Weight loss = increased speed?

[Deleted User]

I'm probably being over simplistic, but if I lose 10% of my weight, will my speed increase my 10%?  I'm currently 10 stone and run at about 10 mins a mile, if I get to 9 stone will the same effort put me at 9 min miles?

As I said, probably oversimplistic.......?

[Deleted User]

Kimbo wrote (see)

I'm probably being over simplistic, but if I lose 10% of my weight, will my speed increase my 10%?  I'm currently 10 stone and run at about 10 mins a mile, if I get to 9 stone will the same effort put me at 9 min miles?

As I said, probably oversimplistic.......?

Yeah, way to over simplistic, if you loose 10% of your weight, you won't get 10% quicker.

There was something banded around a while back that 1lb = about 15sec on a 10k?

edit: theres a weight effect calculator here > http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/weighteffect.php

Ratzer

I used Dano's weight calculator above to see how I could improve a half-mara PB by losing weight.  Frank Horwill has some good articles on it on the Serpentine Runners website.  In essence, if you lose weight which you can afford to lose, you will get faster, but you also need to eat enough to feed your training.

I noticed the opposite, as in increasing weight slows you down.  I preferred gym work to running for a while, and put on a fair bit of weight.  The impact it had on my speed endurance was crazy.  I slowed down a huge amount.  Even now I'm still heavier than when I did my first half, and though I'm slightly faster, I had to work a lot harder to get there!

Shiny

Yes, definitely too oversimplistic - if you lose more weight than you need to you'll also lose strength / energy and so won't be able to run as fast.

[Deleted User]

I can definitely afford to lose a stone.  I'm 5' 2" and was always 8 stone 10lbs but then I stopped clubbing and went up to 11!!! I'm now 10 so to get to 9 2lb is my current target.  It's just that I'm running a half marathon in March and feel quite good about running now, albeit it at 10 min miles.  I'm working at losing the weight, so in theory, I'll get faster....  Thanks for your responses!!