April 9, 2013
Maybe I am fat to go along with old and slow because today was worse than yesterday!Speaking of fat, every pound you put on can have an affect on your speed. Every pound can cost you 2 seconds a mile. Sure, that might not sound like a lot, but put on 10 pounds and that is 20 seconds per mile. Over a 10k that is 1:20 or over a marathon almost 10 minutes.
That, however, is not the worst part. For some of us, it may be because speed is important, but think about the pounding your knees and feet take? Every step when you run puts about 4x your weight on your knee and foot. So 10 pounds is 40 pounds of increase. And if you put that weight on your belly, it adds extra stress on your back. A pound of weight on your belly can add 7 pounds of pressure on your back. Why do you think pregnant women are always complaining about their back?
Why all the talk about weight? Well, I used to consider my best race weight to be 155 pounds. Now, I am about 170. I have been able to drop all the way down to 159 a while ago, but it took some serious dieting and I ended up losing muscle too. I think 155 was a weight my frame could handle 15 years ago, but not today. I carry more muscle on my frame and my bones are thicker and stronger, probably due to all the running.
You have to find out what weight works best for you. I'm sure if I ate nothing but chicken and veggies and drank only water and worked out twice as much (including lifting weights) I could probably get down to about 160 or even 155 and I would look like an underwear model, but I would drive everyone I know crazy (ok, Honey would kill me since she does most of the cooking...although I bet she would like it for other reasons...) For me, I'd like to drop a few pounds...just enough to show a six pack. I've been saying that for years and I've yet to achieve it.
You haven't failed until you stop trying!!
Here are my numbers:
Time: 20:00
Distance: 2.06 miles
Pace: 9:43/m
Max Pace: 8:13/m
Calories: 264
Avg HR: 124
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