Racing during training
Entering shorter races during training for a goal race can be a good training tool if you do it right.
In last week’s post I wrote that my Garmin has been trying to distract me from marathon training by telling me I could run a 5k PB right now, but that I’m resisting. I had a couple of emails asking about doing races in the build up to another race. So this post is to clarify how and when you can incorporate races into your training.
In brief, you can enter as many or as few races as you like in your training - it’s your running and your journey. Don’t let me or anyone else tell you what you should be doing. However, it’s important to be clear on why you’re doing any race and to prioritise your goals.
For me, right now, my goal is a marathon. So while my Garmin says I could get a 5k PB next weekend and that’s something that’s quite tempting, going all-out at parkrun would mean sacrificing that week’s long run. I couldn’t expect my body to churn out 18 miles the day following a hard 5k effort. So I’m prioritising my long term goal: the marathon, over a 5k PB. I also know that once the marathon is over, that 5k will still be there.
Choosing not to enter races
Travelling to and taking part in races can be expensive and time consuming. Why not just go out and run around by yourself if you’re not going to use the competitive field and chip timing to help test yourself and see what you can do? (We’ll come onto why you might actually want to in a moment). While it might seem that all runners have chock-a-block race calendars, there are plenty of people out there who don’t race at all or only enter one main race each season and this is absolutely ok.
Sometimes when runners present me with a list of races that they want to incorporate into their training plan, my heart sinks a little because it’s hard work (for me) making the plan work and hard work (for them) making the training happen. It can be done, but it’s not as simple. Three weeks out from a marathon, for example, a runner should be doing their longest run. If this coincides with a half marathon they want to do, they’re going to have to add distance before or after that half marathon to get in a long run and this takes a lot of willpower and logistics. There is also the danger that they will run too fast and and not have time to recover fully before their marathon.
Entering races as part of training
There are quite a few reasons to do shorter races during your training - particularly if you’re building up to longer races such as half marathons and marathons.
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