad carbs eat the good carbs. C) while training there will be days it seems like you can eat and eat and eat and is just because you are working out and the body wants more. Try on those days eating good protein not the bars but meat etc. The last thing I have been told is not to give in and eat a lot of 8 at night. no more than 100 calories and do not make it protein because that will keep you away. Hope this helps. I know i am 7 years out and put some weight back on but I was told that was normal. Hard to accept. I keep working at losing it. You can do this and you are stronger now than before. Good luck with the race. Enjoy the glory of it when you cross that finish line. First one is the one you never forget.

Thank you! I appreciate it!

I think there are two major factors in play:

1. You are actually filling your glycogen reserves which adds "water weight."  This is actually the same phenomenon, in reverse, when you start a new diet.  Rather than losing water weight the first week or two due to a carbohydrate/energy deficit you are gaining water weight because of your carbohydrate consumption.  Rather than driving the car with 1/4 tank you're keeping it full.  It's unlikely you've gained 2 pounds of actual fat each week.
2. When you first started training you "hit the wall" due to an empty tank (#1) but now you're over-estimating your energy/carbohydrate needs.  Carbohydrates are absolutely essential for endurance sports but it's also very easy to overfeed and overindulge.  Exercise inherently makes you hungry and there can also be a psychological effect of entitlement of justification because you "just ran 20 miles."  I struggle with the same thing as a cyclist.  Try dialing it back a little bit with the gels and mid-run snacks and find the middle ground to stay fueled just enough.

And as always, make sure you are really eating what you think you're eating.  Also you should be eating real food and not just supplements.  You're putting stress on your body that needs to be repaired and you should nouri****

Thanks for the great advice!