Would losing 5-10 pounds make much of a difference?

Unlikely weight loss in your situation would provide any lasting benefits. Just train hard and fuel your body with what it needs. Obsessing over food and weight is counter productive for 99% of competitive runners.

Don't do it. What is the point? You'd go from 20 minutes to 19 minutes. Why not focus more on strength training/weightlifting to turn those extra pounds into steel. You still won't win races but will look and feel good while still being faster than most people.

Run more and incrementally do better with your eating habits. Portion control is key. Maybe try intermittent fasting. Losing a little weight will likely improve your running as long as you aren’t starving yourself.

xcrunner,

With 5'3" I'd say that below 120 is more common for long distance runners (more than 1 mile).

IMO reducing deserts, snack (and junk food on the whole) will indeed contribute to weight reduction. And the latter, in turn, will impact the speed. Some say 3-4 sec down per kg per km.

Do not worry about muscle, strength and so on. Just exercise enough. I recall my "combat" weight in the youth was 122-124 (my height is 5'7"). I ran 5K at 15:10 but could do 25 pull-overs on a bar and endless amount of push-ups.

Good luck!

Eat healthy. Stay healthy. Keep your BMI in the healthy range (18.5-25).

https://runbundle.com/tools/running-calorie-calculator

xcrunner56 wrote:

I'm 18 years old, 5'3", ~130 lbs (haven't weighed myself in 3 months)...

5k PR is somewhere in 20:40s (was actually from a 6k split), mile is 5:43. My fastest 6k was running at a 6:43/mi pace.

I don't really feel too bulky when running cross country, but would losing that weight help me for track? My coach seems to think I'm more mid distance. I wouldn't lose weight drastically but I'm wondering if by cutting out dessert (I have too much) and snacks, I'd be faster. I really want to keep improving but I also don't want to make running the only thing in my life and become obsessed with losing weight. Any advice?

That's sort of fat for that height, so yes. At 5'3 you should be down around 110.

Givetallugot wrote:

Run more and incrementally do better with your eating habits. Portion control is key.

This is all you need to do. Just keep training, keep it consistent, give it time. Eat normal & healthy and your weight will take care of itself.

Givetallugot wrote:

Maybe try intermittent fasting. Losing a little weight will likely improve your running as long as you aren’t starving yourself.

Well said but no, I really disagree. At 18 and not extra overweight, if you just stay active and avoid overeating then you'll be fine.

No need for fasting or any other focused attempt at weight loss. Your biggest improvement will come from continued training over time (1-3+ years), and that training will also likely result in any weight loss that is relevant.

If you are a girl, don't. Also because I don't want to get in trouble advising on that stuff for females. If you are a coach in US, don't even utter the word food and body in the same sentence...they'll cancel you.

If you are a dude, your BMI is currently 23. You can go down to ~19 and still remain healthy. Shoot for 110. Those 20 lbs will make a huge difference as long as you do it gradually.

You're the poster with possible stress fracture? Correct? If you know you need to eat a healthier diet, do that. A poster told you to loss twenty pounds and go down to 110 pounds. Ignore that poster. A poster or two stated b.m.i. Insurance companies and medical doctors use b.m.i. Largely irrelevant for athletes. Height to weight ratio is good to know. Either pounds per inch or kg per cm. Percentage of body fat is good to know. If you tried to get down to 110 pounds, most likely illness and injuries. Stay away from alcohol and desserts.

Data Miner wrote:

Unlikely weight loss in your situation would provide any lasting benefits. Just train hard and fuel your body with what it needs. Obsessing over food and weight is counter productive for 99% of competitive runners.

Ludicrous. 99% of competitive (not elite, but competitive) would benefit a lot by losing weight, if you consider running/racing faster a benefit. And competitive runners do.

Cornpoop wrote:

Data Miner wrote:

Unlikely weight loss in your situation would provide any lasting benefits. Just train hard and fuel your body with what it needs. Obsessing over food and weight is counter productive for 99% of competitive runners.

Ludicrous. 99% of competitive (not elite, but competitive) would benefit a lot by losing weight, if you consider running/racing faster a benefit. And competitive runners do.

I didn't say losing weight would provide no benefits. I said obsessing about it is counter productive for most people. Focusing on a mindset of training and proper recovery is far more beneficial than worrying about exactly how much you weigh. If its about cutting out processed or sugary foods, I'm all for it...but too often it spirals into counting every calorie, worrying about which foods you can and can't eat, and ending up tanking your training thinking weight will be your long term magic bullet--seen it a million times and it's really not worth it.

I am going to assume you are a guy (you should have told us).

You fall into the normal range for weight, but you are on the high side. Yes, you could lose some weight and it would be helpful to you as a runner and not detrimental to your health. If you really want to optimize your performances, DO cut out the desserts and snacks. Sugar is poison anyway (this includes simple carbs found in most snacks).

You could get as low as 110 at that height and be ok. My guess is that since you are posting about your weight and you said "~130" and that you haven't weighed yourself in 3 months that you are likely heavier than 130. Carrying around unnecessary extra weight is not helpful to distance runners.

If you just want to run for fun and fitness, then do nothing different.

Flagpole wrote:

I am going to assume you are a guy (you should have told us).

You fall into the normal range for weight, but you are on the high side. Yes, you could lose some weight and it would be helpful to you as a runner and not detrimental to your health. If you really want to optimize your performances, DO cut out the desserts and snacks. Sugar is poison anyway (this includes simple carbs found in most snacks).

You could get as low as 110 at that height and be ok. My guess is that since you are posting about your weight and you said "~130" and that you haven't weighed yourself in 3 months that you are likely heavier than 130. Carrying around unnecessary extra weight is not helpful to distance runners.

If you just want to run for fun and fitness, then do nothing different.

SHE told you O.P. split 5K in 20:40 in a 6K race. O.P. is a female.

Nah, it's not worth it. A stretch of likely unsustainable restriction, the slump that comes with being in an energy deficit, and the potential to do weird stuff to your metabolism just to go from 20:40 to like mayyybe 19:40? Doesn't seem like a good trade off.

You can definitely continue to PR at your current weight just by training smart and running hard.

There are guys that are 5'10" and your weight. That being said, your couch is probably right about you being mid distance. Girls are not supposed to be as skinny as guys. You will run a good 800 when you do 200 repeats and stop doing heigh volume.

Sometimes college men will run a 6k CC early in the season. I watched my son do that twice.

* Is your son a 20:xx 5K college XC runner?

* She stated she is a 5:43 1600m or one mile runner running on college XC team.

* Two weeks ago she stated under same registered name she is a 25:xx 6K college XC runner.

Flagpole wrote:

I am going to assume you are a guy (you should have told us).

You fall into the normal range for weight, but you are on the high side. Yes, you could lose some weight and it would be helpful to you as a runner and not detrimental to your health. If you really want to optimize your performances, DO cut out the desserts and snacks. Sugar is poison anyway (this includes simple carbs found in most snacks).

You could get as low as 110 at that height and be ok. My guess is that since you are posting about your weight and you said "~130" and that you haven't weighed yourself in 3 months that you are likely heavier than 130. Carrying around unnecessary extra weight is not helpful to distance runners.

If you just want to run for fun and fitness, then do nothing different.

Did you get back under 200 Flagpole? I know you aren't tall and it was a tad too much weight, just didn't know if you were successful or not?