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"If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus
The question remains, what is "race weight". I did a bunch of research on this awhile ago. (link to stupid personal blog) Elites apparently have a BMI of somewhere around 18.5 to 20 which is just waay too skinny for someone like me, but I also think at six feet 175 I am definitely carrying around some extra tonnage.
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I know through repetitive trial and error that I run faster at about 147-150 than heavier, and if I dip below 145 for any length of time I will break down. So 145-149 is my ideal range.
I was exactly 145 for my best ever race (10K PR). I have never been successful at coming into a marathon after a full prep time below 148, though when I did an abbreviated buildup for Louisville in 2008 I did go into that at 145 (but was not that fast due to lack of hard training).
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I know through repetitive trial and error that I run faster at about 147-150 than heavier, and if I dip below 145 for any length of time I will break down. So 145-149 is my ideal range. I was exactly 145 for my best ever race (10K PR). I have never been successful at coming into a marathon after a full prep time below 148, though when I did an abbreviated buildup for Louisville in 2008 I did go into that at 145 (but was not that fast due to lack of hard training).
Well at my weight, I am in no danger of being too skinny. I think I can realistically take off another ten pounds, but I just don't see myself ever reaching a BMI of 18.5
BMI of somewhere around 18.5 to 20
I'm 18.5. Body fat % is 12.
I assume you're talking about men though. Obviously.
For my PR marathon I was the heaviest i'd ever been for a marathon (118-119lbs) Normally I stay around 116-117ish when i'm training hard. I don't know if 3 lbs is even enough weight to make a difference. I only ran 1min 30sec slower on a marathon weighing a lower 115, a year earlier.
I think I weigh 115 right now. Marathon in 2 1/2 weeks. But i'm also running more.
Ben thinks I could run faster if I eat and weigh more. Thoughts?
I'm 18.5. Body fat % is 12. I assume you're talking about men though. Obviously. For my PR marathon I was the heaviest i'd ever been for a marathon (118-119lbs) Normally I stay around 116-117ish when i'm training hard. I don't know if 3 lbs is even enough weight to make a difference. I only ran 1min 30sec slower on a marathon weighing a lower 115, a year earlier. I think I weigh 115 right now. Marathon in 2 1/2 weeks. But i'm also running more. Ben thinks I could run faster if I eat and weigh more. Thoughts?
Sorry, yes, I was talking about men. I am really not qualified to give any advice for people as fast as you, Candice, but I dide put Shalane's height and weight from her wiki page into a BMI calculator (and felt a little creepy doing so) and she is 18.8.
So with a BMI of 26, how fast would I be if I stopped drinking so much?
If you can hit hard workouts 3Xish per week and recover quickly, and handle as much volume as you have time to put in, you're probably fine. If you have trouble recovering or handling the needed workload you may be too light nor not taking in enough nutrition/calories.
Prince of Fatness
When I was running my PR's a year or so ago before I got hurt I would range between 166 and 170. At 5'9" that put me on the heavy end of normal for BMI, I believe. I could have stood to lose a few more pounds but that would have come at the expense of some happiness. I like to indulge from time to time. I will say that keeping the weight down helped me get to those PR's (I was always hanging around 180 until a couple of years ago).
Unfortunately when I got hurt and stopped running I still ate and drank like I was still running 7 - 8 hours a week and ended up gaining close to 15 pounds. I still have about 10 pounds to go.
I think that keeping your weight down definitely helps running but if you are in the normal range I am not sure how much I would worry about taking more off. Focus more on the training, as at that point there are probably more gains there.
Not at it at all.
Well this is strange...why am I not running 2:29 marathons?? Must be the 140-160 mile weeks and not the BMI that separates Shalane and I.
This is my thinking too.
I have actually not been consistently doing two workouts per week for the entirety of this cycle. I usually do a tempo and an interval day, and a long run day. I've just been doing tempo or interval plus long run. But the intervals have been shorter/faster than usual. Not sure how this will work for me. You do what you've always done, you get what you've always got.
This week i'm just doing interval (tomorrow) and (I think) a race saturday (7 mi) which will suffice as the second workout. I'm trying to put in more miles than last week before I start taper Monday.
This is my thinking too. I have actually not been consistently doing two workouts per week for the entirety of this cycle.
I have actually not been consistently doing two workouts per week for the entirety of this cycle.
I have not been doing productive volume or consistent workouts for 6 weeks of the three-and-a-half months of this training cycle, so you're ahead of me there.
It happens. Take care of yourself and get better. I struggled with similar issues last spring...everyone was mean to me about it though (except for Ben) and told me I was just doing more than I could handle and shouldn't expect so much with my times. Nobody believed anything was actually wrong with me...except that there was. You know when something is wrong with you, you can feel it. And then I broke my heel after I figured out I was super anemic So completely unable to run my spring marathon. It happens.
You'll be back... and better.
It happens. Take care of yourself and get better. I struggled with similar issues last spring...everyone was mean to me about it though (except for Ben) and told me I was just doing more than I could handle and shouldn't expect so much with my times. Nobody believed anything was actually wrong with me...except that there was. You know when something is wrong with you, you can feel it. And then I broke my heel after I figured out I was super anemic So completely unable to run my spring marathon. It happens. You'll be back... and better.
Thanks. And for the record, I was not mean to you or denyed something might be wrong.
Glad you figured it out and got back on the horse. I know what you mean about being able to feel when something is wrong. I credit my GP, unlike the others I had been to previously he does not deny what I report or try to dismiss it, only acknowledging that the tests aren't showing this or that.
I say go with the advice of the a) 2:28 marathoner who b) lives with you.