Recovery Time Between Races
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The_Enginerd
Posts: 3,982 Member
Background: I currently run about 25 miles per week (varies from 20-30 mpw), with an 8-13 mile long run, and did my first 1/2 marathon and a Spartan Beast this year.
My next goal after those two races was to set a new 5k PR. Haven't done a 5k race in about a year.
There is an awesome looking trail half that I just found out about that's 2-1/2 weeks before the 5k I am looking to PR at. That seems like enough recovery time given the information I found in my own research (2 weeks seems to be the recommendation), especially since I'm not out to set a PR at the trail half. Thought I'd ask the more experiences runners here to make sure I'm on the right path given my goals.
My next goal after those two races was to set a new 5k PR. Haven't done a 5k race in about a year.
There is an awesome looking trail half that I just found out about that's 2-1/2 weeks before the 5k I am looking to PR at. That seems like enough recovery time given the information I found in my own research (2 weeks seems to be the recommendation), especially since I'm not out to set a PR at the trail half. Thought I'd ask the more experiences runners here to make sure I'm on the right path given my goals.
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You'll probably recover fine, as your research suggests. But if I were really serious about the 5k I wouldn't do a trail half 2.5 weeks before, because it's not the race itself, it's the lost 5k-specific training I'd be worried about. If I'm tapering for a half, racing a half, then recovering from a half, I've missed about two weeks of quality training time at the exact point when I could have been doing the peak 5k-specific sessions to prepare me for my target race.0
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Provided you aren't "racing" the half there is no need to taper and your recovery would be the same as if you did a 13 mile long run on trails (probably a day or two). If the terrain is favorable you could even use it as a training event and work in a few pick-ups along the way.0
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Thanks both.
@litsy3, I hadn't thought about the loss of 5k specific training, thanks. I was thinking of doing it in place of my long run, no tapering or anything, but I would be running it at a fast pace in comparison to my usual long run pace. Kind of in line with what David said.0 -
I guess it depends on your level of fitness and current 5k time. Personally, as its my first year running I am still knocking big chunks off PBs at all my distances on a fairly regular basis. At the start of Oct I took 8mins off my HM PB (2:06:24) on a Sunday and the following Sat 54s off my 5k PB (and since taken another 26s off now 25:17). If I was up to running a sub 1:50 HM and my 5k time was near 20 mins then it'd likely have been a tougher ask! Best of luck with both your races
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