Hello wonderful people of LetsRun!
I've decided to start my first thread after enjoying many squabbles on this site. I'm a low-level D1 sophomore that specializes in the 1500m and I think that losing a few pounds or so would help me.
I'm 6'1 and just under 160 lbs. My best 8k from my freshman year of XC was 26:36 at pre-nationals (not very good I know) I didn't get to race a lot, but I ran 3:57 during track, which is a little more respectable. I have been doing 70-80 miles over this summer and I feel fit but I also feel that in order to race at the level that I would like to (25:00 or so) that I would need to slim up my legs a little, because I seem to have put on a little extra fat on my legs that I'm not used to. I have a pretty good diet, and 80mpw seems to be about my limit. I think the only reason that I've put on weight is that genetically that what happens to my family around my age.
I have felt fine on my normal runs, long runs, and hill workouts so far this summer, however my tempos have been suffering. My goal has been to try and get a 4 mile cut down tempo starting around 5:30 and cutting down 5 seconds or so per mile. The best that I've done is a 3 miler at 5:37, 5:20, 5:09. So my pacing is off but they don't feel as easy as they did last year.
So I'm looking for opinions on what I could do to slim up a little and help combat the extra weight without cutting food intake. Maybe some some good leg strengthening exercises or something. Also any input on how I can get the most out of my tempos would be much appreciated!
PRs
800 - 1:59
1500 - 3:57
3k steeple - 9:47
5k - 15:39
8k - 26:36