Forums >Racing>How often do you race?
delicate flower
I've been running for two years (22 months to be exact). I did 9 races my first year and 14 my second year. I'll probably do 17-18 this year. I think that's about enough for me. I need a little buffer between races to get myself physically and mentally ready for each one. I like to give each race everything I have and I don't find it particularly easy to get mentally prepared before each one.
<3
If optimal performance is the goal - I agree.
I do believe you can do short races in your build up without much taper of recovery as speed workouts that give you an indication of your fitness level. For me it takes at least 3 races before I run a good one - I guess I need to race harden and I cannot get it from training.
I would like to do a fall trail race. I doubt I will ever run a summer race again. I think people race too much and don't prepare enough
I would like to do a fall trail race.
I doubt I will ever run a summer race again.
I think people race too much and don't prepare enough
Long dead ... But my stench lingers !
Asking the following mostly rhetorically.
How do you define "race" (the noun) and "to race" (the verb)?
For most of us, these are two of those "well, I know it when I see it" things. And for most of us, we kind of envision similar things with the noun. Things get fuzzy with the verb.
Anyway, I spent about a year (mid-2011 to mid-2012) on the other side of the rainbow regarding how to define the noun "race"... and the different and subtle things people want to count as "races". For various reasons, including vanity.
Those are many hours of my life that I will never get back, it was totally unimportant, and I pissed off a whole bunch of maniacs and fanatics. Wasn't worth it, even kind of. Some of you knew me in facebook. One of the three reasons I gave facebook the boot in March was being sick of the online drama involving that club and the inability, based on how facebook works, to get away from it... including people continually (faux dramatically) harassing me for stupid race stuff. (the other two reasons - facebook is creepy and facebook's approach to changing their site ticks off the professional side of me. Also bonus: facebook is creepy).
I say all that to blow off a little "year in review" steam, but also to say: what seems like common sense in your head may not match what's in the other person's head.
Running is funny that way.
I usually average about 12 5 & 10k's and do 1 destination HM a year. That is what my body and budget will allow. I have been at this a long time and know my limits...(or at least you would think so...I did spend a good part of 2012 on the injury list). Not 2013 though! I will run smarter. You'll see! I will! Really! I swear...I will!
SR - I do understand what you are saying.
Every time I read, talk about or think about some of the other races out there - I want to do them. My guess is that I will end up picking up another 50M and maybe a 24 hour race in 2013 ... I sure hope not.
I've also been running for two years, in year 1 I did 25 races and in year 2 I did 37. I do 1 (occasionally 2) half marathons a month and fill in between with 5K's, 10K's, duathlons, and occasional random other distances. I tend to pick a few of each distance to really go all out, and the others I treat as fun speedwork (but not all out racing). Unless I'm injured in which case I will go slow & walk a lot. If I really raced each one all-out then I would enter fewer races, but I enjoy the race atmosphere and seeing different scenery than I do on my normal training runs. Plus I live in an area where there are usually 2-3 races to choose from every single weekend (many of which offer multiple distance options), so it's easy to end up doing a ton of them.
Are we there, yet?
Not as often as I'd like. I'd like to run 15-20 races a year with a wide range of distances. I usually end up racing 6-10 times mostly at 5K. This year I have about a dozen planned, but the first 6 are split between 800m and the mile. After that I have a variety of distances from 5K on up culminating in my first ultra, a 12-hour run.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
Chief Unicorn Officer
I did 31 races in 2012 but I race mostly shorter distances. I did two HM's, one 9 miler, 3 10K's, one 8K, one 5 mile, one 4.5 mile, five one miles, and the rest 5K's.
Mile 5:49 - 5K 19:58 - 10K 43:06 - HM 1:36:54
Resident Historian
I like 5k's as speedwork, and race fairly frequently.
My last full year had a total of 18 races, with 7 5k's (incl. 2 XC races), 3 5-milers, 3 10K's, 1 15K, 3 halfs, and 1 marathon.
Of these, seven were "goal" races - 2 5k's, 1 5-miler, 1 10k, 2 halfs, and the full -- run at near peak fitness with taper.
Others were partly social, with coached runners or kids from my HS XC team. A couple were "Ok, how bad shape am I really in now?"
Normally I'd want to run two marathons per year, but one training cycle in that period didn't go well and I dropped to the half.
Neil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I'm here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. - Hunter S. Thompson
All people or just some people? Define: "too much" and "enough."
Runners run
Asking the following mostly rhetorically. How do you define "race" (the noun) and "to race" (the verb)?
Race (the noun): a contest of speed. To race (the verb): to participate in a contest of speed.
I did 11 races last year, and plan to do about the same next.
Most are not goal races, so I won't necessarily taper much before hand, or alter my training for a particular race, but I do race at 100% every time. I know a lot of people treat the running part as a social event, and that's totally cool, but if I'm going to pay money for a race I'm going to push myself as hard as I can. Plus that gets me to the finish sooner and leaves more time for the social part after the race!
On a side note, anybody else use Athlinks.com? I LOVE how it keeps track of all my race results. If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's cool how it found some of my races going back to 1999, many I had totally forgotten about.
Not philosophical enough.
If I participate in a contest of speed but choose to take it slow and stop for pictures and maybe ice cream, did I race? (or did I not truly "participate" in the contest).
If I run with my buddy around the block to see if I can beat him, was that a contest of speed? (actually, this one seems easier. Yes, sure it was. Should it matter whether a club counts it or not? Maybe to some but not to others. Should I be swinging it around if I beat my buddy? Eh, maybe in a small group of people. Should I be swinging it around if I raced my buddy around the block last year 50 times, irrespective of bragging rights regarding who won... just bragging on running around the block 50 times... Should I get super offended if someone else points out that I ran around the block 50 times?)
Enough is the point at which you stop. Until getting to said point, don't stop.
Also, enough is enough. And no means no.
But a manwich is a meal.