Body Fat Composition: My Personal Challenge

Last week I had the opportunity to have my fat body percentage taken and it came out to roughly 13% at my current weight of 155lbs.  I was pretty satisfied with it initially, but then I thought to myself, what if I can drop that down to 7% while maintaining the same weight.  Would that improve my performance? 

Current
Present Body Weight: 156.4
Present Lean Body Mass: 134.82
Present Fat Mass: 21.58

Desired
Desired Body Weight: 155
Desired Lean Body Mass: 142.60
Desired Fat Mass: 12.4

So, basically I just need to lose 9 lbs of fat and gain 8 pounds of mucle to accomplish my goal.  In theory this should improve my overall race times and not be detrimental to performance(assuming race specific training is maintained).  I will have enough fat to use as energy in longer distance races (most professionals have body fat between 3-6%) and use the added muscle as a resource.  The key here is to gain that muscle in muscle groups that are utilized in the specific sport (hamstrings, quads, hips, core, lats, and shoulders).

Now, the hard part - accomplishing this goal.  It's really pretty simple on paper, but more difficult to do in reality.  Add in a consistent weight training program(3X a week), maintain endurance training,  add in enough time between weight training and endurance training so the effects of one don't hinder the other, add in more protein to my diet, and limit the 'bad carbs' to a minimum.  I'll report back my findings after the goal is accomplished and next race is complete in early August.

Dam to Dam Advice

With Dam to Dam a few days away I thought I would write up some "words of wisdom".  Well, that may be an overstatement, let's just go with advice that has worked for me and athletes I've trained.

This Week
- you've trained for this race so now it's time to taper, no big runs this week
- cut your training volume down by 50%
- depending on experience, include a few short, high intensity runs
- calorie intake should be lower since training volume is lower

Days Leading Up to the Race
- Thursday should be your last run - make it easy
- If you are going to "carb-load", do it Thursday night, not Friday night
- Friday meals should be on the lighter side
- limit or avoid foods high in fiber and foods high in fat
- begin to carry around a bottle of water and casually sip on water
- keep active on Friday
- the most important night of sleep is Thursday night
- no alcohol leading up to race

Race Day
- eat breakfast 2-3 hours before the race
- don't stray from what you've been doing in training - I can't emphasize this enough
- carry water/sport drink with you on way to race and sip casually
- be sure to go to bathroom before the race

The Race
- race YOUR race, not your competitors
- remember, you trained for this race, now it's time to showcase your training
- be sure to consistently take in water - drink before you're thirsty
- thank the volunteers - they're there for you
- leave it all out on the course, don't hold anything back at the end
- enjoy yourself!