The Running Times article "Your Fastest Weight" discusses why losing some body weight, and how much to lose, may be beneficial to your race times. Of course not overdoing the weight loss and proper nutrition are also key. Being "skinny-fat" isn't going to help in the short or long-term.
Using the Racing weight calculator my current weight, age, approximate body fat (yes it would be better to know this exactly) and a 10k race time from November 2014, it was calculated that I should weigh 163lbs. This is a far cry from my current 180, which is actually down 9.6lbs from my record high weight during the first week of January 2015.
If I think back through the thirty plus years I've been running, 163lbs on my 6'1" frame makes sense for me being able to run as fast as possible. Besides being young, my best times were when I was 160-167 pounds. I'm not the kind of athlete who can race well carrying any extra weight.
My pants size will drop, a rib or two may show, but if I'm racing fast for my age, at least being relevant in my current age group, that's okay with me.
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