Lose weight, go faster..But how much is too much??

So, after having time off between IMWA & the New Year and enjoying a copious amount of beer and good food, the scales did not do me any favours (just nudging 100kgs), just told me it was time. Time to get myself into gear and get back into the training side of things.

With this, myself and a few others it was also time to look at our eating patterns and lose those unwanted kgs, and maybe a few more. This year going to Kona, I cannot afford to have any extra kgs whilst racing. Upon asking many a weight question about where people from the outside could see me getting down to without losing power or getting sick, the main consensus was to drop below 90kgs. My favourite response was along the lines of this: Grab onto your private bits, jump up and down and if it wobbles it can go......hmmmm interesting suggestion, but makes sense.

Another one of my mates, who I used to cycle with as a junior is still a measly 83kgs (and yes we are the same height), so it that a possibility?? For me, prob not as I have a bigger frame than him, but in saying that it still gives me confidence to find a new race weight in Kona. And if I want to do the "undie run" I cannot afford the wobbly bits!!

With reference to racing, more so running, I found the below table which shows some interesting numbers in relation to weight vs speed. I look at it as "free speed" like transition, everyone has to do it and it doesn't take much to get these benefits!


This table, based on changes in maximal aerobic capacity, provides a rough estimate of how much your race times will improve if you lose weight, as long as you have it to lose. If your BMI drops below 18.5, you're at risk of becoming weaker and slower.


WEIGHT LOST---- 5K---- 10K---- HALF-MARATHON---- MARATHON

1 kg-------------13.2 secs-- 26.4 secs----- 53.8 secs------------- 1:48

2.5 kgs----------- 33 secs---- 1:06--------2:20------------------ 4:40

5 kgs------------- 1:06----- 2:12--------- 4:40-------------------9:20

10 kgs------------ 2:12----- 4:24--------- 9:20----------------- 18:40

With me looking for easy time gains, like most of us do, I can relate this table back to my most recent race, IMWA. Racing at 92.5kgs gave me my best result yet, but with taking on board suggestions from others getting below 90kgs, this would have potentially saved me 4.40min in the run and gave me a 3hr 15min run.

Yep, I like the sound of that. However as we know, triathlon is a three disciplined sport. By starting the race at 90kgs, would I have lost too much weight by the time the run had come around and not been able to run a 3hr 20min anyway? We will never know, but one thing for sure, I am keen to gain as much "free speed" as possible and I will be exploring this option in 2011.

At 92.5kgs, my BMI is 24.83....some say way too high, I don't think that I am far off. Getting down to 90kgs would reduce it to 24.16. This keeps me in the normal weight range(20.7 - 26.4), but I would rather be down at the lower end of this. 88kgs get me to 23.6bmi....might be the goal!!

Cycling is the same when climbing, and as Kona has some climbs, not mountains, but as I start to train in the hills the "free speed" calculator will be in reference often.

I refuse to do any crazy diets or anything, just be conscience of what I eat and how much I eat.

For now...

X-Man