DFW Running Club!!

evab_2

You'll notice improvements over the next few weeks Bun, rest days though are just as important as running. Varying exercises will not only target different areas but also make your workouts more interesting. Swimming is a great all round workout.

Bunnyinthelights

Oh, there's an idea-I could go for a swim...

evab_2

I'm ill again! can't eat my slice of dds birthday cake!

Bunnyinthelights

You must be very poorly hun. Go for a lie down.

evab_2

not actually ill just can't face all that CHOCOLATE!

hypno06

evab wrote: »

not actually ill just can't face all that CHOCOLATE!

exactly! you must be REALLY ill!

becky_rtw

Oooo aren't you lot a group of stunners!!!

Okay question - possibly for Rich but someone else may know...I've been really struggling with the cold the last few weeks and my non running friend suggests it may because running burns your fat stores which are used to keep you warm...do you reckon thats true?

Any ideas on how to keep warmish when out and about and not running?? I'm already into two or three tops, coat, scarf, gloves and ear muffs but its my feet that are really struggling...

Bunnyinthelights

well, all I know is Becky, when I did the Cambridge diet, I was in ketosis as was burning my fat for fuel and I was bloody freezing all the time! I was consuming less than 500 calories a day then. If you eat a load of food before bed, you will wake up boiling hot as your body tries to burn off the excess calories.

becky_rtw

Bunny - 500 calories - thats not a diet its a starvation plan!!!!

RichOneday_2

Becky, the loss of fat stores is proof that your body is adapting in the right way. Unfortunately, women do feel the cold more as blood is withdrawn into the core organs to preserve warmth leaving extremities feeling cold.

The normal advice is to concentrate on the extremities - but since you're already wrapped up in gloves, ear muffs and scarf, you probably need to take a hot water bottle with you as well!:p

Some basic points about body fat in runners:

Importance of fat
As speed increases, the energy cost increases more or less in a straight line, but the relative contribution from fat begins to decrease, with muscle glycogen becoming the most important fuel.

The problem with running slowly to reduce body fat levels is that it takes a long time, because the rate of energy expenditure is too low. Run too fast, and you burn only carbohydrate, leaving the fat stores more or less untouched.

To get an idea of the importance of fat, you can try the following sums. For simplicity, we’ll assume that:

- About half of the energy used in a run will come from fat (this amount will actually be greater at low speeds and for fitter runners, and will also be higher if the run is completed after fasting overnight as opposed to just after a high carbohydrate meal).

Example 1
If you weigh 50kg, the total amount of energy you will use in a 10km run is 50x10 = 500kcals. If all of the energy were to come from fat, this would use 500/9 = 56 grams of fat. Half of this is 28 grams fat (almost exactly one ounce in old units).

Example 2
If you weigh 80kg the total energy cost of running a marathon (42.2km) is 80x42.2 = 3,376kcals. If all of the energy were to come from fat, this would use 3,376/9 = 375 grams. Half of this is 188 grams or around 7oz.

Three things emerge from this:
1. The amount of fat you need for even a marathon is small compared to the amount stored; a 70kg runner with 20% body fat has 14kg of stored fat. A 60kg runner with 30% fat has 18kg.

2. Even though the amounts of fat used may seem small, regular running will nibble away at the fat stores – good news if your aim is to use exercise to control or reduce your body fat levels. A runner who uses 28 grams three times per week will lose about 3.5kg of fat over the course of a year. The results are not immediate but, if you persist, the cumulative results are impressive.

3. Running speed does not figure in the equation. If you run for 40 minutes, you might do 5km or you might do 10km.


The one outstanding anthropometric characteristic of successful competitors in all running events is a low body fat content. The textbooks tell us that the body fat stores account for about 15-18% of total body weight in normal young men, and in young women the figure is about 25-30%.

‘Normal’, of course, is changing, and those ranges should be qualified as being normal for healthy people. Most of this fat is not necessary for energy supply and is simply extra weight that has to be carried throughout the race. This is not to say that people carrying extra fat cannot complete a marathon – they just can’t do it in a fast time.