How many long races do you do near each other

[operationremie]

So I'm doing the ING Hartford Half Marathon on October 12th. Very excited about it. But I found a half marathon that's taking place on September 15th that I really want to do cause it's right near my house. My training would have me be doing long runs up until the week before the Hartford race, which would include doing 12-13 mile runs once a week. If I switched my training days up for that week and did my long run on that Sunday instead, do you think it'd be good? I don't plan on killing myself doing it and will definitely take my time but I think it'd be fun to do this other half.

What are your thoughts on it? Like I said, my training schedule has me doing a long run on Friday. For that weekend, I'd probably take that Friday off, giving my body like 3 days rest before it. I'd have to change that one week after the September race.

 

[kimber23]

I would actually skip the long run the week before the race. I always allow at least a week and a half between my last long run (usually 12-13 miles) and the race. It gives your body a chance to fully recover and you don't run the risk of injury during the long run. I still do shorter "maintenance" runs (4-5 miles) during that week and a half. Hope that helps!

 

[fashionista311]

Are you talking about the Lightfoot Half in Norwalk? I've run it a few times...it's really not that much more exciting than a supported training run. It's tough to race because there's few aid stations, roads aren't closed to traffic, no timing chips, and the course is deceptively tough.

But to answer your question, I think it's totally fine to use it as a training run as long as you don't go out too fast. My typical long run is 12 miles, so I sign up for half marathons as training runs all the time...I just try not to do it TOO often, because it kinda gets expensive to sign up for races and not run them fast when I can (and often do) just run the same distance around my neighborhood for free

I agree about building in a taper for a half, especially if your goal is to run fast. I'm finishing out a training cycle now for a race that's in two weeks. Been averaging 45-50 miles/week. Next week I come down to around 32 miles for the week, and then I'll have a really light week before the race.

 

[scoolover]

Surftown? I have heard that it's a good one.

 

[operationremie]

Surftown? I have heard that it's a good one.

yea, it's surftown. i enjoy running the hartford marathon foundation runs.

 

[FireDancer]

So I'm doing the ING Hartford Half Marathon on October 12th. Very excited about it. But I found a half marathon that's taking place on September 15th that I really want to do cause it's right near my house. My training would have me be doing long runs up until the week before the Hartford race, which would include doing 12-13 mile runs once a week. If I switched my training days up for that week and did my long run on that Sunday instead, do you think it'd be good? I don't plan on killing myself doing it and will definitely take my time but I think it'd be fun to do this other half.

What are your thoughts on it? Like I said, my training schedule has me doing a long run on Friday. For that weekend, I'd probably take that Friday off, giving my body like 3 days rest before it. I'd have to change that one week after the September race.

A week between halves is plenty of time. I plan on doing halves July 21, August 4, September 15, October 5th, and October 27th. Just be smart and know your limits. If you can't race them both treat one like a training run and race the other. Every training plan can be tweaked to incorporate more races.

 

[dlbwright]

yea, it's surftown. i enjoy running the hartford marathon foundation runs.

Ok Remie, this one is now definitely on my radar. Scenery sounds beautiful! Not to far of a either.

 

[dragitoff]

I know everyone is different. I've been running 25 miles or so per week for about 18 months now. I've only been running for about 30 months. In 2013, I've already run a full marathon, 3 half-marathons, a 5k and a 4 mile trail run.

I typically run 2 weeks of longer weekend runs with a 3rd week with a shorter long run. My long runs are usually 12-20 miles depending on what race I'm training for. I did 3 half marathons in a 7 week period, but I had at least one week off between them.

 

[FFigawi]

A week between halves is plenty of time. I plan on doing halves July 21, August 4, September 15, October 5th, and October 27th. Just be smart and know your limits. If you can't race them both treat one like a training run and race the other. Every training plan can be tweaked to incorporate more races.

I'd change this to read "every training plan should be tweaked to incorporate more races." Racing is a great way to test your fitness, challenge yourself to do better than you thought possible, or even get a medal for what normally would be a training run.

 

[Duanerice]

I'd change this to read "every training plan should be tweaked to incorporate more races." Racing is a great way to test your fitness, challenge yourself to do better than you thought possible, or even get a medal for what normally would be a training run.

I agree with John. We train to race (if only my budget would cooperate). I just did a 70.3 this past weekend but have my A 70.3 race on May 19. So I treated the New Orleans race as a great training day. I did a normal swim then waited for a friend to bike with. A little slower bike with him then ran with someone else about a min per mile slower than I would normally run. It was a good workout but also didn't ruin my training for the next 3 weeks.

I'd say race all you can just treat some of them like catered training runs.
Duane