Should I lose weight for my last season?

10lbs may be a bit much if your body is adapted to 135. 135 @ 5'10 is quite lean. At most I would say 5lbs. If anything just train harder and the weight will go down naturally and you'll get faster,win-win. Good Luck.

no, you're weight is fine, losing any could be unhealthy. Just eat right and your body will naturally be at the weigh thats best for it.

Timothy Culpepper wrote:

no, you're weight is fine, losing any could be unhealthy. Just eat right and your body will naturally be at the weigh thats best for it.

I hear this all the time, and have always had a question about it. Since you are here, let me ask it of you.

Wouldn't the point your body weight levels out at depend on your caloric balance? Let's say you're running 80mpw, and say burning 3200 calories/day at your current weight. If you're consuming 3400 calories/day, your weight will go up and then level off. Likewise, if you're consuming 2800 calories/day, your weight would drop and then level off. Or take in 3200/day and stay where I am.

I could be eating "right" in all three cases. So, your statement that my body will naturally be at the weight that's "best" for it makes no sense to me.

No. There's a lot more to training than weight. Do not blame it for not improving. You don't tell us anything else about your training. If you want to be faster, work on that. Don't look for a quick fix that can cause more harm than good.

This subject is pretty taboo, with eating disorders and all. So first, Please be healthy. Also, have you talked to your coach about this?

Now, here is an article from Frank Horwill:

http://www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_frank02.html

1.) As a guideline, he says a healthy, inactive female, 5'10 should weigh around 150 lbs. He goes on to say "a distance runner should weigh less."

2.) How much less? Middle distance runners (800m-10k) about 12% less. For 5'10 female, that's 132. Long distance runners (over 10 miles) about 15% less, about 128.

So, based on that (I'm no expert) you're very close. Maybe 3-5 lbs if you feel like you have a little to lose. Sounds like 10 lbs (and the 120 you weighed before) would be too light.

There are some good tips/guidelines in that article. Also, this one has some good eating rules to make sure you're eating healthfully:

http://www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_frank01.html

Good luck this season. Train hard, and remember food is your fuel - you need a lot of it to train well.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

No. There's a lot more to training than weight. Do not blame it for not improving. You don't tell us anything else about your training. If you want to be faster, work on that. Don't look for a quick fix that can cause more harm than good.

txRUNNERgirl makes an excellent observation that I missed. You should look into why you haven't improved much in 3 years. Weight is obviously not the key limiter here, because you are within a couple pounds of the standards in that article.

Look at your training. Talk to your coach. Look at your nutrition (are you getting enough, and the right nutrients?). Look at your sleep. These things are HUGE, and will allow you to train harder and improve. Much more than a pound or two.

Also remember those are just guidelines. Plus your weight fluctuates a few pounds up and down throughout the day. Getting hung up on numbers is not the way to go. Is he factoring in body composition? If she's lifting weights, then she is going to be more fit than someone her same size who is not because there will be more muscle. If you're 5'10, 135, running at the collegiate level and doing strength training, I highly doubt you have a lot of excess weight (fat) to lose. You risk losing muscle if you drop any weight. Not something you want to mess with if you want to perform well. Again, if she is training properly, she shouldn't be worrying about her weight.

My training has been a steady increase in mileage rather than speed. I can handle more miles at this weight for sure with out getting sick/injured, but that doesn't necessarily make me faster. Interestingly I improved much more in cross country each year than in track (maybe a mental thing). After 21:45 6k for xc i think Im ready for some faster times on the track. I have not talked to my coach about this because he is usually more concerned about eating disorders and nutritional deficiencies (iron used to be my issue). Thanks for all the advice I have received already!

Oh, and on training, my mileage has increased from 40-75 from high school to now. I do 2-3 workouts a week with a 2 hr long run.

runner needs advice wrote:

My training has been a steady increase in mileage rather than speed. I can handle more miles at this weight for sure with out getting sick/injured, but that doesn't necessarily make me faster.

What pace are you running on your easy days? Looking back, this was one of the biggest mistakes I made, and I know I'm not the only one.

probably 7:30-8:30 (for hilly). I think Im pretty good about taking those easy.

runner needs advice wrote:

Im a female 5k/10k runner, senior in college running at a D1 school. Im 5'10 and weigh 135, but as a freshmen I weighed 120 at the same height. I put on the weight because people thought I looked unhealthy and I started weight training. I have improved only slightly (18:30-18:00), over the past 3 years. This is my last season and I want to be as good as I can (and Im not really worried about "looking unhealthy" for 5 months). My question is would losing 10 pounds be a good move or an unnecessary risk?

It is not possible to answer this question based on the information you've provided.

What is your bodyfat %, for starters?

I dont know if the scales are accurate since it can depend on dehydration etc. But I usually see between 13-19.

runner needs advice wrote:

I dont know if the scales are accurate since it can depend on dehydration etc. But I usually see between 13-19.

I would get some calipers or--better yet--be measured by someone with experience using them--more accurate options exist, but they are typically more expensive.

If you have 13% bodyfat I would advise you NOT to focus on losing additional fat. If you have 19%, getting down to about 13% could certainly help without harming you...

Some women--Martina Navratilova, for example, who was in single digits in her prime--can safely attain much lower bf percentages, but most cannot...

If you lose it by training hard I think its ok. If you lose it by dieting it's not (other than cutting out stuff like chocolate)

I wouldn't deliberately try to lose all that weight, but if some came off naturally I also would not worry about looking unhealthy (as long as there is no deterioration in your actual health)

Try doing some shorter races 800m, 1500m that might help drop you 5km times a bit - although they already respectable

Enjoy you running anyway and don't get too obsessed with times (or your weight!)- you are living the dream running for a D1 college, it will be over all too quickly