Racing Yourself Into Peak Condition

Masters Running Masters Training

9 years ago 06/24/2014 4:05am EDT

Good idea or bad? I'm talking about racing almost every week or every other week for several months to reach optimal performance. Not necessarily all out in every race but a good hard effort each race. It seems we dont push as hard when doing other workouts. So this seems like a good way to train provided you dont get injured in the process or overtrain.

Anyone ever try this method? I know guys that have and have drop their times alot. I've even done it myself from time to time, for short periods, with good results. I'm also interested in hearing from older runners, masters on up, that have tried his.

9 years ago 06/24/2014 10:42am EDT

re: 50x

9 years ago 06/24/2014 10:56am EDT

re: 50x

i think it can work, but it is not a good long term approach. you are likely to burn out doing this.

9 years ago 06/24/2014 11:00am EDT

re: 50x

I've had great success with this. For instance, I trained for a long block of time over the summer and made a "season" or a series of road races at various distances for 3-5 weeks with each weekend having a race. I've noticed my times drop significantly after gaining several race experiences.

9 years ago 06/24/2014 11:13am EDT

re: 50x

I think it works wonders after a good base phase. I've raced a lot more this track season than in the past, and they've gone like this:

MAY

1500 - 4:22

3000 - 9:30

800 & 1500 (same day) - 2:07 & 4:35 (last lap burn-up)

1500 - 4:19

JUN

1500 - 4:10

1500 & 3000 (same day) - 4:12 & 9:11

1500 - 4:08

The breaks between them have varied a lot, from 2 weeks to a day, but the main thing was that every race made me feel fitter and faster than before... I have now run 6 1500s, 2 3ks, and an 800 since May 5th, and I am improving each race... Worried about burn-out, so taking a step back for a week or so, putting in some steady mileage, then back another spree of racing from 5th - end on JUL...

So, to conclude, racing into fitness does seem to work IF you have a decent base, to support the stresses of racing and hard interval training...

9 years ago 06/24/2014 3:01pm EDT

re: 50x

Like other posters have said, it should work well if you have a decent base. Otherwise expect to improve for about a month, then get slower again.

9 years ago 06/24/2014 4:00pm EDT

re: true brit

true brit wrote:
I think it works wonders after a good base phase. I've raced a lot more this track season than in the past, and they've gone like this:
MAY
1500 - 4:22
3000 - 9:30
800 & 1500 (same day) - 2:07 & 4:35 (last lap burn-up)
1500 - 4:19
JUN
1500 - 4:10
1500 & 3000 (same day) - 4:12 & 9:11
1500 - 4:08
The breaks between them have varied a lot, from 2 weeks to a day, but the main thing was that every race made me feel fitter and faster than before... I have now run 6 1500s, 2 3ks, and an 800 since May 5th, and I am improving each race... Worried about burn-out, so taking a step back for a week or so, putting in some steady mileage, then back another spree of racing from 5th - end on JUL...
So, to conclude, racing into fitness does seem to work IF you have a decent base, to support the stresses of racing and hard interval training...

Those are some nice times and nice improvement.

I have a good base and also worried about overdoing it. I've raced the last 3 weekends and have 2 more races this weekend and next that I plan on doing. Then we'll see. May take a few weeks off from racing and just do workouts the rest of the summer. Unless some other race catches my eye. I run my best in the fall so I have more races on the agenda for Sept, Oct and Nov.

Thanks for the input guys.

9 years ago 06/24/2014 4:08pm EDT

re: 50x

Racing into shape trains your mind more than your body. At the beginning of a racing season, an athlete will usually run one or two bad races because his/her brain won't let the body push itself to its limit yet. So, while you might mistakenly think you've just gained a ton of fitness in a few weeks from racing, really you've just figured out how to push yourself more. Racing yourself into shape works, but not in the way one might think.

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