Racing all out as a master (41y). Is it "just go ahead" or "don't race too often"?
Resumed running after years of doing other sports: Karate, power lifting, rowing I have taken up running again. 4 runs a week, 25-30 miles. I was never super fast (16:52 - 5K - in 2005), but feel confident that I can dip just below 20:00 on the 5K over the summer (22:00 shape now after 2 month of easy base building (based on a Cooper test I did on a track).
I'm nearly 20 pound heavier now, mainly muscle, so this will surely impact my running mechanics in a negative way, but that's just how it is (I'm 6'2).
Now back to the question. I consider racing every other week. But fear that I will crash and burn because of my low mileage and poor shape and heavier frame. I don't want to treat the races as tune ups or faster tempos. Then I'll rather just run quality sessions on my own.
But maybe I should just stick to basebuilding, throw in some tempos, then some race pace sessions and focus on only one or two races after the summer?