So just for a brief background - I got injured twice during the fall XC season which kept me out for a total of about four weeks. That, combined with fatigue from running super high (for me) volume (80 miles/week) over the summer made for a horrible season, and it's been a slow comeback from that to get back to where I used to be.
I've been training consistently since the week of Thanksgiving, and have noticed significant improvements since then. I don't think I'm in shape to break my PRs yet, but with the way things are going, I feel like I can get there in another month or two.
With this improvement, however, my weight has been going up - not by a ton, but it's certainly not going down. I'm almost positive it's muscle because of all the running and lifting we do, as well as the fact that I eat a decent amount of protein, but still. I eat fairly healthy - mostly whole grains, variety of fruits/veggies, lean protein, small amounts of sweets, etc.
I'm hesitant to change anything since I've been improving and feeling good in workouts, but I can't help wondering if I could be running that much faster if I lost, say, 6-7 pounds. Even though I feel good now and am improving, I don't think I'm in PR shape. When I ran my PRs, I was at least 6 pounds lighter than I am now. Just looking for some ideas and thoughts.
Stats - 6' 1", 160 lbs, currently run 60-65 miles/week, ran 10k/5k track PRs at ~154 lbs, and XC 8k PR at ~146 lbs.