I currently have 4 events over the next 4 weekends in April. A duathlon this weekend, 10 miler the next, sprint triathlon the following and then a half marathon. I’ve already paid for all of these races except the sprint triathlon. The duathlon and sprint triathlon are club races (only for my tri club members), while the 10 miler and half-marathon are much bigger races open to the public. I would like do well in all of them, but am now wondering whether I should just take it easy on the duathlon and sprint triathlon or go all out for them so I can perform better for the 10 miler and half marathon.
What do you think? If I go all out in a 4 events and then just take it easy during the week, will my body be “fresh” to perform well at every event or should I sacrifice a little on the club races?
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.
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.
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!
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.
If you can recover quickly, go for it.
In February/March I did 5 races in 6 weeks.
3k10k10 milerrestOlympic triSprint tri
The key is that you’re having fun.
I currently have 4 events over the next 4 weekends in April. A duathlon this weekend, 10 miler the next, sprint triathlon the following and then a half marathon. I’ve already paid for all of these races except the sprint triathlon. The duathlon and sprint triathlon are club races (only for my tri club members), while the 10 miler and half-marathon are much bigger races open to the public. I would like do well in all of them, but am now wondering whether I should just take it easy on the duathlon and sprint triathlon or go all out for them so I can perform better for the 10 miler and half marathon.
What do you think? If I go all out in a 4 events and then just take it easy during the week, will my body be “fresh” to perform well at every event or should I sacrifice a little on the club races?
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.
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.
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.
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…
I currently have 4 events over the next 4 weekends in April. A duathlon this weekend, 10 miler the next, sprint triathlon the following and then a half marathon. I’ve already paid for all of these races except the sprint triathlon. The duathlon and sprint triathlon are club races (only for my tri club members), while the 10 miler and half-marathon are much bigger races open to the public. I would like do well in all of them, but am now wondering whether I should just take it easy on the duathlon and sprint triathlon or go all out for them so I can perform better for the 10 miler and half marathon.
What do you think? If I go all out in a 4 events and then just take it easy during the week, will my body be “fresh” to perform well at every event or should I sacrifice a little on the club races?
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.