"Occasional racing may be important for marathon success. Particularly this is true for Novice runners who have raced infrequently--or not at all--before catching the Marathon Bug. One reason for racing is to test your fitness: to get an idea of how fast a pace you will be able to carry in the marathon. Another is to test all your strategies from the shoes you'll wear to grabbing fluids at water stations. Leave nothing to chance. Too much racing, however, can lead to overtraining, so don't overdo it."
From Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Guide, Intermediate 2 Program, Week 11.
http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Oint2-11.htm
A Visit to Mount Felix
15 years ago
2 comments:
This is great advice, especially if you miscalibrated your Garmin/GPS and aren't running as fast as you think. Races are a great wakeup call, and a real motivation tool. I just wish they weren't always so gosh-darn expensive these days.
Anne- Yes, it's unfortunate that races have become so expensive. I only ran two races in 2009, and would have raced more if fees weren't so high.
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