Weight loss and marathon performance

It definitely helps - my lifetime marathon PR came after dropping about 10 pounds.

That said, losing weight while marathon training is HARD! That's because when I'm running a lot, I also want to eat a lot. When I did it, I was hungry pretty much 24/7. It was a months long process of self deprivation, and frankly, I never wanted to put myself through that again.

I also am 5'9" I normally weight about 165 after 3 months of solid marathon training I am down to about 155 for the race. I also eat way to much, you would definitely cut time by dropping weight.

I wonder if someone will comment on our grammar.

Ran a sub 2:50 marathon for my first marathon, now that i've done the distance i want to go sub 2:40, i negative split it so i dont think its out of reach. Honestly i think that weight loss will impact your running for sure. I know whenever i am weighing more than my typical race weight i dont race well. Ive come to think of it like a weighted vest, if i am weighing 5-10+ more than usual its like putting on weighed vest and trying to run the same as if you werent, not easy.

The difference between a hobby jogger and runner is body weight. I think college runners get slower after college mainly from weight gain.

If you take an elite runner and put on a 15 pound weight vest I bet they slow down to mortal speeds. 15 pounds is no joke to run with.

I did a 6 miler last year with 12 pounds and barely finished the run....running 8 minute miles.....4 weeks later I ran a 1:12 half marathon obviously with out the vest.

You sound like a friend of mine. His height, weight, and marathon PR all match yours. This may or may not be true of you, but he's also more muscular than the average runner. It helped him back when he ran the mile in track, but he keeps up with his weight training once in a while as an adult and the result is several pounds of muscle that he has over his peers. Maybe the ladies like that he doesn't look as gaunt as other runners, but having extra muscle puts a greater demand on his blood to supply that unnecessary muscle when running.

The other thing I'll say is that 6 to 7 hours a week of running isn't really enough to get you below 3 hours in the marathon unless you are naturally talented. Based on my arbitrary estimates that puts you in the 50+ MPW range. I'm inclined to think if you gradually upped your mileage another 20 or so miles that you'd both lose weight and run faster than 3 hours.

Lighter is faster wrote:

The difference between a hobby jogger and runner is body weight.

Weight is very important, but you overstate things when you say it's the only difference. If that were the only difference, we could cancel all races and just rank people by BMI.

There are plenty of skinny slow people. I have a friend who is extremely skinny. He is naturally skin and bones. He's never broken 4 hours, despite being very passionate about running. He just doesn't have the genetic talent to be fast.

Heavy Runner wrote:

I’m 5‘9‘‘tall and my weight is round175 pounds.

What’s your experience in this matter? Would the impact of weight loss really be that big?

The number you always see around is that you will run 10 seconds per mile faster for every 10 pounds you lose. So, for your goal of going under 3, you just need to drop 10 pounds.

I would recommend you drop the weight before training for a specific marathon. In my experience, and in speaking to fellow runners, it is easier to lose weight when it is your only goal. That is for a number of reasons, but one big one is people use their training as an excuse to overeat and eat what they shouldn't - either to recover from a hard run or to fuel for a run. If weight loss is your only goal then you can't use training as an excuse to eat. It also lets you not worry about taking your runs easy if hunger is affecting your motivation to run.

Deal with your emotional eating.

It's not a weight problem.

I definitely agree that there are some skinny slow people, but if your already reasonably fast dropping some serious weight will probably gain you a few minutes in a marathon.

Personally my times in the marathon are directly connected to 2 variables...weight and weather on race day.

Most of my training cycles have been similar so that variable is static. Almost all the workouts have had similar splits/distances etc.

Every cycle I drop 1-2 kilo and by the time that weight comes off.... I'm running easily 10-20 seconds per mile faster at the same heart-rate and effort. I'd love to lose 5 kilos and see, but I don't have the discipline.

Weight is a huge factor. I would love to see some data on that. If you were somehow able to plot finish time against weight but control for other factors such as mileage, age, sex, I think you would see a massive correlation.

Be very cautious about trying to lose weight while training. It's a quick way to overtraining and other issues.Try to control yourself, man. Seriously, grown ups talking like eating is beyond their control. Instead of eating after a run, just have couple large glasses of water. Maybe some fruit. Have three normal meals a day. Don't have ice cream or cookies in the house and DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL.Pretty simple. I lost ten pounds when I stopped following all the "recovery" guidelines drilled into us by Runner's World and the like.

Heavy Runner wrote:

I’m 5‘9‘‘tall and my weight is round175 pounds. My estimated body fat is about 18 to 20%. I run since more than 8 year and have a PR for the marathon of 3:03. I train about 6 to 7 hours a week and my objective is to break 3 hours for the marathon.

Unfortunately I’m a kind of binge eater and I struggle to get down my weight, but I always hear from my running mates, that the only way to achieve my objective is to lose weight. After more than 8 years of running, there wouldn’t be so much more improvement in fitness with the same amount of running.

What’s your experience in this matter? Would the impact of weight loss really be that big?

The rule of thumb (first popularized by Tom Osler) is actually 2 seconds per pound per mile. Others say over the course of a marathon it's one minute per pound of excess weight.

Thank you for the various suggestions.

So if I want to become faster, it’s inevitable too lose some ballast. I’m not drawn very muscular, hence I have potential to buck of some fat. I’ll try do watch my diet and to avoid snacking.

Sorry for my grammar, I’m not native English speaker and don’t live in an English speaking country.

shift your diet to more raw fruits and vegetables.

eliminate starches,processed foods,and refined sugars.

If you do this, i guarantee you can consume the same amount of volume, feel just as full, and lose weight. sugar does weird shit to your body to make you gain weight, even with the same caloric intake.

more vegetables will give you more nutrition so you wont feel as hungry. sometimes hunger is your body craving nutrients, which some foods have very little of, so your body wants to eat a lot of it to compensate.

go vegan for a month and I guarantee you'll lose the wieght and feel great.

If we're on the subject of weight loss I was wondering if I could get some advice. I'm 6' and currently 153 after about 10 weeks of post holiday dieting. I'm aiming to be below 150, but what's a safe weight to go down to? Is 140 too light?

plantbased wrote:

go vegan for a month and I guarantee you'll lose the wieght and feel great.

I understand the draw and the appeal of a vegan diet, but for most people it doesn't "feel great".

I am 5'11 and when competitive was 118-120 pounds. Through my sponsors I got hooked up with dietitian who actually provided premade, all organic, vegan meals to me because my diet was so dirty at the time. Within 3 weeks I was down to 112 pounds, all my blood values were garbage, I couldn't finish a workout and crashed and burned. Hard. I couldn't recover for months and ended up getting dropped.

I have always wanted to at least eliminate meat from my diet, but it's just not feasible for everyone to jump to such extremes. To push such an extreme viewpoint is selfish and irresponsible.

I am your height and weight about 140, and that is a healthy weight.

I wager you would be able to run quite faster if you were lighter.

As others have eluded too though, running for performance and trying to lose weight are two different things and VERY hard to do at the same time. Maybe you could take some time and just focus on bringing your body weight down, then returning to racing goals. Might make you a better runner long term

There is no doubt that weight loss should result in a faster marathon. Some people say 1 to 2 seconds per mile for every pound lost. Granted, at the low end there are diminishing returns, but you are quite over the optimal weight for marathon performance, and I would think you might drop 5 to 8 minutes by losing 10 pounds, all else being the same.

Skip the bowl of ice cream or the beer after dinner. eat more fruit and vegetable portions during the day, higher fiber foods, they fill you up and then you won't eat calorie-dense foods. Replace the cheeseburger, white flour bun and french fries with lean meat or yogurt, a salad, some fruit or nuts. Have a cup of tea instead of a candy bar or chips.

Go into some workouts hungry. You don't have to live with a constantly full belly. Fuel up after long or hard training with some nutritious food -- almonds, or chocolate milk, or peanut butter on whole grain bread.

Good luck. It's a great feeling to be lean and fit after the initial effort of forming healthier habits.