Hey all, I wanted to share this with anyone who runs and could benefit from hearing this. I was a runner through high school and college, running 10 miles or so regularly. After breaking my ankle 1.5 years ago I started running again regularly 3-4 times a week after I healed enough to do so. I have been about 30 pounds overweight since the pandemic began and despite running the weight just stayed on. And despite all the running my pace remained slow for me, about a ten minute mile. This is compared to being used to being able to run 10 miles in a 7-8 minute mile pace.

Well 2 months ago I finally started counting calories and aiming to lose 1-1.5 pounds per week and it's been going well. But something important to me aside for just weight loss is im FINALLY GETTING FASTER. What I've read is you get about 2 seconds faster per mile per pound lost, and that really makes sense to me.

So if you want to get faster and run farther and do it in less energy, lose weight. And in order to do that, you need to actually eat in a deficit.

Quick note- I'm not a doctor, there is a point where eating a deficit will no longer be helpful once you reach a place where your body does not have the nutrients it needs to use to run. So consult a doctor and figure out what you need to be, eat in a deficit but eat enough calories. DO NOT eat beyond the point of losing more than 1 percent body fat a week. You'll feel like shit, crash, quit your diet, and be in square one.

Tldr if you want to get faster lose excess body fat. And then you'll see your running speed and energy level soaaaaaar!