What could be learned from recording bodywieght? What kinds of things would you have to keep track of in order for bodywieght to be a quantifiable (and more importantly) usefull source of information?
So far I’ve got a few ideas on how to get consistant measurements, weigh in the morning, ensure bladder is empty, etc etc, but I’m not entirely sure what the hell I could learn from them.
I also figure that because most of my runs are upwards of an hour or more that it would be interesting to follow how much water my body consumes during the workout. What good would “water consumption rate” do me? Maybe I could record to see how much water I have to drink during a heavy competition day in order to stay fit? Are there better ways to record how much water your body uses? Would my body consume more water during a workout if I gave it more water? What’s the optimum amount of water to have during a competition? I don’t know. Every time I think about this godanm sport I always come up with more questions…
With the length of the runs you mentioned, it sounds like you may be more of a middle to long distance runner, so you may be concerned about things a shorter event runner would not be. I think the bodyweight will let you know how your calorie balance is doing on a daily basis so you can adjust your eating/mileage accordingly. It should also be a general indicator of lean muscle mass if you are lifting regularly and attempting to change your body composition. Sounds like your measurement methods are good; first thing in the morning after using the restroom with just your drawers on. Heart rate may be a better measurement for you to take upon waking so you’ll get the jump on overtraining before it becomes a problem.
In regards to the water consumption, I’m not sure that’s as crucial as you’re making it out to be. You don’t want to be dehydrated and you don’t want to have to use the bathroom in the middle of your run. For me that means drinking a sip of water every few minutes during the day until an hour before my run. Probably doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.