One of the benefits of running is that you are allowed to enjoy your favorite foods and beverages without guilt. If, however, you are serious about improving your race times and reducing your rate of injury, consider putting down the donut and losing a few pounds. As runners, we focus on our training plans, weekly mileage totals, long runs, and speed workouts. Sometimes, however, we lose focus on arguably, the single most important contributor to our running success, our weight. This is the first of a four-part article in which we’ll explore following weighty topics:
Part One: How does weight affect my performance?
Part Two: What is my ideal running weight?
Part Three: Training strategies for weight-loss.
Part Four: Nutritional strategies for weight-loss.
Part One: How does weight affect my performance?
Vehicle fuel economy is based on engine type, aerodynamics, tire inflation, and a number of other factors. Regardless, a lighter vehicle will generally use less fuel per mile than a heavier vehicle. Running economy is built on a similar premise. Running economy is the amount of oxygen you utilize at a given speed. If you are carrying few pounds of extra weight, logically you’ll need to utilize extra oxygen to move that weight. All things being equal, a runner at his ideal weight will be more economical than a runner that is 10 pounds overweight. A more economical runner using less oxygen at a given speed will ultimately win the race.
In more practical terms, for every pound you lose, you’ll run two seconds faster per mile, according to Tom Osler, author of “The Serious Runner’s Handbook.” For example, if you lose 10 pounds, you’ll run 1:02 faster in the 5k, 2:04 faster in the 10k, and 8:44 faster in the marathon. These are huge time improvements that would be difficult with training alone (without weight loss). Keep in mind that Osler’s two second rule only works until you reach your ideal weight. As we’ll discuss later, if you drop below your ideal weight, your running and general health will suffer.
Your weight also affects your ability to train consistently and injury-free. Whoever said that running wasn’t a contact sport? At impact, every foot-strike generates two to three time your bodyweight of stress on your muscular-skeletal system. That is a lot of shock and easily explains runner’s knee, skin splints, and other maladies runner’s frequently fact. Simply put, achieving your ideal running weight will reduce impact stress on your system and will significantly reduce the likelihood of injury.
