Ideal racing weight

The answer is No.

#behealthy

#havefun

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There’s a great formula for figuring out one’s ideal race weight

-Eat clean and healthy but never go to bed hungry. Since you are training for an ultra, lots of CLEAN carbs, things like rice/vegetables/noodles/fruits, and make sure you hit at least 40-50g of protein daily.

-Run 5-7 days a week

-Do strength training 2-3 days a week, this could either be getting in the weight room, or just bodyweight/core exercise or a mix of both. Eat 80-100g of protein these days.

-Drink over a gallon of liquid per day

-Be in bed for at least 9 hours a night

Do this for about 2 months, and you’ll be at your ideal race weight. It could mean you lose 5-10 lbs, stay the same, or even gain some. I know plenty of girls who gained 10 lbs and started setting PRs left and right. They’d messed up their hormones by trying to be as skinny as physically possible and that ruins your fitness more than that 5-10 lbs ever could.

Whatever weight keeps you healthy. Too light and you'll get injured, too fat you'll get diabetes. So for 5'6 that's probably around your current weight, but your not done maturing. So you'll probably pack on a few more pounds which is normal and healthy.

At a BMI of 19 weight should be the last thing on your mind

What compels a high school girl to run a 6 hour ultra? Additionally how can any of us tell you to lose weight when we don’t know anything about you? what if your race weight is MORE than 115lbs?

Go look at the top middle distance female athletes - then do the same for the males. There is a big difference. The top girls I saw at the front of a recent elite race looked like they just stepped out an ice cream shop - they were definitely NOT thin as a rule. The men on the other hand all have sticks for arms for the most part. Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse are good examples of this.

And as has been documented many times - being too thin as a female runner causes a deluge of health problems down the road.

So no u do not need to lose weight to be a fast female middle distance runner.

And for longer distances - I have been in several situations where middle aged - legit FAT chicks were in a long distance events - 3 day walks, cross country tours etc. They kicked butt - I would never want to compete with them one on one. Women are much better at burning fat in those types of events than men.

Not really such a thing as an “ideal race weight.” Obviously weight does play a role, but based on the numbers you said in your post, you’re probably fine. Everyone has a different bone structure/frame based on genetics, and often the weights listed on athlete bios are inaccurate. Don’t be obsessive; just eat healthy with a balanced ratio of macronutrients and talk to your doctor about what is best for you, and don’t be afraid of not being perfect 100% of the time. Make sure that you have a regular menstrual cycle; if you don’t, your hormones will be imbalanced and you can end up with some pretty serious (possibly career-ending) bone fractures. As someone who tried to drop a lot of weight during my freshman xc season, you may feel invincible at first, but you’re not special. Cut calories too much and your bone density will go down the drain, no matter how indestructible you may feel.

I would focus more on injury prevention and quality training; when I shifted from trying to cut as much as possible to trying to focus on feeling fueled and energized before my races, I did so much better (30sec off my 1600m) because I was able to put more energy into my workouts. Based on what you say, you’re already pretty small. Don’t focus on how everyone else looks and let that mess with your head.