The concept of race weight is a puzzle to me. Everyone seems to be talking about "it", getting to "it", maintaining "it". There is even a book on the subject. Still, I don't get "it". I do have a tendency to miss the trees for the forest, so maybe this is my problem.... In any case, since Boston I have been recording my weight and body fat almost daily (some days I forgot), first thing in the morning. My goal was to try to see whether there is a relationship between weight/BF and my race performance. I ran 2 races since I started this experiment, one week apart. I was .2 lbs heavier on the second race, but ran it 3 seconds per mile faster. Of course, the second course was faster, and I had the training experience of the first race. So a wash off, I think. I'll keep up my little experiment, and see what I find out.
Here are my questions for those of you with "a racing weight":
1. How do you know what your racing weight is?
2. How can you separate racing weight from training? For me, it seems I am getting faster because my body can handle more quantity and quality training. How can you separate the training effect from from weight effect? I am not about to train hard and make myself gain 5lbs, then keep training constant, lose the 5lbs and run races at both weights to see what happened. Even with this little experiment, there would still be confounds.
What do you think?
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17 comments:
I consider my 'racing weight' to be the weight I was when I ran my best 1/2 and first BQ full marathon.
3 lbs heavier with the same training, my times weren't as fast.
With training effort being equal, in my book lighter=faster.
I have no clue. I know that I probably gained a couple of pounds while training for this last marathon. Before that I might have been slightly underweight? I don't think I've been running long enough to know what my optimal race weight is. Let me know how the experiment goes.
i am not sure but i do think that if you ahve an extra 10 pounds you don't need you will go faster when you lose it. i am tryig to lose 8 to 10 pounds a prove this theory of mine, i feel like 2 pounds would not make a difference.
I have no idea what my racing weight is. I can tell you that I have put on about five pounds since March from running. My thighs are like rocks...I don't really like it. My favorite jeans are a little tight. I am interested to see how your experiment goes too. Good luck to you:)
i weight the same as I did since i started running and I am faster now...experience comes into play. i am goign up and down on the scale by a few pounds on a weekly basis but the 2xday trainings will do that to you.
If you figure it out, let me know... :) All I know is that the less you have to carry, the less yo have to carry.
? that's about it. :)
My racing weight would be whatever I am the morning of the race :)
Ok realistically I'm only interested in this whole thing because I want some rockin abs! Theoritically being more fit should make me faster or maybe I'll just look faster
My racing weight would be where I was late last summer, leading up to my fall marathon PR. I don't even know the number, but I can tell from the way my clothes fit that I'm not there. Whether true or not, I feel that I can race faster at that weight and I'm mad at myself for not being there now.
I dont know either, and i just figure my body is healthy if i get my monthly cycle ( damn it sometimes) and if i am not injured. For me that is my best racing weight.
IF you look at Power: Weight ratio you cant really just go on raw bodyweight alone, but for runners it may be a bit different than in cycling where if you are too lean and are too light you do sacrifice some power.
Great topic!
for me, race weight means for my upcoming half i hope to be ~3-5 lbs less bf, than the rest of the year. but i haven't tested this out...so we'll see if it makes a difference
I'm interested in yoru experiment. I have no idea my racing weight. I dropped probably too much before my first marathon, I do know that.
I consider my racing weight to be the weight I was at when I felt my fastest. I think there is some science to these numbers but I don't know it. I actually almost never weigh myself, but go by how my clothes fit. Right now I have a little bit of work to do. But if I lose too much weight I get sick a lot so it is a fine line.
I JUST bought that book. I DO feel faster when I'm more on the leaner side of my weight fluctuations. Maybe it's all mental.
This is an interesting topic. I don't have a racing weight, but I know what my body looks and feels like when it's almost race time. I always loose weight while training because I take my recovery time and off season very seriously :)
Usually I'll drop about 5 pound between the spring and summer and then it stays around that through fall.
I definitely have a "racing weight" The reason I have a r. w. is because I lack the discipline to keep the extra 3-5 lbs off of my booty and hips year around. So for me, if I want to run my best I need to get down to r.w. You appear to be at a great r.w. already. Unless you are at an unhealthy low weight, the extra lbs will most likely not help. Everyone is different though, so keep us posted with what you find out.
Being lighter=being faster...it just makes sense. However, our track coach was just talking about being careful with intentional weight loss and losing energy. It's sometimes a delicate line to walk.
That is great you feel so good in your training. It helps to make you feel confident for the race, at least for me it does. It is all pretty exciting.
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