I heard someone say "He who races every weekend, never races". I happens to me too, I just pick the ones I want to go harder at and use the others for a training run.

 For me, racing every 2-3 weeks is plenty. Tough to be strong and mentally fresh 4 straight weekends. In your case, I would prioritize the events and efforts.

I have a couple of rules on this:
1. Having fun should always be the first priority in a race. I.E. Racing should be fun
2. When given the option of racing versus not racing- race (see rule #1)
3. When given the option between doing well in a single sport versus doing well at multi-sport, pick multi-sport.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

These are all endurance events, last close to or over 1 hour. So race them appropriately and do't over do things. Also keep all training during the week at recovery level, as you certainly won't need any hard or speed sessions. My early season is similar to this with my half marathon at about the 3rd event. I usually do very well at the half, unless I attempt any non recovery session during the week.

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Ian

Well said. Well said. (Begins slow clap)

Tri banter has the right idea.

That being said, if you enjoy racing, then race! I have 8 events in the next 9 weeks. Half marathon, team relay race (~3x3miles per person), off week, sprint tri, century ride, half marathon, 1.2 mile OWS, and probably a sprint biathlon (5k + 15mile ride). Truly only the relay, the biathlon, and the second half marathon will be "races". The rest are just for fun and are great training opportunities.

If you're worried about how well you can perform in all 4, then I would pick one or two that are priorities over the other races and adjust accordingly. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!

The biggest issue for me would be the 10 miler.

When I race two races in one weekend I go hard on the first one and just see what I have left the next day. Holding back on the first may result in two crappy races. Not sure how that applies to your schedule.

+1. I'd probably do that at easy/long pace and be fresh for the rest of the month.

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

All this is supposed to be fun. For me that means race a ton in a huge variety of events. From June through August and probably Sept I'll be racing some event every weekend from a 70.3 to Leadville 100. Of those races there are only maybe 2 that I have as a priority A race. The others I'll go out with a game plan and enjoy the day and pushing myself. If racing means optimizing your performance every event then there no way you can race as much. That approach is completely fine for some people. I'm fine with using some races as training days just because I love being involved at different events and have fun with the rush that comes from racing. Even if I'm not 100% every time.

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Twitter
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If you can recover quickly, go for it.
In February/March I did 5 races in 6 weeks.

1. 3k
2. 10k
3. 10 miler
4. rest
5. Olympic tri
6. Sprint tri

The key is that you're having fun.

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Just keep swimming...

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I'm a bike racer, but in "our world" (of bike racing), it's alot easier to be in great shape, or even peak, for 1 month than several.

I've raced 6-8 cat 2 races in a month time frame, which of course pales in comparison to any pro schedule.

You should be able to go all out in each race, and you will probably want a couple hard workouts in the middle of each week. Going easy for 6 days in between would just make you lose fitness.

Depending on how long the du is, you're only going to be racing 5-7 hours between all 4 events, over a 21-23 day time span. I'm guessing you normally train alot more than that.

-Physiojoe

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-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels

Thanks for all the responses and advice. To clarify, the 4 races are 1 each weekend. I love racing, I've just never done so much so frequently. I think I will see how I feel the Monday after the races and let that be my gauge for the rest of the week. Either way, I will take it pretty easy the 2 days before the race day.

Race them hard and tell us how it goes. I'm thinking you could build some really nice fitness for a mid month race in May if you don't take it too easy during the week.

You didn't say what the distances are for the duathlon is or the sprint triathlon. Never the less this is not an impossible schedule. (In April I am doing a 10 miler, full marathon and a 5K). I live and do most of my races in the north east of the USA. The problem with this location is that there are a lot of great events bunched up in the Spring and Fall for weather considerations. In the world of running (not multi sport) there is a general rule of thumb that a person should not race for one day for every mile that they ran in a race (i.e. you could race a 10K every weekend, a half marathon ever other weekend, or one marathon a month). In multi sport events I don't know of any reliable rules of thumb regarding the frequency of racing, other then listen to your body and don't over do it or you will get injured and then be out of the game. Tim

Back in '06 and '07, I raced five times in five consecutive weekends: 1/2IM, 1/2IM, Oly, Oly, Oly. I never once thought during that time frame "crap, I have to race again this weekend". I loved every second of it and performed very well (with regard to my expectations in all of them). I've also been to ITU short course worlds and done the Oly on Sat and the Sprint on Sunday without any adverse affects during the second race.

If you've prepared appropriately and you recover well, you could very well go guns blazing in all of them.

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Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |

The duathlon is 5k run, 20k bike, 5k run.

I am in the DC area, where there are a lot of fast athletes, so I don't realistically expect to podium. I will plan to go all out in all events unless my body tells me otherwise.

Well, just wanted to follow up with you. I just am not able to race hard every weekend like I used to.

I did pretty well at the duathlon and felt like I was well rested going into the 10 miler the following Sunday. The 10 miler started out like any other race, but when I got to mile 5, I noticed that I wasn't passing anyone and people were catching and passing me. It took me 2 minutes longer to run the final 5 miles. Mentally, I was ready, but my legs didn't want to go any faster. My time was respectable, but I do think if I had not raced the weekend before, I could have run 3 minutes faster.

So, I've decided to not race the sprint tri this coming weekend and wait until the half-marathon the following weekend to race. At least I didn't already register for the tri. I guess I am getting old...

In SEA were experiencing a mass loads of events on August.

Aug 3 - Ironman 70.3 Cebu
Aug 10 - Port Dickson Tri (OD)
Aug 17 - Desaru Tri 116
Aug 24 - Metaman (Half/Full)

Crazy isn't it? hard to see all these events in a month. Just need to chose 1 or 2. Sigh!

Depends on your condition.
College athletes often have a game every weekend, and they seem fine. I don't see why you could not race to your best at each event if you are in good condition.

Usually 2-3 times per month is max if you want to get any training in and actual recovery to benefit your performance in future events.

Racing is more fun than training. Yet it cost more. It costs both $$ and time. Perhaps the biggest cost of racing, might be the amount of rest needed to make the event a " race". At some point, too much resting and recovery from races starts to interfere with training. So what then? Do you skip the rest or do you skip the training? If you skip the rest, you are just training. And why spend the money to "train"? If you skip the training, then are you really racing anyway?

I think once a month is enough.
OK- so you have 100 races on your to do list. Better to take 10 years and do them right.

this +1, i am a couple races away from my upgrade to cat 4...but i will say that unlike triathlon i can do 3-4 races per month without recovery issue.

i feel like triathlons were much harder on my body and although after an olympic race i would still train the following week the sessions would need a reduction in intensity.

i do find it also that racing a triathlon is a huge time sink....get up at 4:30 drive 1 hr to into transition before it closes finish the race by 9-10 am hangout for 1 hr get home its noon. I am exhausted already. In cycling, leave my house at 7:30, get to race 8 am. Race starts 8:30, done in 1 hr, home by 10.

It may not be ideal for performance but you can totally handle it and hit it hard for 4 out of 4 races. In the span of March 28th-May 4th I will have done 22 bike races and given all in 90% of them. Just take your easy days super easy, eat and sleep well and ry to manage your race day anxiety well-the roller coaster of nerves can really run you down.

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