As I paged through almost 10 years of training logs, I couldn't find anything significant. I have been using the same routine I learned through the Brooks-Hanson training regimen with a few minor tweaks here and there. Nothing stuck out. I decided to look back on my best race times to see what else might equate to faster paces. I found it there. In addition to distance and pace, I keep track of my weight. My best race times and training runs correlated to my lightest weight. I went back and looked again at my logs and it was true. When I am running at a body weight below 175, I tend to run faster and have easier recoveries after races.
I am 5' 10' tall and have been upwards of 205-210 at points in my life. I never seemed to be able to get below 185. Then in 2009 when I was at my heaviest, I decided to try Weight Watchers. The program showed me how to eat smarter and control my portion sizes. The weight came off with relative ease as long as I followed the program. When I toed the line in Hopkinton in April 2009 I had lost over 30 pounds and was at 167. I ran my PR that day in Boston. Since then my weight has hovered around 175-180.
About 6 months ago I decided that I wanted to get back to between 170 and 175 because I felt it was my ideal weight. I was able to drop the extra 5 pounds I have been carrying around recently. As I look back on my training logs, I can see my training times and heart rates have dropped. Overall I feel like my training and recovery is much easier. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to truly enjoy every training run and feel like I am actually improving at the same time. Not something every 54 year old runner can say.
It made me wonder how much the weight loss truly affected my running. I found author Joe Henderson who writes about running. He wrote that "The loss of a single pound doesn't mean much for a single mile, but the effect multiplies nicely. Ten pounds equals 20 seconds per mile, which grows to a minute-plus in a 5K, more than two minutes in a 10K, nearly 4.5 minutes in a half-marathon and almost nine minutes in a marathon." While the math didn't quite match up, I had reduced my best marathon time by 26 minutes after having lost 30 pounds. This equated to almost 1 minute per mile for each pound lost.
I have to confess here that I don't always eat right. Partly it is due to all the travel I do for my company. But it is also that I love food. Once I learned how to eat and what a proper portion size should be, I was able to stop obsessing about everything I ate. I could splurge from time to time without fear of unhealthy weight gain. I had learned when and what to eat to fuel my body properly for my running. I know that I can treat myself at times and still maintain a healthy weight.
I have learned a lot from looking back on my training and how it is affected by my weight. I found that when I made my health a priority I was able to drop the weight. When I lost the weight and found my training to be easier and more fulfilling, I was much happier. Then I realized that my happiness depended only on me. I have decided that going forward I am going to take the harder road and listen to my body. Hopefully that will mean that I will remain a happier and healthier runner. Armed with this knowledge, I am excited to see how I do in the Ragnar Del Sol next weekend.
Feb. 1 – 6.10 miles (1:00:46, 9:58 pace) - Hill Repeats
Feb. 2 – 6.90 miles (1:07:31, 9:47 pace)
Feb. 4 – 7.00 miles (1:07:39, 9:40 pace)
Feb. 5 – 6.10 miles (51:58, 8:31 pace)
Feb. 6 – 8.20 miles (1:13:21, 8:57 pace)
Feb. 7 – 9.20 miles (1:28:35, 9:38 pace)
Feb. 8 – 6.10 miles (1:03:21, 10:23 pace) - Hill Repeats
Feb. 9 – 7.10 miles (1:07:06, 9:27 pace)
Feb. 11 – 7.20 miles (1:07:32, 9:23 pace)
Feb. 12 – 6.20 miles (54:48, 8:50 pace)
Feb. 13 – 6.20 miles (50:40, 8:10 pace)
Feb. 14 – 11.00 miles (1:42:24, 9:18 pace)
Total Miles: 87.3 miles
2016 Total Miles: 249.8 miles
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