I have had something on my mind lately that I really wanted to discuss. I’ve been hearing the phrase “racing weight” being thrown around quite a lot lately and I was really curious how folks feel about both this phrase and what is behind it. There are even tons of books on the topic, with the most well known penned by Matt Fitzgerald (affiliate link). There are even online calculators where you can determine your racing weight. There is obviously some truth to the theory that weighing less (or being at “racing weight”) can help you become a faster runner. But is being at racing weight something the casual runner (i.e., someone like me) should be concerned with?
I’m going to preface the next couple paragraphs with this disclaimer: I have a very healthy relationship with food and have a pretty solid body image. I recognize that this is a blessing and that not everyone has the same relationship with food and with their body. I truly think one of the best gifts my mom gave me is that I never recall her talking about her weight in a derogatory manner. I don’t know if it’s something she did purposefully but I think it blessed me to have an overall positive image of myself and my body. I’m so grateful for that.
As I mentioned, I have a healthy relationship with food. I like to eat but food doesn’t run my life (bacon might, but not all food). I eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full. I’ve discovered that when I’m training very hard (like I was when I was training for Shamrock), I alternate between being ravenous and having a very small (for me) appetite. As long as I’m eating mostly real food, getting in some protein and carbs, I generally don’t worry about what I eat. I threw out my scale years ago because it just gathered dust. I honestly have no clue what I weigh and am always surprised when I’m weighed at the doctor because I just don’t have a good sense of what my weight is. Anywho, something odd happened as I made my way through Shamrock training. I kept getting comments about how I’d lost weight and looked great – and after it happened more than a few times I realized that it took me aback.
Since I very rarely think about my weight, it was odd to all of a sudden be thinking about. I started to wonder if I had actually lost weight or if I was just in better shape after training hard. Had I finally started PRing races because I’d reaching my ideal racing weight? After a few weeks of pondering this question, I came to the conclusion that for me, racing weight will just mean the weight I am when I race. Not a particular weight to aspire to or to track. I think that part of the reason I’m able to have a healthy relationship with food and with my body is that I’m able to block out all the noise about weight and size and just focus on the things that are important to me. I can focus on my training and how strong I feel . Not to say that I don’t like looking good in my clothes – I do. But for me that feeling isn’t tied to a number.
What are your thoughts on racing weight?
I don’t put much stock into it for the recreational runner. I worry that trying to incorporate weight loss into long distance training will impact the quality of my training and my eventual performance on race day. I would like to lose several pounds, but that was not a focus for me when I was training for Big Sur. Now that I don’t have any races on the horizon, I will put some focus on weight loss but I don’t have a weight in mind nor do I think a calculator or other tool will tell me what my ideal racing weight is. If I feel strong and I am comfortable with my body on race day, that is more than enough for me.
WORD. That’s pretty much how I feel!
You said so articulately exactly how I feel. I’d love to post on this subject but I’m afraid I’d offend so many blogger friends with my opinions on this topic.
Can I just say a few things here? 1. I think there are a lot of bloggers/runners who have food issues. I read so many posts where people post pictures of their food. I don’t particularly want to see what someone ate for dinner unless it is artistically prepared or something really unique. 2. I’m not hung up on my weight. Like you, I got rid of the scale years ago. I go by how my clothes fit and how I feel. Not what I weigh. 3. We are not elite athletes, none of us. If I lost 5 pounds, 10 pounds, realistically how big of a difference would that make in my racing performance? I bet it would be negligible. What is really interesting to me is seeing runners who are much bigger than me passing me up. It’s not all about size. I’d rather focus on training and enjoy my life off the road, including eating what I want.
Great post! Something tells me you and I are in the minority here.
Wendy, I would LOVE to read a post from you on this. And yes – especially to number 3. We are NOT elites – hence, at least for me (and it sounds like, for you as well) racing weight is really not a concern. I just like training and working hard. And pizza. I also really love pizza. 🙂
GAH! Yes to both your post and Wendy’s comment! Y’all, we are hobby runners! Not elites! For the love, enough with the obsession about food and weight.
Your post reminded me of that image about bikini bodies…and putting a bikini on your body.
Go girl! 🙂 <3
Haha – I love that image. It’s kind of my life philosophy!
Exactly, Wendy. I get crushed by bigger runners than me 8 days a week at races, whether I am at 150 lbs or 115. So I have zero interest in a concept that has such a subjective impact on performance.
Nothing more humbling than underestimating someone at the start of the race and then watching them blow past you, right? I’ve had that experience many times since I started racing. Now I know better than to prejudge!
Wendy (and Courtney), I would disagree with number 3.
I’ve raced at a very low weight for my height and while I was eating a lot, I was having trouble gaining weight. I’ve raced at a significantly higher weight (but still healthy for my height), but that weight gain was from eating crap and gaining fat, not putting on weight by adding muscle. And I’ve raced a that same weight with muscle instead of fat. From those experiences over 18 half marathons and 8 full marathons, I do feel like for “non-elites” 5 to 10 pounds gain or loss would make a difference in race performance, depending on if its healthy weight gain or unhealthy weight gain.
I do agree that there are a lot of runners who do have food issues, and think if they can get to the itty bitty size of an elite, then they will run faster.
But in fact, when I was having trouble gaining weight and was tiny (for my height), I ran slower because my body had no fuel or energy, but I also ran slower when I gained unhealthy weight because I didn’t have the muscle (or endurance) to move those extra pounds. When I gained healthy weight by adding muscle I got even faster.
I think for my body and training habits (I do more than just runs), I perform better within a certain weight range (and body fat percentage). But I measure this by how I feel physically when I run or workout, not necessarily by how my clothes fit–because that fit is determined by my thighs and their size doesn’t always correspond to how I feel physically (if that makes sense).
Weight can make a difference, but a few pounds here and there aren’t going to make big huge differences if everything else stays the same. And even if that weren’t the case, I’m not willing to change my focus to maintaining a certain weight (not that you were suggesting this).
I discovered Matt’s book when I was training and racing triathlons and was in the best shape of my life. Since then, I’ve become a mother, stopped tri-training to focus on running, suffered several injuries and struggled to get back to the shape i was in. Recently I made peace of sorts–thinking that the weight im at now is the race weight for this season. I’m mindful that Matt wrote about Optimal Racs Weight. That number still holds for me as “optimal” which is not a number I can hold all year or all seasons of my life. That I can still wear most of my clothes now as I did at ORW helps me not worry though. The task is to get healthy again to race well whatever I weigh.
I should say that I’ve never read his book but honestly, I feel like there can be so much pressure and for me, adding in the concept of racing weight would just add to that so I just try to be healthy overall! 🙂 Hope you are on the upswing with your injury recovery!
I’m with you. I don’t have a weight target for racing but my balance of eating and exercising naturally balance out. I think the challenge is not mentally giving yourself license to eat anything and everything just because you’re running. We rarely burn as many calories as we’d like to think we do and many foods have far more calories than we realize. I actually used the myfitnesspal app for a couple weeks when I started training just to get a handle on calorie intake with foods I like which gave me a much better awareness of good food choices.
Yes. That is so true. I have a number of friends who say “oh you run marathons – you can eat whatever you want.” UNTRUE. Unless you are an elite athlete (and sometimes not even then) you can NOT outrun a poor diet!
I do feel like a lot of runners get too caught up on weight. I can see where losing a few pounds might help, but at the same time, none of us are elite athletes and if you are already training hard, the difference will probably be negligible. I mean, if you have to restructure your life to lose 5lbs, give up foods you like, act like a butthole around your SO or whoever you live with, not go out with friends, etc… that changes your life. Is taking a few minutes off a half marathon time, or a PR in any distance, really worth that? You run into the law of diminishing returns and at some point, the “return” of less weight/faster time would become a risk of injury.
When I started running in 2009-2010, my body looked a lot different. I look at the pictures of me finishing my first 10K in 2010 and it’s a huge difference. I never “dieted down” or intentionally tried to lose weight for performance, but after 6 years of running… my body just kind of morphed into my running body and settled at its happy weight.
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I’m so with you on the point about if you have to restructure your life to lose a few pounds, what’s the point? Letting your body settle into your happy place should be the goal for all of us!
I actually have never thought about racing weight–I’m sure I’m physically stronger/in better shape when I am training, but there isn’t a number I tie myself down to whether I’m training or not. I eat what I want but recognize my body feels better when I feed it nutritious foods. But if I want an Oreo or some other sweet treat, I eat it and don’t give it a second thought.
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Amen to that! #IdowhatIwant 🙂
I think racing weight is an important factor to running but no where near the most important factor. I am like you and eat when I want. I have a healthy relationship with food and have found what works for me.
Yeah – I’m really grateful to have a healthy relationship with food and my body. I definitely don’t take it for granted!
Great post! As I’ve gotten older I’ve gained weight in areas I never thought possible. I’ve just had to adjust and if that means my paces are a little slower, meh who cares. Though it took me a bit to wrap my head around that. I’m not winning any awards and it’s much more important for me to have the ability and capacity to run 13 miles or deadlift 125 pounds than worry about a number. Running is fun, nothing more nothing less. I’ve always had a fine relationship with food. I love food. I’m not going to give up a cookie or a glass of wine or entire food groups to reach some unicorn number.
Yes! I just can’t get behind the idea that a causal runner like me needs to worry about being a particular weight to race well. I CAN get behind living a healthy and active lifestyle. That also includes bacon. 🙂
lol, Jenny and I had a similar discussion over brunch, then we ate our biscuits, 😉
I haven’t given racing weight any thought, but I will say that when I first started running, I was probably 10-15 pounds lighter than I am now and I was a lot faster. I also didn’t do as much cross training back then and was much more susceptible to injury. I’m very happy with where I am now, 5 years later! I think that concerning myself with my racing weight is far too advanced for the type of running I’m doing.
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It’s probably far too advanced for most of us, lol 🙂
Great post!!! I feel like there is so much emphasis on weight in running (and its worse in my opinion in yoga). Love your prospective on it!
I don’t do yoga much so hadn’t thought about that – but I think it’s pretty pervasive in all fitness realms…
I feel like I could have written this post, because I share all of these thoughts. Like you, I’ve just never been concerned with my weight. Part of that is that yes, I got a good draw in the genetic lottery and my natural weight has always been really good. My weight also doesn’t fluctuate much, so it takes a LOT for me to gain weight – and lose it. In that case, it seems silly to have a target “racing weight” because the difference would probably be negligible. I’ve also never counted calories or dieted or anything like that. I try to eat well but I’m not super strict or anything.
Honestly, I also think it’s kind of weird that so many non-elite athletes are concerned about this. The first time I heard someone talk about racing weight I literally thought to myself, “that’s actually a thing?” I know that weight management is a sensitive and personal issue so I try not to judge or make assumptions, but, yeah, I agree with you – just a foreign concept to me. I try to be grateful that in my life I’ve been blessed to not have to be as concerned with my weight.
I think it can be a slippery slope and I’m grateful to have the attitude towards it that I do.
I’m with you on this. I want to love myself and maintain healthy body image. I think being race ready is a feeling too. I would rather measure my readiness on how strong I am versus some number on the scale. I’ve found that by focusing on being and staying strong then everything else works itself out. I feel better and perform better.
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Amen to that, lady! PS – can’t wait to meet you in Chicago this fall!
I love your post! I think I’m somewhere in the middle. For me I gained a little bit if “winter weight” and it is having a negative effect on my running, So in that respect, I want to drop a few pounds, but not because I think I look “bad” with the extra weight, but I just want my runs to get easier!
I have noticed that I have thought more about this subject as I get closer and closer to startinf marathon training.
The great thing about not owning a scale is that I literally have no idea where my weight falls. 🙂
Love all of this! I have a “happy weight” that I’m comfortable at and losing anything pay that for me would require a lot of restriction and I have zero interest in that. I would much rather just try to be as healthy as I can- while still being able to enjoy myself. Definitely not winning any awards for my running so I’m not overly concerned about it!
Exactly – running is my hobby and a joy. Not my job. Much respect to those whom it is their job, though. 🙂
It’s awesome that you have and have always had a healthy relationship with food and a good body image. Your perspective on this makes total sense. I bought the book Racing Weight to learn how to balance my maintenance of my weight loss with eating everything I should while training. Well, that’s not at all what the book is about! The book is nearly endless citations of various research and science, but I find stuff like that fascinating. For example, there was one study that showed that finish times were more strongly correlated with body weight and body fat percentage than any other training variable, including weekly volume! There’s no question that heavier runners expend more energy (actually, 6.5% more in a 10-pound difference). But I never felt compelled to lose weight to try to get faster. Instead, I use Racing Weight for a guide on how I should eat while training. I also don’t think of the scale as evil. Monitoring your weight regularly has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to maintain a weight loss. I’ve successfully maintained my weight loss for 5+ years, and the scale has helped me with that. So I have no plans to throw mine away! However, I will say that running has changed my body shape for the better, and the scale is not the only factor I look at now. I rely more on how my clothes fit and how I feel. Anyway, great post!
Great insight! That research is what motivated me to change that variable!
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I think you have a great perspective on being healthy. For me, my weight isn’t a big calculus in my determination of that but that’s completely personal. I don’t think the scale is evil at all but I do think being beholden to a certain number can be problematic. I agree that his clothes fit is one of the best ways to judge how you are doing – my clothes are my scale 🙂
Ever since my weight gain from three years of infertility treatments, my body hasn’t been the same. I stopped looking at the scale since all it did was depress me. I will say that when I was 20lbs lighter (yes I gained that much from treatments), I was faster. The chub rub was less and my clothes fit a lot better. But I’ve learned to appreciate the body that I do have and just go with how I feel instead of a scale. I will also say this…I am not even close to what I was but I am getting faster so my running weight will be determined with the effort I put in. Thank you for this post!
I also wrote a piece on racing weight but mine was a bit different. For me, I find I run more efficiently at a lower body fat percentage. I don’t weigh myself but body fat measurements I feel can be very helpful. I also feel I have a healthy relationship with food and I focus on foods that will power me the extra mile. For me trying to get closer to my racing weight was an attempt to get that extra boost to get my BQ. I was 1 min 14 secs away. I’m not elite by any means but I do think a lower body fat percentage can help me reach those goals. But of course everyone’s goals, methods, training, fueling and recovery are different. And that’s totally cool with me. I’ve always said to each his own. Everyone finds and chooses their own path. Thanks for sharing yours!
Great post C! I have read (and re-read) Matt’s book. It is so amazing to read your post and see all of these comments about a positive body image and less emphasis on scale and numbers. As someone who came from a performing arts background and now primarily focuses on triathlon, a positive body image, and relationship with food is not intuitive for me. I am excited to start surrounding myself with people who do feel more at ease with these topics!
Thanks for your comment, lady! I’m so happy we’ve met and that you’ve joined the team 🙂
GIRL…don’t even get me started. I had no idea that “calculators” existed to determine one’s proper “racing weight;” I’m not sure why this would surprise me, though, there is always something out there to remind us that we’re not good enough where we are right now. What do I think about racing weight? EXACTLY WHAT YOU’VE SAID – it’s whatever I weigh (which I no longer know since my therapist made me get rid of my scale) on race day. I know that I’m currently busting PRs from 7-8 years ago, when I was 20 pounds lighter, so does that mean that THIS is my racing weight? Ugh, I’m so over it. Also, in all of my eating disorder glory, I bought a copy of his book; as a self-proclaimed diet aficionado and expert, I have to say that it was some of the most confusion information that I’ve ever read. THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!
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I love you. For real – can we please sign up to do a race together SOON? Mostly so we have an excuse to stay up all night and talk 🙂
I don’t put much thought into my weight period. I have noticed that since I’m not training for a specific race right now that I’m actually running stronger than I was during marathon training, which I think is due to me running only 3 days per week and running for fun, not for time. I’m finding myself running recreationally is more enjoyable. I’m almost wondering if that isn’t the reason I’m doing better. As for my weight, I do think I’ve lost a few pounds since my last race about 6 weeks ago, but I’m just not sure. Like you, I weigh myself very rarely so I just don’t know. If my clothes fit, I’m happy 🙂
Yes – clothes fitting is ALWAYS the goal 🙂
I’ve never been concerned about my weight, which, like you, I got from my mother. I grew up in a healthy environment and love food, and my body. I’ve also seen what negative effects can do since I had a really good friend battle an eating disorder in high school. I was there as support every step of the way. I don’t own a scale, and only get weighed once a year at my annual physical. I don’t necessarily think losing weight equals speed – I think that’s more of a strength issue. I could feel myself getting faster as I progressed in PT, and my therapist said I’d get faster, but I feel like I’m still the same weight. I’m also hypoglycemic, and if I lost weight, I’d have issues controlling that.
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Love your perspective. I have gained 30 pounds from being sick and injured and unable to work out for a while and I know that has slowed me down. However, when I am at my normal weight like you I can gain or lose 5 pounds either way and it doesn’t affect me too much. Also, I will never be a stick – I am happily a size 8/10 when at my normal weight and prefer weekend pizza and Mexican occasionally to the scary small racing weight those articles suggest for me.
Thank you for posting about this and I am glad I was nosing around and found it! So, even though I never EVER heard my mom talk about dieting, calories, or anything like that (and I don’t think she has EVER been on a diet), sometime around the time I graduated from college I suddenly decided I was fat and needed to lose weight. I think this stemmed from me being a bit depressed about my life, wanting to feel some control, and all that stuff rather than me getting messages from friends, family, or media that I “should” look a certain way. I didn’t have weight to lose at the time and I really never did. So this bad body image was strictly all in my head, as I suppose it usually is for people. I struggled for years with disordered eating and disordered exercise. I guess I am telling you all this because I want you to know where I am coming from with my thoughts on racing weight.
First and foremost, I can see having a racing weight helping… DEPENDING. Depending on the person. So I can only comment for me. And for me, at this point, I think there are so many other ways to improve my running and tap into my potential. My weight is at the bottom of this list. There are just many other things I need to work on and get into check. Clearly I am not an elite athlete or anything and don’t have $$$ to pay awesome coaches, so this journey to improvement is all about me reading, learning, experimenting, and trying to work toward my full potential. Another reason weight may be on the bottom of my list is because even though I haven’t weighed myself in YEARS, I am not overweight in the least, and I really think that to just lose 5lbs and keep it off, it would be very difficult for me to do. I would be afraid of losing muscle I worked so hard to get and I would be afraid I wouldn’t have the energy to train via cutting calories.
So there is just more at the top of my list right now rather than losing a couple pounds. And with my history of disordered eating… I feel like purposefully trying to lose weight could put me on a path to some unhealthy feelings.
I would just hope that runners who read blogs read with a certain amount of skepticism. Just because someone believes they need to be at a racing weight doesn’t mean everyone needs to strive for this ideal. It’s just like everything. Just because one runner is gluten free, runs twice a day, wears a certain shoe, etc, etc, etc doesn’t mean YOU should do it. Just know thyself. 🙂
Thanks for writing about this!!!
I like your last paragraph and completely agree – know thyself! So true 🙂
i have a difficult time wrapping my mind around the idea of a “race weight.” i try to maintain the same weight year-round (although i don’t really obsess over it) so a target weight for a race would just be stressful. i definitely agree that weighing less can help one run faster – i gained 40 lbs in college and that definitely made it more difficult to run – but i don’t think this concept is for me.
It’s not something that I’m adhering to but I’ve very much enjoyed the discussion around this topic!
as one of the people who admittedly commented about how you lost weight, 1) i’m sorry and 2) i did on my own catch myself afterwords and check in because i am super sensitive to trying specifically to not compliment someones body because we are all worth so much more than the way our bodies look. You look great now and have always looked great – what i noticed is that you looked exceptionally refreshed. as you mentioned your training plan had you doing a lot of running – you looked strong and healthy.
I agree that for us mortals (non-elites) dropping 5-10 pounds wont take us from a mid/rear pack runner to a podium finish. one thought, that shouldn’t be overlooked, is that if you lose that 1-10 pounds (assuming you are still in the healthy range) what will that do for you mentally? I know for me, if i feel like i’m holding onto extra weight it gets in my head and i just feel better when i’m a little more lean and i feel stronger and more confident (yes, i realize maybe these are my issues i’m now putting out there publicly – but they are what they are!).
Honestly for me – when i’m training for something, in addition to respecting my training plan, i also try to respect my body which means eating to nourish and fuel it and not fill it with crap – so in that process, where i’m a little more cognizant i may drop a few pounds. i guess the difference is if the weight loss is the goal or the outcome.
lots of good stuff to think about her and i’m glad you opened up the conversation!
leeanne – first of all, no need to be sorry! I’ve gotten that comment from a LOT of people and it was just a bit interesting because it’s something I never really noticed before since I don’t own a scale anymore. I completely agree with the respecting your body while in training. I find I actually crave more healthful food when I’m busting my butt 🙂 The mental aspect is huge. For me, my weight isn’t tied to how I feel about myself but I know that isn’t always the case for folks. Thanks for engaging on this topic! 🙂
I just came over to your blog from Ana’s link up and am loving what I’m seeing so far. I do know that when my weight fluctuates so do my general running times (both for race day and on training runs). I wish I had grown up with a healthier relationship with food, but my mother was a yo-yo dieter and I struggle to break some of those tendencies and rewire my thinking so that I don’t engage in a lot of negative self chatter.
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