Weight loss and marathon performance

To me, I honestly do not think it makes much of a difference. I am 5'8" and within the last 14 years, I have lived in the realm between a low of 164 and a high of about 180. I train between 50-60 miles per week and I include walking in my training at a clip of about 60% run and 40% walk on a weekly average. Having said this, I have run different distances at different weights and to me, the research is not yet grounded.in 5Ks, I have run as quickly as my recent 19:35 (in 2015) at a weight of 173. My previous best was 20:31 at 167 pounds.in 2016, I did an 8K cross-country race in 33:52 at 172 pounds. At the same weight (and 8 years younger), I did it in 35:34 in 2008.in 2016, I did a 10K in 43:04 at a weight of around 170. Previous to that, my best 10K, at 5 pounds lighter, I ran it in 2 minutes slower.I have also improved on my half marathon times, with a PR of 1:41:10 at a difficult La Jolla course in 2016.I am going to try to attempt a BQ time at the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon this June.What does this mean?Go by your body and not what people say. People can say to eat sticks and twigs until the cows come home. People can say, "Dude, stop the burgers, wings and beer because you'll suck." People can say what they want. But we are all built differently.I also put things in perspective. There are people who are quicker than I am, and even much quicker, but there are also people slower than I am. We are all built differently. And we should be.The way I see it is this. For me, the difference between my 180 and my 166 is simply one...belt....hole.Ask yourself if you feel comfortable where you are. Then ask yourself this...if, for instance, you are a 3:30 marathoner, over the course of 26.22 miles, what difference does it really make to the scheme of life if someone who is 10% faster than you are can be in at 3:09 while you are in at 3:30. I'll be the first to tell you that I would be celebrating with a fat beer about my 3:30 and not even care about their 3:09. I'll praise the winning Kenyan.That is how much weight plays..drops mic... done.Mike

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?

In my experience, I found Tom Osler's equation of 2 seconds per pound per mile to be accurate (13 minutes faster for every 15 pounds you lose). My marathon times are consistently slower when I weigh more, and consistently faster when I weigh less in accordance with this formula. I never ran faster than a 3:04, so I can't say how the formula will work below this range, but I would expect some diminishing returns.

At 160 lbs your BMI is 23.6. The top American marathon runners have BMI's in the 19-20 range, which would be about 130 to 135 lbs for your height. So although this may be your "ideal" weight, getting to it is probably nearly impossible considering regular work life, eating as a social event, habits, what everyone else in your household is eating, etc.

However, I've lost 50 lbs over a 10 month period (5lbs/month) by eating oatmeal for breakfast, fruits and vegetables for lunch, and a normal sized dinner without any snacks other than 1 beer. I think the 1st month I lost 10 lbs. So I think that you can run a 2:55 or faster by losing 15 lbs and continuing the training that got you to 3:03. Good Luck!

BMI? Weight vests? Seriously?

It's not so much the weight that matters, it's what you do with it. You have to consider body composition. People are built differently, so you can't look at an elite runner and think you'd be as fast just by weighing the same.

Does resting heart rate drop as result of weight loss? Do you have any experiences?

That's why I decided to lose weight 5 years ago. To bring at your body 50 kg of excess weight it is really hard, I even couldn't predict, that one time stairs won't be scary for me. Last 2 years I tried to improve my muscles and can say thet ot os more difficult than to lose fat. I decided to find ways how to boost this process and have found an article about SARM's. They don't have side effects but results are amazing. I am they happy that I have tried it. Wish you good luck) Here is more ditailed info: https://stoneathleticmedicine.com/best-sarms/