170 Pounds!!

Daily Quote: "No man six feet tall and weighing 176lbs (79.8kg) will ever win the London Marathon, and it is unlikely that a woman five feet six inches in height and weighing 130lbs (58.9kg) will ever do so either. Why? To answer this we must consult Dr Stillman's height/weight ratio table. He fixes the non-active man's average weight for height with a simple formula. He allocates 110lbs (56.2kg) for the first five feet (1.524m) in height and 5 1/2lbs (2.296kg) for every inch (0.025m) thereafter. He is harsher with women, giving them 100lbs (45.3kg) for the first five feet and 5lbs (2.268kg) for every inch above this. --Frank Horwill, "Peak Performance" newsletter.

I have now reached my marathon weight goal of 170 pounds!

Thus, the above quote means that my non-active average weight is: 6 feet tall (1.829m) would be allocated 110lbs (50kg) plus 12 x 5½lbs (2.495kg), which comes to 176 lbs. BUT, since I'm an active runner what would be my ideal racing weight?

According to Frank Horwill, "These allocations are considered healthy guidelines for non-active people. However, a distance runner needs to weigh less, about 5 to 10 per cent less. This makes our 6 foot tall male requiring to be 8 to 17 lbs less than his 176 1bs, around 168 lbs to 159 lbs. And our female of 5ft 6ins should be around 6 lbs to 13lbs less, around 124 lbs to 117 lbs."

My achieving two Boston Qualifiers have given me a rough estimate on what my marathon weight should be. My last two Las Vegas Marathons were Boston Qualifiers and my weight was at 171 and 170 pounds respectively, hence, 170 pounds has been my marathon racing goal weight ever since. I now wonder if I should lose even more weight?!? I remember reading where Dr. Sheehan stated that the ideal marathon racing weight would be around two pounds for every inch...that would mean at my 72 inches I should weigh 144 pounds!! Perhaps within the next 15 weeks I could reach 165 pounds without losing strength in the process?

Today is my Recovery Run.

8:30 a.m. Recovery Run. 5 miles. Time, 49:10 minutes. Overall pace, 9:50 minute miles. 24 Hour Fitness at Alta and Rainbow. Life Fitness Treadmill set at a 1% grade, 6.1 mph. Average heart rate 139 bpm. Cardiac drift 145 bpm. (Note, my maximum heart rate is 190 bpm.) Shoes. New Balance 720.

My average heart rate is a little too low even for a recovery run, and considering raising my next recovery run speed to 6.2 mph (9:40 minute miles). I feel well rested and tomorrow I'll be attempting my first 19 miler of the year!