race weight
I've never thoughtfully and properly managed my race weight over the course of a season. Last season, I dropped 12 lbs but left it until way too late. I lost weight right up until taper for IMFL. I have some back issues and lung problems, so I'm highly motivated to maintain a lower weight. I'm just not going to move along very fast unless there is less of me to move along.
Currently, I'm only one pound up from my IMFL race weight. I gained a few pounds right away, and now I'm back down to 147 which is a weight that feels pretty easy to maintain with a minimum of discipline and attention to what I'm eating. I'd like to be at least 1kg less for next year. When is the best time to take this off? I've read that you should do it in the winter, but I find it hard to get below my current weight without training more hours than I currently am. My initial thought was to maintain my current weight until early spring since I'm not overweight, and make an effort to get this off when I pick up the HIM training plan. Or is that waiting too long?
Is a body fat scale really necessary and helpful? I do not have one. I'm totally guessing at what weight I think would be feasible and healthy, the true number could be higher or lower. I don't know if a body fat scale would be helpful in that regard or not. I'm not convinced of their accuracy.
Comments
Not sure from your post, Sarah, if your concern is losing more weight, like 10#, or just wondering how/when to drop those 2+ pounds for next Nov IM. I have no comments on the former, but if its the latter, my thoughts...
I myself train @ 146-148, and race @ 144-5. To stay stable during the year, I do several things which have worked well for thenpast two decades:
I think we each have a homeostatic weight which our body is designed for...trying to get outside that range is very hard work, and may be counter productive. It sounds like you are currently at that weight.
Sarah, I'd say if you only looking to drop 1kg for race weight, that'll happen sort of spontaneously in the run up to the event, as Al said, and isn't enough to make a difference in your energy levels etc. But you are right to not want to loose too much weight right before an event. The OS is a great weight loss opportunity time. High Intensity efforts in my experience result in better metabolism activation than do the lower intensity 12 week IM/HIM build periods.
My personal expericence is a combo of Dan's and Al's. I shed a bunch of weight during Jan OS this year, starting @ 185, plained out @ 165, and without thinking about it (although I weighed myself everyday, I didn't continue to count calories) stayed there until 4 weeks before IMAZ when I dropped 2 more right before race day. The last 2 were not planned for just sort of happened, and I made sure to pick up my calorie intake to stem any rapid loss that could have been starting.
Hope that helps!
My 2 cent is that it is a tool for your tool box to assist you in your goal for losing weight. There are Apps for just walking around that tell you how many steps , how many calories. There are also many other gadgets.
You really want to maintain weight you have to live and eat the lifestyle that will give you the results you want. It is simple math less food in = less weight. The secret is out ! Now the will power to do that is well in my world a challenge too.
As for losing weight now vs. later... I agree with Al that we, "have a homeostatic weight which our body is designed for." I also loose several pounds when I'm in the last few weeks of IM training without effort (from 120/118 in the off-season down to 114 race weight). I'm starting to realize that there are just certain foods I have to avoid in the off-season if I want to keep the extra weight off... like wine (boo!) and lately gluten. If you take the weight off now and it's a struggle to maintain throughout the off-season, THAT will be frustrating. You're at a healthy weight now and it sounds like, 1) Maintenance Now; 2) Allow the 1kg to come off "naturally" during heavy training later is a good approach for you.
Now... if you have any pointers for ME on how to avoid all of the holiday goodness headed my way, please let me know! ;-)
One question I have wondered is: "How do I determine my best race weight?"
A few years ago I used to race at 70 kgs (sorry but we use kgs in Australia - I think 2.2 lbs is 1 kg).
Last season I tried 68 kgs and actually raced at 67.x kgs and had my highest Vdot for this century. I was happy with that but I can still go lower.
I have read Coach Rich suggests using your belt and a mirror is as good as anything to tell how low you can go.
My guess is that you need to find out for yourself what your best race weight is — as WSM Al suggests, it is specific to each of us.
@Al, its hard to argue with two decades of experience, and I appreciate your thoughts. Just FYI, I lasted less than a week in ironman retirement. I'm signed up for Ironman Canada. I'm working at becoming a better runner, and I hope to never retire again.
@Jess, Thanks for the positive feedback. Not all of the comments I've gotten on my weight loss have been good, so I appreciate that you think I look fit and healthy. I'm not really great at avoiding treats that are right in front of me, so I'm not sure I'd be a good resource for advice. So far I'm finding motivation in the little things...I've been doing the math on my power to weight ratio and trying to keep that in the front of my mind has helped...I joined a bike team and my jersey is SMALL...I also have a set of wheels that don't have enough spokes to support me if I gain too much weight... I ordered a few new shirts, and I wear a small tall which makes me smile (it's like something out of a Dr. Suess book)! These things are keeping me going for now