Picking and Timing races
I have been a little perplexed lately in trying to figure out how to balance races and training during this upcoming season. In the past seasons I have picked races based on when I had weekends available and closer venues that look intersesting or previous races so I could guage fitness and race my previous times. After reading many topics in the forums and in the wiki I am trying to balance the desire for maintaining workouts and at the same time realizing that part of the reason that we do all of this training is that it acutally is fun to race. So in thinking about looking for races, are there certain periods during a 12 week IM build that you have had success or lack thereof with adding in races? as an FYI, I've done 2 IM's and half iron about 7 weeks out before. (Racine/Moo) Races could be of any distance, 70.3 or olympics. While not racing would clearly be cheaper, I think that it might be fun to do more than just one half ironman at the beginning of june and then IM MOO in september.
So: not looking for specific race names, but rather which specific weeks in an IM training plan might be good vs avoid if thinking about inserting a race.
Thanks
Comments
My 3¢:
• A sprint a week out from an IM or an Oly/sprint 2 weeks out can often serve as a good sharpener.
• The key weeks for IM training are 8 weeks out to 10 days out. Any race within that time frame usually carries a big risk of messing up key training sessions due to unavoidable recovery issues after any real race. Take note of that if doing an Oly 2 weeks out. HIMs in the final 2 months before an IM will almost always negatively affect IM performance. An Oly 2 weeks out, if serving as that weeks intensity sessions, carries less of a risk.
• Races more than 8 weeks out should not be an issue, as long as you plan carefully for training and reecovery needs.
Don't pay any attention to pros' racing schedules.