aspen2cody,
Thanks for sharing your experience with IF. It's interesting that you gained weight with a low carb, high fat diet, especially given the high content of grass fed beef and coconut oil. It is, of course, possible to gain weight even with low carb if the calories are high enough, since fat can be stored via ASP even at low to moderate insulin levels. But I would have thought it hard to gain 26 pounds, even eating a lot of calories. Did you feel stuffed?
At any rate, I'm glad that IF is working better for you, has allowed you to eat a more varied diet, and has benefited your running. Please do check in here from time to time and let us know how the training and races are going.
Todd