I just did my fourth “official” Marathon. I have done several ultra marathons and quit before the end. Any way, I ran a 2:59 and some change. I felt like I had a bad race. I have gone faster, but not much. How far apart does everyone spread their races?
For the NCTS series this summer there will be about two races a month, sprint distances. I really enjoy racing, but wonder how much is too much? Just thought I would go trolling for ideas.
If you are doing shorter races then racing every other week won’t be a problem. In fact, I’ve found in the past that if you take the early season races as quality training days then the later part of the season you will race really fast. I wouldn’t recommend doing too many close together though, if you’re doing anything long course. When I ran my first marathon I took part in a study that tested muscle strength before and after the race. It took 13 days before I could exert the same strength after the race so every other week will be pushing it if you race long.
I used to race back-to-back weekends (sometimes days) all the time. One year I did either 24 or 26 triathlons (can’t remember). I loved that and I was in awesome shape. Then I started my own business. Now I’m lucky if I can race two times a month so I try to ey on a couple good race. really enjoy racing frequently and would eventually like to re-orient my schedule to allow for more of that. Trouble is, as triathlon keeps growing it becomes tougher and tougher. I don’t think racing frequently is detrimental if you take good care of yurself, eat well and allow for recovery.