Recovery time between races

[bunnyfoo]

I'm working toward my first full at WDW next January and have already done several half marathons. I'm trying to slowly get my body use to running longer distances by doing a couple of 30K races. But I still want to run in some half marathons and get my time down to 2:00 (if possible).

My first 30K is at the end of March and the next one I was thinking of registering for would be on August 21. Would I be pushing myself too much to do half marathons at the end of May and another at the end of September? I know the September race will come in at about the third or fourth week of the marathon training and I'm wondering if that's a bad idea.

Should I be allowing more time in between races? I noticed that most people here seem to do several races a year. I've been running for about 2+ years and do about 3 HM a year.

TIA

 

[cewait]

you should be ok with the spread described. just listen to your body and don't be afraid to adjust if you need a little break. I would not make all races an "A" race; rather I would only have one or two be a priority; the others training or fun races.

You do know that your 30k times will also work for proof of time?

 

[chimera]

yeah, you'll be fine if one race is May and another Sept. Some of us who may be more insane than others, do halfs monthly or even weekly Just make sure you develop a good training base (those short runs during the week) and don't slack off in between.

 

[FireDancer]

I think that is plenty of time. Once you start to get more miles in your legs you will notice that the recovery time starts to plummet. Up until last year I tried to wait at least 5 weeks between long races but as you get up to marathon distance you will basically be running a half every week with the long run. I did 2 halves in Sept last year with only a week in between and it was no big deal.

Listen to your body and if you feel like it is too far too quick back off a bit on the second one.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Thanks for the input everyone! I just wanted to check before going and dropping money on the races. The September half is the one I'm hoping to get a PB in.

Charles - I'm not sure if those 30Ks will be any good for proof of time since I'm just hoping to finish. Same with the marathon but I don't want to put myself too far back.

Frank - Looking over some of the training plans, you're right about the distances. I hadn't thought of it that way before

Mel - If I could get myself up to that level of doing a half every month, that would be awesome! Maybe next year!

 

[timmac]

Just echoing what Charles, Frank and others have already said, as you run more, running more frequently isn't as big a deal. Assuming you aren't going 100% full tilt effort, it's not unreasonable to put in races pretty frequently.

 

[BamaEd1]

I try to do a 1/2 within about 6 or 7 weeks of doing a full and treat it as sort of a long tempo run that you get a t-shirt for.

 

[JoanneNC]

I am averaging about 1 half every 30 days - but I am not "racing" them all either.

I did one on Dec 12, Disney's on 1/9, another planned for 2/7 and a 4th planned for 3/21.. I find that this is helping me stay on track and helps with keeping my fitness level where I want it to be.

In your case, I definitely think you are fine considering that marathon training plans kinda have 13 mile runs as short runs after awhile

Sounds like fun