Running, Diet and Weight (part 2)

The hottest part of the summer is here.  100 degrees or better for pretty much everyday till the end of August   Got to stay hydrated if you are going to be out there running.  And if you have any choice in the matter do your running in the early morning hours.  So much cooler then.  This morning I got up early and did an 18 miler.  Had a half glass of water before hitting the road.  Unfortunately took a little longer to get out of the house, so I didn't start until 6:15 AM.  Just 15 minutes before sunrise.  Anyway the night before I hid a couple of bottles of water that I had frozen earlier in the day.  Put them in plastic bags and hid them in some vegetation on my route.  Then this morning I took a 32 oz bottle of Powerade and put it in a bag and placed the bag in the back of my son's truck in my tree shaded driveway.  My route of 18 miles was actually a loop of 9 miles through my neighborhood and two neighboring ones.  So about six miles into the first loop I approached the location of my water bottles.  Seemed there was a gentleman sweeping the sidewalk in front of the flowerbed where my bottles were hidden. As I was running toward him I was thinking to myself. "Oh great, how am I going to do this?" So I slowed down to a walk just as he was leaving that spot.  Wiped my hands over my face as I looked up at the large stone plaque behind the flower bed then quickly reached in and grabbed my water bottle.  As for me drinking and running is a bit of a challenge.  I find it hard to run and drink.  So for the most part I walked while drinking my water.  Found a box set out for big trash day in front of a home and dropped my empty bottle and plastic bag in there.  I discovered previously that a bag is necessary to keep mud and plant debris off the water bottle as I often need to re close the lid and it's a bit of a challenge if the top of the bottle is dirty.   Anyway felt pretty good through the first nine miles.  Reached my driveway where my Powerade was waiting.  My time was bout 40 seconds over my marathon pace time (per mile).  With the heat and slowing to drink I felt that was pretty good.  Drank my powerade as I walked.  Saved some for later as 32oz is a lot to drink.  Especially if you are trying to run.  Finished it off over the next mile or so.   Sun was up and getting harder to avoid.  Lots of trees and two story houses on my route so much of my run is in the shade.  But by 8 AM it was getting a bit tougher to stay in the shade.  Felt pretty good throughout the last nine miles, but developed a pain in my right food.  Started wondering if I was in danger of developing a stress fracture.  Tried to keep from pounding my feet too hard on the pavement.   Did this by keeping my strides relatively short on the downhills rather than striding out.  Also tried changing my foot strike a bit from time to time.  Anyway didn't get any worse and felt fine after I got home.  So not too concerned about it.

Dr. Irwin Stillman created a height/ weight ratio table for distance runners. Dr. Stillman determined the average weight for the non-active man to be 110 lbs. for the first 5 feet of height, plus 5.5 lbs. for every inch over 5 feet. For non-active women, Dr. Stillman allotted 100 lbs. for the first 5 feet and 5 lbs. for every inch over. Having set up theses averages, he then determined ideal weights for runners. For middle distance runners (less than nine miles) the ideal weight is 12 percent lighter. For long distance runners (running more than 10 miles) the ideal is 15% less. Having run across this several weeks back I looked a some of the famous marathoners and seeing how they compared with Dr. Stillman's ideals.

Ryan Hall, runner up at the US Olympic Marathon trial this year, is 5' 10" tall, and weighs 130 lbs.

Meb Keflezighi, winner of the US Olympic Marathon trail this year, is 5'5" tall and 125 lbs.

Haile Gebrselassie, two time Olympic Champ in the 10,000 meters and holder of the world record in the marathon for three years is 5'5" and 123 lbs. 

Meb is 10% less, so a little heaver than Dr. Stillman's ideal. Haile is about 10.5% less. And Ryan Hall is a 21% less. Really skinny!

So for me to be at my ideal weight for the marathon, I would need to drop to about 148.5 lbs. Not sure I want to drop quite that far. I still do my pushups and would like to have some upper body muscles. So probably I will try to stay around 150. Getting close to that now.

Next race is the Midnight Streak, August 11. Not sure how I will do. Really no reason why I shouldn't run under 22 minutes (5K). Except that the temperature at start will be about 87 to 88 degrees. Anyway should be fun. Need to find some face paint to paint a Jamaican flag on my arm. The theme for this year's race is Cool-er Runnings (from the movie about the Jamaican bob sled team.) You can sign up for the run here: http://cityartscenter.org/Web_v2/events/midnight-streak/

Keep on running!