How many races per year?

T1DCarnivoreRunner

I'm wondering how many races everyone does per year. I've noticed that I seem to have gone overboard this year a bit, but I've enjoyed it for the most part. So I'm not sure if this is crazy or not. I'm not exactly a great or experienced runner, but have found myself signing up for a lot of shorter races this year anyway. I want to build for longer distances, but am doing so slowly (hoping for first marathon in 2018).

So far this year, I've done:
10K trail
12K trail
5K road
5K trail
HM road
5K road

And I'm already signed up for:
10K road - end of July
HM trail - October

I'm considering signing up for another HM in September and maybe another 1-2 races in Nov. or Dec.

Is that too much? I really enjoy race atmospheres, crowds, and the competition... but am I focusing too much effort on races and not enough on training?

MobyCarp

It changes over time for me.

2014: 6 total races, 54.1 total race miles. My first 2 half marathons. Multiple stress fractures of the metatarsals in the summer.

2015: 21 total races, 185.5 total race miles. 5 half marathons, and my first full marathon. A breakout year, the only year I stayed healthy all year long.

2016: 13 total races, 120.9 total race miles. 4 half marathons, my first Boston, and the disastrous DNF a mile from the finish of the Rochester Marathon (25.2 race miles not included because it was a DNF.) Sat out with an injured tensor fascia lata after stupidly running Flower City Half 6 days after Boston. Sat out with Achilles tendinitis after Rochester.

2017: 16 races so far, 122.8 race miles so far. This includes my second Boston and 3 half marathons, one of which I paced rather than racing. Currently registered for 6 more races totaling 57.9 miles, including another half and the Rochester marathon. Expect to run 7 races that I have not yet registered for, total of 27.7 miles. (That short? OMG, there's 4 5K's in there. I don't even particularly *like* 5Ks!) That would bring the total for the year in at 29 races, 208.4 miles . . . if I stay healthy and plans don't change.

With this many races, I can't treat them all as "A" races. Shoreline Half was really easy on me, because I paced to a finish 6 to 9 minutes slower than I would have run if I were running it as a race. I didn't run a very good time at Boston, but I managed the race primarily to avoid injury and recover well; that was a smashing success. Several of my races were run on the basis of, "I'll see how I feel at the start line and run accordingly." And of course the USATF Masters races were run hard for the fastest possible finish time.

The race versus train puzzle is ongoing. Right now, my major focus is running well at Oak Tree Half (September 3) and running injury-free, recovery-friendly, and a decent but not smashing fast time at Rochester Marathon (September 17). I need a marathon training plan, and the speed workouts need adjustment to accommodate all the shorter races I run. For example, on July 4 I ran a 4 mile race instead of a hard interval workout. It wasn't exactly what the marathon plan called for, but it was close enough.

PastorVincent

One or Two has been my normal... but this year I seem to be lining up 5 and 10ks like candy

MNLittleFinn

This year is my highest with 5 for sure. Next year will probably be less, but that's because I'm looking at the possibility of 2 of them being ultra length, so I'll be spreading them apart.

MobyCarp

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

This year is my highest with 5 for sure. Next year will probably be less, but that's because I'm looking at the possibility of 2 of them being ultra length, so I'll be spreading them apart.

When you have those long races as targets, you definitely have to think about how the shorter races fit into your training plan. There's a lot of attractive races I'm not running, simply because I can't fit everything into the schedule.

MNLittleFinn

MobyCarp wrote: »

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

This year is my highest with 5 for sure. Next year will probably be less, but that's because I'm looking at the possibility of 2 of them being ultra length, so I'll be spreading them apart.

When you have those long races as targets, you definitely have to think about how the shorter races fit into your training plan. There's a lot of attractive races I'm not running, simply because I can't fit everything into the schedule.

yup. I'm looking at like a MINIMUM of 4-5 months between major races next year. any other races I might run would be strategically placed more as training runs with bling than as actual races so, on a whole, I plan to race less but run more in the next few years.

BettyM1017

Last year, my first year running, I did 4. This year I'll end up with 15. Next year the plan is only 6 because 3 of them will be Spartan races, and I'm pretty sure this old lady is going to need serious recovery time! Also, training for an OCR is different than training for a race that's just running and I don't shift gears very well. So, the plan is to increase my distance this year and shift focus next year.

spiriteagle99

I usually only end up with about 3 a year. Since I do a spring marathon, it tends to screw up any chance of doing any other spring races, since I take a long time to recover. Money is very tight, so I don't sign up for races unless I think I'm fit enough to PR.

As to your original question: do as many as you enjoy or can afford to do. I have a friend who does 70 or so 5ks every year. Some weekends he'll do 3. Another friend does at least one marathon or half marathon each month. Another friend does 2-3 marathons each fall and each spring. He doesn't race all out, he just runs to finish. Some of the local runners I know do a race almost every weekend. Long races take longer to recover from, but if you aren't actually trying to get a PR, you can do a couple each month, if you want.

hanlonsk

After years of getting on the wagon, falling off the wagon, and routinely being ran over/drug behind the wagon.... my best friend had this lovely idea of signing us up for a 5k a month. Because she figured if I had money on the line, I would at least do the race, and if I was doing the race I might actually train a bit.
It apparently worked-20 months later I'm still attempting to run.

This year we have skipped a few months and traded in a few 5ks for some 10ks, an 8 mile, and even a half marathon. And I think we ended up with 3 races -8 mile, 5k, 10K-in May followed by our half in June (oops don't do what I do.) I think it depends on your goals. For me having the race is what made me commit the effort to training, and therefore the races were key to training. Other people have other goals and may need to focus more on a training plan with just a few goal races.

I apparently am as per usual, backwards and have to focus on the race plan with the goal of keeping up training.

_nikkiwolf_

I've done a 20km race and a marathon so far this year. There was a 10km leading up to those for which I registered, but I got sick and DNS *sigh*. In addition to that, the zombies run virtual race.
I'm currently signed up for a half marathon middle of September. I didn't register for anything else after that yet. But there are one or three races that I ran last year and might repeat if they happen again this year.

So I'll probably end up with something like 5-6 races for 2017.

Last year I really signed up for as many races as possible, which amounted to 9 in the end.

I would like running more races, but there aren't too many in the area, and I don't want spend multiple hours in a car driving around. I would love to have so many races to chose from that time, training plan or money are a contraint, rather than the mere existance of races

T1DCarnivoreRunner

Thank you for all the replies. I think next year, I want to decrease the number of races and do a full marathon. The only problem with that idea is that there are quite a few nearby races that I want to do again next year. I have 2 more HM's that I've signed up for yet this year, one nearby and another far enough to be worthwhile staying overnight. I'm thinking of still doing most of the local races next year, but there is only 1 overnight trip that I can say definitely I'll do again. And that is close enough that I don't have to stay overnight beforehand, but it is a question of waking up super early to get there or not.

Only 1 of the local races from this year has a marathon option, and it is the HM I'm doing in Sept. I have not been on the course (on a nature trail that I've never visited and is primarily used by cyclists); but unless there is something that goes wrong with the HM, I'll probably do that for the 2018 marathon. Otherwise, the remaining local races are 5K's and 10K's. The further-distance (either overnight or a very early start to drive 2 hrs. first) is technical trails and 12K or HM distances.

MobyCarp

midwesterner85 wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies. I think next year, I want to decrease the number of races and do a full marathon. The only problem with that idea is that there are quite a few nearby races that I want to do again next year. I have 2 more HM's that I've signed up for yet this year, one nearby and another far enough to be worthwhile staying overnight. I'm thinking of still doing most of the local races next year, but there is only 1 overnight trip that I can say definitely I'll do again. And that is close enough that I don't have to stay overnight beforehand, but it is a question of waking up super early to get there or not.

Only 1 of the local races from this year has a marathon option, and it is the HM I'm doing in Sept. I have not been on the course (on a nature trail that I've never visited and is primarily used by cyclists); but unless there is something that goes wrong with the HM, I'll probably do that for the 2018 marathon. Otherwise, the remaining local races are 5K's and 10K's. The further-distance (either overnight or a very early start to drive 2 hrs. first) is technical trails and 12K or HM distances.

That sounds like a reasonable plan. Just pay attention to how beat up you get in marathon training, and try not to overdo things. It won't kill your marathon if you knock 10 miles off a week when you need to recover.

Also, you can think of the 5K and 10K races that fall in your marathon training cycle as speed work. This week, I have a 10K on Wednesday and a 5K on Saturday that are moderately important for different reasons. One of the adjustments I'm making is that I will not do the scheduled speed workouts from the marathon training plan this week. There is such a thing as pushing too hard, and I'd rather not find out how much is too much the hard way (again).