Race Weight - Timing is Everything

I am 179cm tall and currently weigh 76kg. 5 months ago, at Ironman 70.3 Geelong, I raced at 75kg. I was hoping I would trim down further for the World Championships in order to be faster. However, I have not seen my weight go below about 75.5kg for the entire time I have been preparing since April.

I feel fitter and stronger than before, my training results and numbers suggest this, so I am not worried about being slow on race day but I don’t know how much effect my weight will have on performance compared to other athletes on the undulating Mont-Tremblant course.

First of all, now is not the time to try and lose weight. With only 8 weeks until the race, trying to lose weight would do more harm than good. By cutting calories, I would not be able to train as hard because my energy and recovery would be compromised, leaving me at risk of illness and poor training output. There is simply no room to let up in the quality of my training at this point.

Also, the best time to try and reduce weight would have been in the initial phases of my preparation, approximately 3 – 5 months before race day. Unfortunately, I didn’t focus as much on my diet during that time, so, although my body began to lose a little body fat and gain some lean muscle mass, I didn’t lose any weight.

In these final two months, I am going to be as strict as I have ever been. I am going to cut out any sugary snacks which I was treating myself too previously. Except, in the event that I require something quickly after a hard workout and am desperate. I am now going to focus particular hard on consuming more vegetables and using fruit for snacks if necessary, on top of those that I already eat on a daily basis.

The objective behind this is to hope that I will lose a little excess body fat and become lighter because of it. Therefore, not sacrificing lean muscle mass or energy and supporting my immune system better with the important nutrients in the extra vegetables and fruit.

I’m sure some of you are wondering what difference this will really make.

In comparison to the top long course triathletes in the world, like those who will be competing for overall honours in Mont-Tremblant, they tend to be a lot lighter than me. For example, a top pro athlete of similar height will weigh somewhere between 68 – 72kg.

Jan Frodeno, 2008 Olympic Gold medallist, and arguably the best 70.3 athlete in the world at the moment, is 194cm tall and weighs in at 76kg. He is full of lean muscle mass and has very little body fat and after winning several major 70.3 events this year with half marathon run splits of 1 hour 12 minutes or faster, along with matching it with the best cyclists in the sport, he is a terrific example of an all-round athlete. Let’s not forget his incredible full Ironman debut recently at the Ironman European Championships, in Frankfurt, where he had the fastest marathon run split, at 2 hours 43 minutes. This was after leading out of the swim, experiencing 3 flat tyres on the bike leg, falling 17 minutes behind the leaders, struggling with cramps during his first ever marathon and gaining back over 10 places to finish 3^rd.

But how will I benefit from being lighter?

It’s a lot to do with power-to-weight ratio on the bike, whereby, if I can produce the same amount of power at 74kg, as I did when weighing 76kg, I could go faster with the same energy expenditure OR use less energy to go the same speed.

With running, carrying less weight produces less stress on your joints and less muscular energy is needed to produce the same speed. Each step would have greater responsiveness off the ground and reduce the contact time of your foot on the ground, which is one of the major points of improving run speed.

Some people would suggest to me that I don’t need to lose weight and from a health perspective, this is very true. However, I assure you, this has nothing to do with the way I look or to improve any aspect of my health. I truly want to make it to the top ranks of triathlon and I believe my weight is one aspect which will contribute to helping reach that goal. Also, when done right, it shouldn’t have any negative effects on my health.

The Ironman 70.3 World Championships will give me a much better indication of how close I am to an ideal race weight. I will closely assess my performance afterwards to determine what I will look to do to continue my progression. However, as my next race will be Ironman 70.3 Ballarat, just 10 weeks after the World Champs, it is unlikely I will make many changes during that period.

Tell me, when have you tried to drop down to a lighter race weight? How did you do it and did it help?

I look forward to your stories.

Lincoln.