Racing Weight

What would the new year be without talk about nutrition and weight? Yay.

Losing weight and running has always been mysterious to me. The more you run, theoretically, the more calories you would burn. However, the more you run, the hungrier you get! And not just for an apple, but for CARBS!!! YUMMM!!!!! To deny yourself food while training is just silly. You need to be strong to race well. But you also need to feel light and energetic to race well. Ah the perils.

*Disclaimer* As a person who has struggled with weight in a very un-healthy way in my early 20's, I know weight is a very sensitive, controversial thing to discuss, and I truly feel that society has a skewed outlook on it. This post is my review on what I feel is a very informative book on how to eat healthy for running. It is also about how I am putting this book to use in my training. I am no nutritionist! This is just what works for me.

Over my 2 weeks off from teaching, I was able to catch up on some reading. One book that I really enjoyed was "Racing Weight; How To Get Lean For Peak Performance" by Matt Fitzgerald (see link to the right under "Ariana's Survival Gear") who has also written "Brain Training For Runners". Matt Fitzgerald decided to write this book after running on an Alter-G treadmill (anti-gravity) that made him feel as though he were 15 pounds lighter. His run took less effort with less weight. Go figure. This is where the idea for the book was born. How does an endurance athlete stay well-nourished but yet get to that 'ideal' racing weight? Matt Fitzgerald helps us to understand why and how to do it.

This book has many great ideas on how to achieve your ideal racing weight, and how to determine what that weight should be. He makes sure to point out that your racing weight is not a weight you keep throughout training, as it is usually not a healthy weight. During your off-season, you will probably be about 8-10 pounds heavier than your ideal racing weight, during training. He also maintains that endurance athletes do not want to lose weight to 'look good' but rather to perform the best they can. I know that I definitely do not look my best under 113.

My 'race' weight is anywhere between 107-110, currently I am at 114, which is my normal training weight. I would like to hit my ideal race weight for Boston in April. The thing I struggle with most is SWEETS!!! I have a strict "one drink a week" rule when I am in training, and I don't care for cheese, burgers, or fried foods. But cupcakes, cookies, and brownies get the best of me. Yum! I went through a phase that I would allow myself to eat whatever I wanted because I was training so hard. However, that just left me with low-energy. I would feel so sluggish after 'indulging'.
The best part of this book is that Fitzgerald gives plans for over-all health while training. I found this book to be mostly about how to 'eat clean' and get all you need from natural foods. I love this idea. There are still plenty of carbs, fats, etc. because that is what runners need to perform! He just gets rid of the junk. Which I think is very doable. My main goal is to be as healthy as I can for racing, no matter how much I weigh. That's it!

I took note of what I ate last week as I tried to start eating healthier as I begin training for Boston. A lot of my carbs are coming from the quinoa, brown rice, fruit, etc. rather then from refined sugar sources as before. Here is a sample day:

Breakfast: Kashi cereal w/ rice milk, banana, hard-boiled egg, coffee, vitamins (multi, iron, D/Calcium/Magnesium, emergen-c, fish oil)
Snack- recovery protein smoothie, green tea, prunes- I love prunes, lol!!!
Lunch- quinoa with beans, spinach, cherry tomatoes and avocado, almond butter toast, green tea, FRS drink, apple
Snack- Whey protein smoothie with skim milk, almonds, dried cranberries, green tea.
Dinner- Salad, chicken, sweet potato, brown rice
Snack- Fro-yo with berries.

Now if only I can keep it up!

What are some of your favorite healthy foods? What supplements, if any, do you take?

Runningly Yours,