As I post this entry early in the afternoon, it is 87 degrees outside and there is still a lot of time for that number to rise. I know that is "cool" by Atlanta standards, but it is hot and humid for Highlands, and so we ran this morning when it was only in the upper 70s and there was a nice breeze. Still - despite drinking often before, during, and after running - the combined heat and humidity caused me to lose three pounds (and mowing the lawn after lunch did not help any). Three pounds! At this rate I will lose 21 pounds in a week!
Losing excess weight is a good thing for a runner. The age-old, tested formula that comes to mind
is this: two seconds per mile per
pound. That is the amount of time over
distance one can expect to gain by losing weight, down to the optimum weight,
below which diminishing returns can be expected. Translated into time, the loss of ten excess pounds means a gain of 20
seconds per mile, or 8.73 minutes over the course of a marathon. But I know what my optimum weight is - 180 pounds - because I have always achieved it by the time I stand on the starting line of a marathon. One of our runners told me three years ago, when I was training to qualify for Boston, that I looked "gaunt," which pleased me no end. That may be a little extreme, but it is true that by the end of this training program I will no longer have that little pooched-out bit of flab right under my navel - my auxiliary fuel tank for the final six miles. I will not have any excess fat on me at all. I will be lean and focused and in the best condition I have ever been in, which in itself is a good reason to train for a marathon.
But today was different. Today it was all about fluid loss in this heat and humidity, and I am under no illusion that I have lost weight as I eventually will when my mileage increases (the rule for that is 100 calories per mile). So I will drink as much as I can all day today, and tomorrow too, and eventually I will be back up to normal. Three pounds is a lot of water!
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