Gain fitness instead of losing weight

I once read something along the lines of, "It's difficult to find a competitive female runner who has always had a 100% normal relationship with food," and I agree with this statement.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that lighter leaner bodies can run faster.  Just watch a professional running event and you'll see tiny people without an ounce of fat on them!  If you've been running for years like me, you probably also know that your best performances came when you were lighter - at least to some degree.  While these things may be fact, they also promote poor eating habits and dieting amount competitive runners.

I am in the camp of not always having a 100% healthy relationship with food, but currently I'm in one of the best spots I've ever been with it in my adolescent through adult life.  I try to eat healthy and clean to best fuel my body, but no food is off limits.  I also don't use food for comfort, at least not often.  That all sounds cliche, right?!  I guess the difference now, compared to my attitude in the past, is that I focus on how what I eat can benefit me physically (e.g., re-building my muscles in the recovery window, giving me antioxidants to prevent me from getting sick, powering my next workout, etc.) instead of how it could set me back (e.g., weight gain) or comfort me in the moment (e.g., mmmmm, sweets!).  Quality food and plenty of it makes my training better!

I also once read a comment from Lauren Fleshman regarding her preparation before setting the U.S. women's 5K record.  I think she is a good advocate for eating well and fueling well, and for not letting peers or coaches pressure young female runners into dieting.  She said that she set the record by getting fitter, not by getting lighter.  This makes so much sense!  Training goals should be getting fitter, not getting smaller.

While I'm combating taper madness this week, I starting putting together a table to compare various components of my marathon training cycles for my best marathons (later posted here), and in my training logs I sometimes record my weight.  I noticed that my weight when I ran Bass Pro 2010, which is my second fastest marathon with a 3:03, was very close to my weight at present, and also very close to my weight for my fastest marathon of 3:01 in Dallas 2015 (all within a 3 lb range).  Then I noticed some of my "on this day" memory photos that had popped up on Facebook, and realized that I am more fit now.

My weight is nearly exactly the same across these three photos (granted, only the 2016 photo was taken for purposes of this post, but I knew I was being photographed in the others).  I am currently running faster than I was in 2010 or 2015, but it's because I'm fitter - NOT because I'm lighter.  My PRs have been gained NOT by losing weight and actually probably partially by eating more.  I'm stronger and more muscular, and well-fueled.

And, please, can I slather some sunscreen on that 2010 body?!?

I used to compare my body to other competitive runners, and I always felt bigger.  It made me self-conscious on starting lines, and even awards stands when I won (how screwy is that?!), many, many times.  I don't compare anymore; I do me.  In college, our cross-country team had to "weigh in" every week in front of each other.  I'm almost 5'7", and I weighed much more than those 4'11"-5'2" girls - and I certainly should! - but I dreaded that scale more than anything else that year.  Body image issues are real, and more common than people talk about, but athletes perform best when they aren't dieting and when they get past them.  It's amazing how much your body will give back to you when you give it the right things - and this goes for food as well as proper training (especially periodization in training) and rest.

I also once read, "Athletes fuel and train, not diet and exercise," which pretty much sums it all up.