When discussing the importance of light weight gear, I heard tell of a study that had been done that looked at what actual difference was made by weight savings, in the context of MM's and long distance runs. Along the lines of "over a 2 day MM, an extra 100g equates to running an extra kilometre"
Anyone point me in the direction of such a quantitative analysis?
Yes but you could lose that 100grs by not eating as much breakfast, not drinking as much, not eating that bar of chocolate last night....Originally Posted by rsk
I've heard of similar surveys for sailors, I kg of extra weight on a boat means 1 litre of water displaced extra every boat length, by the end of a race it's possibly you have had to move 2 or 3 tonnes of water...
so choosing food etc is important to get best energy value per grm. for me having a better waterproof or warmer sleeping bag means I expend less energy so can run further/faster...and I enjoy the event more.
...or cutting that beard off and keeping your hair short and trimming all your nails and not running with any jewellery...Yes but you could lose that 100grs by not eating as much breakfast, not drinking as much, not eating that bar of chocolate last night....
If only Laurent Fignon had cut his ponytail for Paris in '89 he would have won that 3rd Tour and Greg LeMond would have gone back to the USA disillusioned and the world would never have heard of Lance Armstrong and be a much better place.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Brilliant
Ah yes but no pony tail then no panache means no Cyrano de Bergerac no Gallic indifference on the rugby field and no fun when driving en France.
on a slightly more serious note I remember a trip to watch Le Tour a couple of years ago and where we stayed in Alpe d'Huez there were loads of overweight blokes with flyweight bikes, which made for enjoyable ironic tutting. So getting back to the MM thing, weight watching is good but fitness, confidence, navigation skills and a good humoured partner are the priorities
yes but how good? I want someone to quantify it
maybe so, but that doesn't help you decide which sleeping bag to go for or what size holes to drill in your toothbrush handle
Why take a tooth brush?
I feel there are two many factors here for a reasonable comparison in MM. Sure 100g less on a sleeping bag means less running energy but do you sleep worse for it and then struggle the next day...
I would be interested to see were this 100g/1km idea comes from.
In road running, some books suggest that for every pound of weight you can lose ( without obviously becoming underweight ) you can run about 2 seconds per mile faster. So I think that works out as 100g saving relates to about 0.5 sec per mile.
How you translate that into effect on a mountain marathon, then no idea.
The other thing to consider is where the weight is carried - eg a saving on the weight of your shoes is worth more than an equivalent weight saving around your waist - so if it's gear you are likely to be wearing then will have less effect than something that will always be in your pack.
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