Earlier this year I learned that my favorite road race, the Buckeye Half Marathon, had been moved from its previous schedule date as the perfect Akron Marathon preparatory event to the end of October.
When I first started running this race back 2007, it was three weeks from Akron. In 2009, it was moved up to two weeks before the marathon. Then, for 2010 (PR!) and 2011 (PW), they moved it back to the end of August.
Aside from being a great marathon training run on an enjoyable course, the race organizers had also partnered with the Akron Marathon to offer a discounted entry fee if you signed up for both events at the same time.
Now, there's none of that. And I'm not sure I even want to run the event this year because I'm a brat.
But now, like Luke Skywalker, there is a new hope. Having enjoyed my time at the Dirty Dash, I decided to see what other races in the series looked appealing. Turns out, there's the Leave No Trace trail half marathon on Sept. 1, four weeks before the Akron Marathon.
According to the event description, the Leave No Tracecourse is hilly and technical, which sounds like a perfect way to prepare for the hills I'll be running in the marathon a month later. Additionally, the course is on a camp ground that isn't normally open to runners.
But wait, there's more! Looking at the rest of the Dirty Trail Race Series events, there are a few other races that line up well with my marathon training plan. Of course, signing up for these events could hamper the ol' pocketbook, but that doesn't mean I can't wait and see how finances look before the zero-hour of when the cheaper early registration period ends.
But what about race burnout? My racing participation has severely dwindled over the years. From a peak of 10 events in 2008, I ran only two races last year. Does the 10 percent rule apply to adding races to you schedule? Should I be running 2.2 races this year? I believe that would be two full races and a DNF ...
2 comments:
You're very good at math.
I say go for it--races are often great training for the big events.
And now that Buckeye has moved its date, I may do it. It used to conflict w/ one of my favorites out here. But I guess I won't' see you there!
The 10 percent rule does not apply to the number of races. I think I'm doing 22 races this year? That's kind of stupid, but I think you'll be fine getting into some more trail events.
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