Weight up

Well, bloody hell.  Like a lot of athletes and non-athletes, I got on the scales today to assess the carnage of the Christmas food fest.  I tipped the scales at just a smidgen over 90 kgs, a little over 14 stone.  90 KILOGRAMS.  Essentially, my body composition is now:

13% Fat
41% Muscle
5% Bone
8% Cheese
20% More cheese
9% Southern Comfort
4% Quality Street

A pretty dedicated effort, I think you'll agree.  But still, 90 kilograms.

Back up.  That weight is meaningless unless you factor in the fact that I'm 6 foot 5 inches tall, meaning that my weight is still well within the "acceptable" range.  But I'm still about 5-6 kilos (about 12 pounds) over my 'racing' weight.  Why am I so worried about weight and it's effect on speed?  

Hastings Half Marathon 2013.  Hastings Half Marathon 2014.  My two times for each were 1 hour 42 and 1 hour 36 respectively.  The 6 minute reduction in time was due to two things; a commitment to tempo training, and a noticeable weight reduction. About a stone, I think.

Athletes of different sports are different shapes for a reason.  Swimmers have a relatively high body fat percentage because this allows them to sit higher in the water when they swim (that makes them much faster).  And all the top runners are reed thin, with very little excess weight to hinder them.  How much does weight affect speed?  Turns out that it affects it LOADS.

www.runningforfitness.org has a great article that explains that for every 1 pound of weight we lose, we can run 2 seconds per mile faster at the same effort, assuming all other variables are equal.  But that doesn't mean we can just do a crazy weight loss diet.

For one thing, we're athletes.  We need fuel to power our activities, and a hardcore calorie restricted diet just isn't helpful.  But the other main thing is that weight loss doesn't mean HEALTHY weight loss.  Take this as an example:

Brian wants to get faster, so he starts dieting.  In 4 weeks, he loses 5 pounds.  In theory, he should gain 10 seconds per mile, but he isn't getting faster.  Well, it turns out Brian lost 1 pound of fat and 4 pounds of muscle.  Net result? Zero speed gain because his muscles were less dense and less powerful.  Poor Brian.

This happens because people either lose weight too fast, or aren't consuming enough protein during their training.  The biggest joke of all is that protein, as well as fuelling muscle growth and repair, keeps you full up (A protein molecule is very complex and thus takes longer for the hydrochloric acid of the stomach to break it apart) and therefore, is an essential part of healthy weight loss.

I'm no nutritionist, but I have lost weight successfully for a race.  I've succeeded by avoiding refined sugar, and having things like peanut butter smoothies after training.  Beans on toast is also a favourite of mine (no butter, no cheese; naff).

So what to take from all of this?  First, it isn't always right to lose weight, especially if you're pretty thin already.  Your health is more important.  That said, weight loss can make you faster.  Half a stone off can make you over 3 minutes quicker in a half marathon.  Just do it right, and don't rush it.  And you know what?  I gained weight during Christmas. Big deal. I'm totally okay with it because I switched off psychologically and enjoyed my food in December.  I'm not a machine, and I wanted to just relax and not worry about food over Christmas.  

And personally, I think THAT'S an important part of training too.