There are so many races at the moment it's difficult to know which ones to do & which ones to miss. To achieve optimum performance, I'm sure that it makes sense to race sparingly & concentrate on particular key events. The problem is that I enjoy racing regularly & am not keen on having a structured training plan building up to specific races.
In a couple of weeks it's a real dilemma: on Sunday 13th I've entered a 5 mile race at Long Eaton (I've set myself a target of beating 30 minutes for 5 miles & there are very few 5 mile races on the calendar), on Tuesday 15th is the St. Ives Trail race (I've done this race the last 2 years & it's a great race also it's a counter in the Ilkley Harriers league), on Thursday 17th it's a Harrogate League race (currently I'm leading in the series for M55 & we are trying to win 3 of the team competitions), on Sunday 20th it's the BMAF 5k at Horwich (I would like to do well in the individual race & we should have a good team in this national championship).
Clearly I can't do all of those races & even doing 3 out of the 4 is a bit much if I want to run well in the 5k. Not sure how to prioritise things. It also means that it's difficult to fit in speed training. On the positive side at least I'm not injured (although I may be if I race too often).
Today was another warm day and I opted for an easy two bridges run to Addingham and back. I would have much preferred to go to the track this evening, but again with a Harrogate League race tomorrow I can't fit everything in.
You're not alone in this dilemma. The fear of missing a race can be greater than the fear of getting injured. I am sure you must know runners who seem to race every week at least, thrive on it and seem to remain injury free. A lot can depend on your fitness before the race, what you put into the race and what you do(training wise) after the race. A 5k race could easily replace a speed work session, which would free up more time for some recovery miles.
ReplyDeleteRegards.