There is an enormous selection of races on offer in the ACT. If you are not careful you can be lured into running too many of them.
The risk of over-racing is very simply
. ILLNESS
. INJURY
. GRADUALLY POORER PERFORMANCES
So how much racing is too much?
The rule of thumb for recovery AFTER a flat out race is: No RACING or SPRINT TRAINING for the SAME NUMBER OF DAYS after a race, as MILES of the race.
So if you race a hard 25k for example, you should not try to run very fast for FIFTEEN DAYS AFTERWARDS. It takes that long to recover back to where you were, assuming you keep on training without the full on speed.
Please review your recent races and tell me if you have allowed yourself that recovery time????
A sensible person would plan ahead - so, HAVE a plan! which allows those recovery days. e.g. if you were to plan to run a half marathon, you would plan no more important races for two more weeks. etc. The two weeks is a minimum!!!!!! I try to allow a bit more for my aging body!
If you can control your pace, and only if, then by all means go in races in between, but don’t run them flat out. Call them “easy races” or better still “tempo runs”. We used to call them “time trials” where we were trying for a time and practising other skills like sitting/surging/relaxing etc etc. Or running even pace, or a negative split. Like my “slow” 10k the other day at the track: it was exactly that: a paced run at a pre-determined slower than racing speed. My Wednesday BBQ Stakes runs are often time trials, and I don’t just wait until I get there and see how I feel, I have it all planned out in advance, because otherwise I would tend to over-do it.
But if you can’t hold back, don’t go in intermediate races at all. And if you have a choice of races, choose the shortest ones, thus allowing you to race more often!
I will repeat that. Race short races in preference to long, simply because short races require less recovery time, and are just as good a test of fitness.
Remember that half of training is REST. Possibly the more important half: the half when the strength is built back into the system.
Do you stick to a sensible plan, or are a chronic over-racer? Some members of my training group ARE over-racing. They will surely pay for it!
Amanda's Birthday
Here is Amanda opening a present. It's a Garmin!
W40s are faster than W35s. It's a known fact. And they have better toys.
Photo by Jenny. Click on it for the full effect, and to read the writing!
FOOTNOTE
On over-racing: some of us race "everything" at Vets track. If you run two or three races at Vets on a Thursday night, that's quite OK. Just add the distances and allow an appropriate recovery based on the total.
The risk of over-racing is very simply
. ILLNESS
. INJURY
. GRADUALLY POORER PERFORMANCES
So how much racing is too much?
The rule of thumb for recovery AFTER a flat out race is: No RACING or SPRINT TRAINING for the SAME NUMBER OF DAYS after a race, as MILES of the race.
So if you race a hard 25k for example, you should not try to run very fast for FIFTEEN DAYS AFTERWARDS. It takes that long to recover back to where you were, assuming you keep on training without the full on speed.
Please review your recent races and tell me if you have allowed yourself that recovery time????
A sensible person would plan ahead - so, HAVE a plan! which allows those recovery days. e.g. if you were to plan to run a half marathon, you would plan no more important races for two more weeks. etc. The two weeks is a minimum!!!!!! I try to allow a bit more for my aging body!
If you can control your pace, and only if, then by all means go in races in between, but don’t run them flat out. Call them “easy races” or better still “tempo runs”. We used to call them “time trials” where we were trying for a time and practising other skills like sitting/surging/relaxing etc etc. Or running even pace, or a negative split. Like my “slow” 10k the other day at the track: it was exactly that: a paced run at a pre-determined slower than racing speed. My Wednesday BBQ Stakes runs are often time trials, and I don’t just wait until I get there and see how I feel, I have it all planned out in advance, because otherwise I would tend to over-do it.
But if you can’t hold back, don’t go in intermediate races at all. And if you have a choice of races, choose the shortest ones, thus allowing you to race more often!
I will repeat that. Race short races in preference to long, simply because short races require less recovery time, and are just as good a test of fitness.
Remember that half of training is REST. Possibly the more important half: the half when the strength is built back into the system.
Do you stick to a sensible plan, or are a chronic over-racer? Some members of my training group ARE over-racing. They will surely pay for it!
Amanda's Birthday
Here is Amanda opening a present. It's a Garmin!
W40s are faster than W35s. It's a known fact. And they have better toys.
Photo by Jenny. Click on it for the full effect, and to read the writing!
FOOTNOTE
On over-racing: some of us race "everything" at Vets track. If you run two or three races at Vets on a Thursday night, that's quite OK. Just add the distances and allow an appropriate recovery based on the total.
