Runners who eat or eaters who run?

Running and weight issues can be a bit of a minefield. Getting a heathy view and the balance right is hugely important.

Many people first come to running with weight loss in mind. The results of increased activity and a kick start to the metabolism often lead to weight loss. 10 years ago as a non-runner I was 30 pounds heavier, running has been good for me in many ways, but now when I think of losing more weight it's usually with race times in mind.

At the sharper end of competitive running weight can be a bigger deal. In a resent high profile case, American middle distance runner Mary Cain spoke out about her treatment by once famous now infamous coach Alberto Salazar. She detailed how her weight became the focus of her coaches as a means to improve her times and performance. Cain was an exceptional junior who became known as the fastest of her generation before joining up with Salazar and the Nike Oregon Project. Instead of thriving she was surrounded by male coaches who crunched times and numbers and pushed her to lose weight as a means to improve without a second thought for her overall wellbeing. Her career faltered and she ended up with eating disorders and other mental health issues.

When it comes to recreational runners like myself there is a cautionary tale to be learned:

To find time improvements our racing weight is an obvious area of focus in order to gain an edge.
In fact to put actual figures on it further highlights why some, including Salazar became fixated on the numbers. If you take the human element out and just look at the figures alone they are quite stark. In a recent article by Runners World magazine they discuss a study by the American College of Sports Medicine that shows:

A 5 percent reduction in weight improved 3K times by 3.1 percent, while a 10 percent reduction improved times by 5.2 percent, and experts say that this difference becomes greater as your distance increases. 

That's a lot of potential percentage gains without requiring certain magic (expensive) running shoes.

So while becoming obsessed with weight loss it is clearly not something to be taken lightly as the Mary Cain case illustrates, there is merit to paying attention to diet in order to allow ourselves to find our own ideal racing weight. 

I've tracked my weight in the past and tried to hit a certain weight targets before race day. Sometimes I feel that it has helped, other times the use of a restrictive diet to loose weight while making big demands on my body in terms of training has left me drained and therefore not well placed to hit my targets. The thing to remember is we are all different and hold weight different, the number on a scales is not a the full picture of body composition. 

I have larger calf muscles and a very different body composition and shape to the east African's who dominate the sport, there is zero merit in me trying to change that. Instead I've found eating cleanly and not being afraid to fuel up with good sources of carbs before sessions and long runs and then get quality protein in quickly afterwards has allowed me to train and recover better. Of course intense training leads to heightened appetite but instead of restricting to loose weight I just try to make better choices. Making big demands of the body and not putting in the required fuel is simply not sustainable.

Below is a chart which outlines approximate calorific needs for athletes. The Hanson training plan I'm following has my needs at 3500 calories per day to fuel the training load as well as day to day needs.

Some things occur to me looking at the above guidelines. The first is that I'm probably not eating enough as I'm fighting my own appetite much of the time which is my bodies way of telling me what is needed. The second thing is: just because I need more calories doesn't give cart blanche to eat crap calorific food, quality counts too. Lastly is timing of calories- by resisting hunger during the day it can lead to a build up at night when most of us succumb to the urges. Eating more earlier should help against eating too much too late which can effect sleep and energy absorption.



Finally the graph below shows my weight track over the past few years. The green line is my desired year round weight. The yellow line is were I've found my ideal racing weight to be:

Weight does matter but balance is key. At the end of the day are we runners who eat or eaters who run?

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