If races and all-out efforts give you the best training stimulus, why don’t more people just build up their fitness to a reasonable point, and then do an all out race or two every week without any other training in between?
So many people spend 15+ hours training every week when they could achieve the same level of fitness with far less time. I bet you’d be super fit if you just raced every week for a whole year.
You might check out Joe Henderson's books from the 1970s and the so-called LSD (long slow distance) approach. Some of the denizens did just about what you describe, frequent racing with the rest of their mileage mostly consisting of distance runs. You won't max your potential with this method but some of the runners did reasonably well, and they all seemed to enjoy it.
I just run. I only run easy though. I enter events for fun, not competitive in any way. No one ever asks me that. Maybe you look like you are maxed out on effort?
If races and all-out efforts give you the best training stimulus, why don’t more people just build up their fitness to a reasonable point, and then do an all out race or two every week without any other training in between?
So many people spend 15+ hours training every week when they could achieve the same level of fitness with far less time. I bet you’d be super fit if you just raced every week for a whole year.
Training makes you faster. Racing does not. That is why top college XC runners go 4 weeks at a time in between races.
Racing doesn't make you faster? After almost 4 decades of running and racing, that's news to me.
I ran college cross country and track on an era where we did race every week of the season. I still remember our coach telling us taces were the most important "workout" we did all week. I put workout in quotes because we ran every race all out.
It's only in relatively recent years that runners decided their legs would fall off if they raced more than twice a season.
You might check out Joe Henderson's books from the 1970s and the so-called LSD (long slow distance) approach. Some of the denizens did just about what you describe, frequent racing with the rest of their mileage mostly consisting of distance runs. You won't max your potential with this method but some of the runners did reasonably well, and they all seemed to enjoy it.
I did LSD in the 70s but it wasn’t the kind Henderson prescribed.
All that most people really need a race, a long run and some sort interval workout instspersed with some easy recovery days. Keep it simple. Tinker a bit and you can race from the mile the marathon
I just run. I only run easy though. I enter events for fun, not competitive in any way. No one ever asks me that. Maybe you look like you are maxed out on effort?
Truly on-topic words of wisdom, nanduu. Is there a link to a commercial site or service that you would like to share with us?
i think elites not racing is totally misunderstood. they’re not skipping meets to run an easy 8 miles. racing a 1500 or 5k is really not a lot of training load at all. there are workouts far harder than racing… and they’re doing them.
elites dont race as travel interrupts training, and theres better things they can do in training. racing a 5k every week will not kill you. in fact, it’s not enough. when they do show up to a midseason meet you can almost guarantee they have a mini workout after the race.
If races and all-out efforts give you the best training stimulus, why don’t more people just build up their fitness to a reasonable point, and then do an all out race or two every week without any other training in between?
So many people spend 15+ hours training every week when they could achieve the same level of fitness with far less time. I bet you’d be super fit if you just raced every week for a whole year.
Training makes you faster. Racing does not. That is why top college XC runners go 4 weeks at a time in between races.
What are you talking about? Races are essentially long vo2max workouts. Of course they can improve your fitness.
There are a couple of problems with just using racing for speed workouts.
1) The psychological cost of all out efforts is pretty high. You can't do it that often and expect to maintain an edge. All pain is no gain.
2) Training allows you to fine tune specific physiological systems without taxing others.
3) Part of two is that training allows you to perform a higher volume of work at high submaximal efforts which mimic racing enough to provide an advantage in racing.
Finally, if you insist on "racing" instead of training... it would be best to race below and above your focus distance in order to get some of the desired effects that training gets you.
If you just race 5K pace, you can never get 5K pace to feel easy like you can if you perform training (or racing) at speeds faster than 5K pace. You can never get to where you feel strong in the later stages of a 5K like you can with training at tempo or racing longer than 5K will get you.
If races and all-out efforts give you the best training stimulus, why don’t more people just build up their fitness to a reasonable point, and then do an all out race or two every week without any other training in between?
Because it doesn't work. Don't believe me, just find out for yourself. You go girl...
If races and all-out efforts give you the best training stimulus, why don’t more people just build up their fitness to a reasonable point, and then do an all out race or two every week without any other training in between?
So many people spend 15+ hours training every week when they could achieve the same level of fitness with far less time. I bet you’d be super fit if you just raced every week for a whole year.
because training burns calories which allows you to enjoy eating more food.
Training makes you faster. Racing does not. That is why top college XC runners go 4 weeks at a time in between races.
What are you talking about? Races are essentially long vo2max workouts. Of course they can improve your fitness.
And that's why the best runners tend to periodize their training, so that they're hitting very hard vo2 max workouts in the last few weeks before a peak. If they do this for too long, they plateau or even regress.
As you say, a race is a long vo2 max workout. But that's just one energy system, and you'll quickly see diminishing returns if that's the only energy system you focus on. Not to mention, there are better ways to get a vo2 max stimulus, with more volume, and with less cost - in terms of recovery.
Other training parameters, such as both lactate thresholds and running economy, are far more trainable, and you improve both of these best by accumulating volume and running at specific intensities that are much lower than vo2 max.
I don't know why so many comments that agree with the OP's premise are getting upvoted, but we essentially tried this in the 90s (not racing all the time, but frequent hard vo2 max workouts) and it resulted in the worst ever period of US, UK and Australian distance running.