MFR 96: Doing a Race as a Training Run, How to Do It and Why It Might Be a Bad Idea

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It’s common for people to do races as a training runs. Have you done this? It’s really not a bad idea – sometimes – but  other times it might be a very bad idea. 

You must go into it with a plan and stick to it. The key is to keep your goal in mind. Sometimes doing a race as part of your run – or instead of your training run – is a viable alternative, and it can serve many purposes, but we need to look at the big picture. You need to look at the big picture.

What if you have a 16 mile long run on your marathon training schedule for Saturday, but you really are wanting to do a local half marathon that day? You could do a 2-mile warmup, then do the race, then run one more mile, a cool down mile. Is that a good idea? Well, it might be a great idea, but there are many things to consider. Let’s talk about that scenario and a few others because runners do races as training runs all the time, someetimes with a great result, and sometimes not so much.

It's common for people to do races as a training runs. Have you done this? It's really not a bad idea - sometimes - but  other times it might be a very bad idea.  You must go into it with a plan and stick to it.

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MFR 97: Runner Safety, Staying Safe When Running

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MFR 95: Compression Gear for Runners