Help! Should I race 3 times in one week? There's a catch...

How many more HS XC races do you have left in your life? Two?

Is there anything you want to experiment with before your big race? Before the end of HS XC? Will there be any competitors there whose racing style you want to check out up close?

You've got one chance to try something new. You've got enough time to rest and taper before your big race. If you're coach is OK with your running the race, why not?

Thanks for the reply, I feel the same way. I know there is so much talk of over-racing in high school, but this is my one shot to establish a time and pace for my most important race of my xc career. This Thursday I want to go for it, no questions asked, and just lay it all out there. I don't want to feel like I could have done more, you know? By the way, thanks for the reply again, I know it may not have been hard or have taken a long time to write that response, but just to let you know, you really helped me out.

No you should not unless you have to race to qualify for something. You have had too much anaerobic stress with 2 races in a few days adding third race will only add to your frustration.

Do some nice slow recovery runs or ride stationary bike to flush your muscles

PR's should not be your focus in XC races it's all about placement.

But as of now, my times are not fast enough to even be in the running for a place. If I was running my PR times or better, I would be in the running, for a place, but as of today, I am not. I want to have one good race before going into a meet where everything is on the line. Plus, the race on Saturday was hard, but it wasn't that fast of a time, and today the time might as well be a freaking tempo run. It's not like I'm running my PR time on the three races. If I have a week to recover and taper like the guy above said, what's the harm. I'm pretty sure I haven't peaked yet, as I am have not came that close to my PR yet. Thanks for the reply as well.

You ran two bad races (in your opinion) and now you want to run a third all In the span of 7 days. Think about it son.

You may not have peaked but you won't peak on Saturday it's just too many races in a short period of time.

The body takes months to adjust to the training stimuli you have given it not days.

By the way your PR's in XC mean nothing. Firstly XC distances are rarely 100% accurate and secondly the level of difficulty varies on each course. You are not comparing apples to apples here son. You can only compare your times on a XC if you are running the same course year over year.

Do not race on Thursday.

You have done the stress part. Now you need to let your body adapt.