Racing: Quality vs. Quantity (Read 146 times)

Is this quantity or quality?

 

date	place	distance	time
8/10	Monaco	3000	7:25.16
8/14	Zurich	5000	12:45.09
8/16	Cologne	1500	3:34.17
8/23	Brussels	3000	7:25.87
8/30	Berlin	5000	13:02.62
9/1	Rieti	3000	7:20.67

Yes.

Is this quantity or quality?

 

date	place	distance	time
8/10	Monaco	3000	7:25.16
8/14	Zurich	5000	12:45.09
8/16	Cologne	1500	3:34.17
8/23	Brussels	3000	7:25.87
8/30	Berlin	5000	13:02.62
9/1	Rieti	3000	7:20.67

i think we would all take Komen's ONE 7:20 over ALL of the other races combined...

so, quantity?

Is this quantity or quality?

 

date	place	distance	time
8/10	Monaco	3000	7:25.16
8/14	Zurich	5000	12:45.09
8/16	Cologne	1500	3:34.17
8/23	Brussels	3000	7:25.87
8/30	Berlin	5000	13:02.62
9/1	Rieti	3000	7:20.67

Looks like a mice vaction to me.

Daniel Komen

I mentioned just this the other day. Maybe that off the cuff comment helped spur such a thread as this. I doubt it but maybe.

Quality.

I'd rather run just a few "big" races a year, whether they be a large event or even a small obscure meet but those there are running for a fast time, than many dozens of so-so races in a year.

Re: Komen, yes he ran a string of great races in a relatively short time, like Rono did some 20  years before that, but running at that level is about quality and striking when it's hot.  Komen had a relatively short career, not about quanity.

When I travel, I try my hardest to find a race that fits my itinerary. I may or may not be in my best running shape (and if the race occurs at the end of my trip, oops, probably have been eating and drinking too much and just walking all over the place), but who cares? I'm not *not* going to do the race.

This is really relevant to the area I live in.. I don't know how common it is, but here's the thing:

The guy that does the local race results website started keeping track of the top serial racers as well as the top race mileage accumulators, and with all of it being tracked, he really spurred some people to compete in that arena. The current record is somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 races in a year. Granted, most are 5ks, but there are a few marathons and such mixed in. Yes, the people in the upper echelon are not just driven runners but socially compulsive. And no, they're not concerned with getting the best from themselves for any given distance. Some weekends they cross the finish and jump in the car in order to make as many as 5 races in a two day period. It interferes with a standard training cycle. It costs too much in entry fees. It breaks them down.

I would NEVER do it... in fact I think it's silly, but I can't deny that they're chasing something that's probably as logical as what I'm doing. And hell, I see their friendly faces out at just about every race I show up to. We both like bananas and beer, and I ask such familiar questions..

How's the hamstring? Piriformis?

Are those dorky Altas doing you any good?

Where are you in the standings this year?