Ideal Running Weight

[Greg Harris]

I know that everyone has different body types, but I need some feedback.  When I got into marathoning in 2005, my race weight right before TOU was about 150.  I have heard that the less weight you have to carry the better. (I guess that's pretty obvious.)  However, the past few years, my times have improved and I have gained weight.  My diet has not changed much and I even stopped lifting weights, but now I weigh about 165.  I am 5'10" by the way.  I don't know if 165 is just the weight that my body is comfortable with or what.  I have even increased my weekly mileage the last few years from peaks of 50 mpw to 80-90 mpw.  My question is this: Should I make an effort to get my weight back down to the 150 range or just let my body be comfortable at 165?  Has anyone had similar experiences?

[Jeff Linger]

I'm about 5"10' as well. I weigh around 160-162 depending on circumstances. My post run weight can be anywhere from 157-162. If you want to drop a few pounds, figure out your steady state zone. Mine is between 6:45 and 7:15 nearest I can figure. My flat out mile is around 5:00 and my 5k is about 5:55-6:05/mile. Take your steady state pace add about 30 seconds to it and run a couple times a week at that pace for about an hour - 90 minutes and you'll be in your fat burning zone. Doing this a few times a week will allow you to not only burn fat, but recover from harder workouts. Throw these runs in the day after long runs or after intense workouts. If you really want to burn fat and you're not actively training for an event do this pace regularly 4-5 times a week and over time your weight should come down.

[Jon Allen]

My opinion is that if you are eating reasonably well and not intentionally gorging yourself with food, then your weight will stabilize automatically at a good range.  This is especially true for the high mileage you have.  I think your body takes care of itself.

I am also 5'10" and my weight varies quite a bit.  When I'm not running, it will usually be around 150-155, though it went as high at 170 one Christmas.  Once I start running, it really doesn't move much until I get above 50 miles a week (even though you think it would drop at lower miles), at which time I start dropping until I have lost about 10 lbs.  Then it stabilizes again (with no real change in diet).  Once I get above 80 mpw, I can eat as much as I want and still lose weight- last year I bottomed out at 135 lbs.

One note- I found that my body was still naturally filling out a bit until my upper 20's.  Your weight gain may be associated to that.  Even for guys who run a lot, I would guess most naturally weigh more at 30 than they do at 18.

[Superfly]

Greg you and I are roughly the same build so I'll say this. Right now when I'm not really training I'm right at 160. When I'm pounding 100-120 miles a week and it's hot out I get down to 145ish. My best racing weight is 152. I'm down low enough to feel fit but hydrated and fed enough to have energy. So take your time coming down. I started at 196 lbs and slowly made my way down. Well I dropped a little over 30 lbs in the first 3 months of training so that got me to 165 ish but then it kind of takes time and mileage each year to get into good racing shape.
So I'd guess when you start hitting 80-90 miles a week over and over again (like in the summer) you'll get down and establish you good racing weight. I'd guess it would be around 155 ish...

[jtshad]

Greg, I echo what the other guys have said.  Don't push trying to someone else's definition of what your weight should be.  As your training and mileage increase, your weight will naturally come to a point of balance for you assuming you are eating well for that mileage.  Everyone varies based on body type, I am more it Jon's realm rather than you and Clyde (I run between 140-145) with my best race weight about 143 lbs.

Keep up the great training for Boston and go for the sub 2:40.  Let me know your bib number and we can try to hook up in the corral and work together (with Walter too!) to help us all have our best possible times!

[Nathan Bundy]

Isn't the body amazing? With proper diet and exercise it figures all sorts of stuff out. I guess one good question to ask yourself is do you feel good at your weight? I weigh about 5 pounds less since running 40-50mpw consistently. I am 5'9" and 27 years old, and wiegh 150. But I feel so much lighter than 155 it is amazing. For me it is all about what I look like with my shirt off. okay, if that were true I would actually need to put 10 pounds on, especially in the biceps area!

[Dustin Ence]

I've got the blog title Little Budda, which is reference to the thing that has been slowing me down over the years (my gut).  Right now I'm running about 50 miles a week, I'm 5'7 and weighing between 150-155.  I've found it to be very interesting predicting my St. George Marathon time based on what I'm weighing.  Of course much more goes into predicting a race time and there are so many other factors, many which are more important to consider.  But I've just found in to be interesting that in 2006 I weighed 146 and I ran 2:46.  In 2007 I weighed right around 144 most of the summer and I ran a high 2:44 marathon.  My very first marathon I was weighing around 160 and finished in 3:07, but probably could have ran right at 3:00 which would go along with my weight/marathon performance formula.  I really think if I get my weight under 140 and I've been training properly for a marathon I should be able to break 2:40 anyway that is the goal.

[Paul Petersen]

Weight is inversely proportional to V02Max so weight gain/loss will directly affect your V02Max. It is also less pounding on the joints and reduces risk of injury, which allows you to train harder. Good thread here:

http://forum.therunzone.com/showthread.php?t=1587

Personally, I'm 5'9", have weighed as much as 155 lbs, but hit 128-129 a couple years back when I was running really well. That was the lightest I had been since a freshman in high school, and also the fastest. When I was running marathons in the 2:35-2:40 range and halfs in the 1:15 range, I was usually in the upper 130s to 140 lbs. Once I knocked down a few pounds to the lower to sub-130s, I had a breakthrough. Not all of that was due to weight, but certainly a large portion of it was. The weight loss was due to increased mileage and eating healthier foods, which directly impacts race performance too! It all ties together.

That said, I think it's unhealthy to obsess about weight. Just run your mileage and focus on fueling your body with nutrient-rich foods. Your weight will work itself out.

[Sasha Pachev]

I agree with Jon. Your weight will get where it should be if you eat healthy and train.

One thing you may consider - worked well for Adam R. Once you are sure your body is ready for the stress, increase the intensity of your runs, e.g run the bulk of your mileage at 6:50 pace or faster. Adam dropped I think 10 lb that I did not think he could drop. Be careful, though. Higher intensity means higher injury potential and a higher neurological load. You should probably do one jogging week for every 2-3 brisk weeks.

[adam]

It did work well for me over the last year. Last year I was running 70-75 a week @ around 7:30-8 min pace. Anything under 7 minutes a mile felt hard though. I usually stayed around 155 lbs. Since August I've only maintained 50-55 a week, but now 7-7:15 minute pace is generally very easy, and my weight dropped to about 142. The last month I've cruised fairly nicely though 5:50 pace during training.

But, you should not use me for an example on this kind of thing. I have generally been a very light runner (I am 5'9, 5'10 somedays). Up until my freshman year in college I was only around 125-135. 6:40 pace was generally my long run pace then, and I ran my track workouts very intense, too intense for my own good (I was a do it in practice, not in the race when it counted kind of guy, which made me oh so loved by teamates). It wasn't until I went to Italy for a mission and lived off of pasta and dolci that I jumped up to 175-180 lbs, and its taken me a few years to get my legs and my health back.

I am fairly certain that I will remain at this weight for a while but that my speed will also continue to return, as long as I listen very well to my body and not force anything. My plan overall right now is to get back down into 10 minutes or so for 2 miles, as long as that takes me, and then I will take some time to ease back into some higher mileage at a lower intensity and maintain that speed.

[adam]

Also, like sasha said, take a easier week to allow yourself to not get neurologically drained. I usually do a higher volume week with longer runs and fewer intense workouts and then the next week I run slightly less miles with more intense workouts/races.

[Greg Harris]

I appreciate the response from everyone.  It is great to be on this blog and be able to get feedback from 10 elite runners in less than a day.  I'm not going to try to reply to everyone, but I think that as I continue to build my mileage that the weight will steadily come off.  If I can race Boston at 150 and St George at 145, then I will be happy.  I am a health teacher, so I know quite a bit about nutrition and fitness, but I wanted to get some input from you guys.  I dont plan on running all of my runs at 6:50 pace, but I will start increasing the intensity on some of my runs.  Since St George it has been mainly 7:30-8:00 pace training.  I plan to run easy on my morning treadmill runs and then go 7:00 or faster in most of my afternoon miles.  I also am going to start incorporating some speed such as tempos and repeats into my training again.  I do wish though that I could run a race at Paul's weight just to see how much of a difference it would make.

[Burt McCumber]

I have a theory that a fat guy like me should be able to outrun all the skinny guys because he has all that extra fat that can be burned into energy.  I'm still testing that theory.  Not sure if it's going to pan out.

[Neil Price]

I am deeply envious of you guys.  How much funner would it be to run w/o a piano on your back?  Alas, the odds of me getting down to 140 lbs are roughly equivalent to the odds of the Olsen Twins becoming plus sized models for Lane Bryant- it just ain't happening. 

[Sasha Pachev]

Neil:

What did you weigh when you stopped growing? You should be able to get down to that in a healthy manner. Think about it. Where does the extra weight come from? Denser bones? Bigger muscles? No, most likely excess fat. And that fat will go if you remain consistent in eat healthy and training.