[SeanSutton]

I am 50 years old, 5’10” and 265. I have been running 15-25 miles a week (6 days a week with lots of zone 2 running) for several months. I have started the 20 week first ultra trail run plan. I loooove running and have been doing it on and off for 30 years. I am writing to enquirer whether I should focus on weight loss first (maybe lose 40 lbs) before getting too far into an ultra plan or if you’ve all seen folks this overweight be successful at ultras.
Very hard to write this. My doctor is positive about what I’m doing, but I fear injury and not sure where the risks lay running at this weight as I get into more than hour and a half a day runs.

Thanks for any advice.

[Seth Keena]

Hi Sean,

Thanks for writing in. I applaud you for asking!

I will go as far to say that in my experience working with overweight athletes, the positive results (injury avoidance, pace, sense of wellness, etc) gained from getting more aerobically fit and stronger can be realized from weight loss (done in a healthy manner!) for less actual time spent training. Carrying mass that does not aid in locomotion is going to have a consequence to the system. With running in particular, our mass is being dynamically accelerated and decelerated for thousands of repetitions and this makes ‘swing weight’ especially nontrivial. But there is obviously a lower limit to this ideal and adjusting weight need be done with care. Loosing weight and training are not easy things to do coincidentally. I suggest having your Resting Metabolic Rate measured, sweat examined, and know your calorie demands quite well before attempting a diet with deficit, esp while training, if you’re considering doing that. Don’t rush things.

Hope this helps,

-Seth

[Seth Keena]

Hi Sean,

Thanks for writing in. I applaud you for asking!

I will go as far to say that in my experience working with overweight athletes, the positive results (injury avoidance, pace, sense of wellness, etc) gained from getting more aerobically fit and stronger can be realized from weight loss (done in a healthy manner!) for less actual time spent training. Carrying mass that does not aid in locomotion is going to have a consequence to the system. With running in particular, our mass is being dynamically accelerated and decelerated for thousands of repetitions and this makes ‘swing weight’ especially nontrivial. But there is obviously a lower limit to this ideal and adjusting weight need be done with care. Loosing weight and training are not easy things to do coincidentally. I suggest having your Resting Metabolic Rate measured, sweat examined, and know your calorie demands quite well before attempting a diet with deficit, esp while training, if you’re considering doing that. Don’t rush things.

Hope this helps,

-Seth

[SeanSutton]

Thank you for the reply. I really appreciate it. When I started training about a year ago I was at 235. Miles and miles and miles of zone 2 sprinkled with steady state and a few sprints later I have noticed two things.

1. If you are not on top of your input you can still gain weight when you are running 6 days a week.

2. As the weight comes on you can see the pace slow and the hills get harder to do in Z2 with the extra weight.

I will make the weight my priority for the rest of winter and spring and hopefully as we head into summer I will be at a different place and look at picking up miles then.

In the meantime I will prioritize slow smart weight loss, more cycling for joint support, sprinkle in runs under an hour, and walking/rucking/hiking to maintain my endurance that I have built over the last year.

My last question, do ya’ll work with folks in my situation or is this not really what you do? If not is there any recommendation as to where I might reach out? My current doctor is great and super supportive, but it is the regular you have 10 minutes a visit, you better get it all in kind of thing.

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