As of Feb 9th I was planning to race in the Powerman Duathlon Apr. 10th. Training was going well until a car accident and completely stopped all training until (hopefully) next week, leaving me with almost just one month to train for this race, with almost a full month of inactivity. As this will be my longest race ever, is it prudent to continue to pursue this goal or should I set my sights further down the road?? Any advice/suggestions??
I’d say that it depends on your goals for the race. Were you planning to race it for time? Just to finish the distance? It’s really a personal decision, based on your goals and how you feel about your training and racing. If you think you’d have a good time, I’d say go for it. If not, maybe not. I love to race because it tells me more about myself, and I have a great time. So for me, I choose to race whether I’m undertained or not. But it’s up to you based on what you’re looking to get out of the race.
Good luck!
My goal us ultimately to finish well within my own parameters, which are certainly not to compete for any overall placing. However, I certainly don’t want to suffer too much due to unpreparedness and be discouraged for the next one. i guess that is my conflict as I too simpl enoy the overall participation of the race.
It depends on how much you like pain. If you dig suffering, then race. If you hate it, don’t. I’d race, but then again I love the pain. 
good point…as much as i hate it at the time, I become obsessed with conquering it the next time
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Why not try a limited race rehearsal in the next week or two to get an idea of your fitness but that will give you plenty of time to recover? If you are feeling good, I say go for it. You can always… brace yourself… stop during the actual race if you are having a bad day. There is no shame in trying and you may not know for sure until you get out there on race day.
Good Luck
A month off just means you’re well rested. You really won’t lose that much fitness. In the next month, train hard but short. Do two to three speed sessions a week, alternating two bike, one run then one bike, two run. Make sure you allow adequate recovery by doing swims or easy spinning on the day after speed days.
Remember that the world record for the marathon sat at 2:08:48 for nearly twenty years before Salazar broke it coming off a horrible injury year. By all definitions, he was undertrained and had been doing most of his (limited) running time in deep water.
If you’ve trained well prior to the accident, you should rock. Just be careful not to go out too fast.