Weight Loss and Racing

What’s the impact of extra weight on your race times?

Weight loss and running

I was asked by our friend Paula to share my thoughts on the impact of weight loss on running.  I think there is an obvious correlation between weight and speed.

At the simplest level it’s purely Newtonian physics.  It takes more energy, and more power to move more weight.  If you don’t believe this then I would propose the following experiment.  Throw a 50-pound bag of sand over your shoulder and go try to run intervals on the track.

I have not focused specifically on weight loss over the years but I do recognize the complimentary relationship between training and weight loss.  As you train more, that is more volume or more intensity, you burn more and you lose weight.  As you lose the weight you get faster.

How much of that is the training effect and how much is the weight loss itself?  It’s hard to disentangle the two.  The old timers with the tribal knowledge always said that every pound was worth 5 minutes in a marathon.  More recent articles in Runner’s World cite a 10 pound weight loss as being worth a minute in your 5k and 9 minutes in your marathon.

What’s my personal experience?  Over the course of a 14-16 week marathon training plan I’ll lose about 10 pounds.  This is through a combination of the work, (speed, tempo & long) and eating a little better.  This means that, yes, when I’m not in training I’m carrying around an extra ten pounds or more.  That seems to be where my body wants to stabilize.

I don’t focus on weight loss.  I focus on conditioning and let the weight loss occur.  At peak I’m putting in 50+ miles and 10+ hours of hard effort which could be worth around 5,000 calories burnt.  Intensity seems to burn calories much faster than just miles.  A hard tempo work out of 5 miles is going to have a much greater impact on my weight than just a 10k easy run.

I notice the impact of weight loss on speed most prominently in the shorter distances.  On the track doing speed work or at the local 5k – that’s where I really feel an extra 5 pounds.  The longer stuff at a slower pace seems to be immune to a few extra pounds.

When I’m at the different endurance events I look around and see what kind of shape the participants are in.  Regardless of the event, the elites are always wiry little guys.

The ultra distance events seem to have a good percentage of hefty folks.  They aren’t fat, but definitely not the wispy-thin emaciated long distance runner types.  Trail runners tend to be more muscular overall than the pure road runners.

The short triathlons I’ve done have had some big people in them, bordering on obese, athletes.  I think this is because swimming and biking don’t really penalize the bigger athletes.

The mountain bike events tend to really penalize extra weight and I’m probably the biggest guy there.  There were no big folks in the mountain races.  Weight becomes a big, big penalty when you want to drag it up a mountain. Again, I’m probably the heftiest runner lining up for a mountain race.

I bet if I looked at my finishing times I’d be further back in the pack in a race involving mountains.  Unless it was a really long race that rewarded stupid mental toughness – and I do very well on down hills!

Not all weight is bad weight.  There are diminishing returns to losing weight to get faster.  You need the power and energy of your body to run.

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I know competitive runners who have suffered from a type of exercise anorexia where they essentially starve themselves for those faster times.  It works a little in the short terms but it is not sustainable.  They end up injured and sick because their bodies are not getting the fuel and building material needed to stay competitive.

I also think that it’s ok to have a couple extra pounds when you start your training for an event.  I see this as essentially training with a weight belt on.  Since the first third of most training plans are focused on building strength the extra weight isn’t a problem.  When it comes off in the final phases of the training cycle it is like taking weighted boots off!

Is there a correlation between weight and speed?  Of course there is.  If you want to know what you’re capable of you’ll have to strip away all that non-value-added weight without impacting your health.  That comes back to the age old advice of the proper combination of exercise and nutrition to meet your goals.

Don’t get carried away by it.  There is a speed impact of extra weight but it diminishes quickly as you approach your goal weight.  Make sure you show up on the starting line healthy, fit and lean and you’ll have a great race, regardless of the finishing time.

Most of us got into exercising for weight maintenance reasons. I think it’s important to understand the relationship between weight and exercise but not to let one focus cloud your enjoyment of the other.  If you’re exercising, focus on that. If you’re managing your weight, focus on that.  Otherwise you can get frustrated and lose momentum in both.

Chris Russelllives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

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