Yup, another thread about weight.
So I was about 6'0'' 150 lbs in high school and respectable runner (16:58 5k). In college I sort of just ate and drank whatever and whenever I wanted and naturally packed on the pounds. I hit an all time high of 178 lbs. I was sick and tired of feeling out of shape. So I started running again. I really wasn't seeing as much results as I wished to have. I was running 6 to 9 miles a day and still heavy and not really getting faster. Yup, I was still eating like crap. So finally, I got serious. Cleaned up the diet and kept up the same training and finally the pounds began to drop. Now I'm at 154 and never felt more fit and ready to race. Ultimately I'm going to try to get to 148 to really hit that racing shape. Registered for a race on 9/2.
"Okay great anecdote, so what's the point and what does it mean to me?"
Weight matters people. It's no coincidence that nearly every elite runner is extremely thin. And before anyone says it, Solinsky is the exception, not the rule. It seems that the popular notion is "Train hard and let the weight take care of itself." Sorry food-lovers, but that's utter BS. When it comes down to it, diet is the majority of what fitness comes down to. If you're eating whatever you want, don't kid yourself thinking you'll still hit that optimal racing shape. Keep running big miles and doing the interval workouts, but try to hit a low weight if you really want to optimize your racing performance.