Is there a negative effect to racing a hard 5000m race with only 5days recovery before an important 10,000m race? I will be tapering during this phase, and plan to have a very easy few days in between races. Is this a bad idea? Both races are on the track, and after the 10,000m race I probably won't be racing for at least a month. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I imagine you'll get some differences of opinion on this question (it's come up before), but I've tried something similar with poor results. Last summer I ran a 5000 on a Wednesday evening and then ran a road 10k on Sunday morning (4 days rest, not 5). I wasn't fully recovered for the 10k. The legs weren't "springy" in the warmup strides, and the race went fairly poorly (at least a minute and a half off what I expected given the conditions).
Maybe I recover a little slower than most, mind you.
I think you should be fine...at least from personal experience, though I do tend to recover fairly quick. Two years ago I ran a pr 5 on a saturday night, then the next friday ran my 10 pr. Same thing last year, except I had one more day recovery between the races. Just take it easy during those five days and you should be fine.
thanks for the replys so far!
I've heard that physiologically, it takes 10 days to fully recover and gain the benefits from a hard workout. So a race 5 days before another race? So don't expect to feel great during the 10k. Also, if the 5k doesn't go as well as you'd like you might lose some confidence and the mental edge. But I've seen guys do the 5k/10k double at conference a number of times with mixed results so i guess it's ultimately your decision. How important are these races?
If you have been doing some tough workouts, your body should be tough enough to bounce back from the 5k. If you have been doing limited intense work, the 5k could sting you more than you would like. As the others mentioned, everyone recovers differnt.
Good luck with your choice.
Me Thinks
thanks