Waay back in May, I wrote a post about Planning Ahead, toward the fall, and my training and race schedule. At the time, I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen. Of course, as you’d expect, I have not exactly been following that plan to a T. I haven’t been to the gym for Body Pump or CXWORX once since May. I joined a running club, which changed my running days around, and I started doing run/walk intervals with my friend Emily once a week to coach her towards her first 5k. Best laid plans, right?
So now that things have changed so significantly, I’m not as freaked out about the idea of changing things up even more, namely by throwing in another fall half marathon. Most of you know that I’ll be meeting up with Team Can-Am at the runDisney Wine & Dine half marathon in November, which I’m disgustingly excited about. In my Planning Ahead post, I wrote about my conflicted feelings on training; specifically, that it might be a “waste” of training since I’m planning to run W&D solely for fun and character photo ops, not for time. So I’m thinking about running another fall half marathon, with the goal of doing my absolute best, whether that’s a new PR or not.
I know it’s silly to worry about “wasting” training. After all, I like running, and it’s good for me, so no runs are really wasted. But I feel like if I commit to a training plan, and work really hard, why then wouldn’t I find a race where I can focus that training towards a concrete goal? I suppose the alternative is that I could just half-ass my training for W&D, and then I wouldn’t feel obligated to run for time at all, but that’s no fun.
There’s also the part where races cost money, and I’m not sure another big race is in my budget this year. I’ve already spent a considerable amount on race entries, hotels, and flights this year, so can I justify another $50-$100, just to satisfy my need to do credit to my training? I’m not sure. There are a few that are happening relatively nearby, but would still require some logistical work. And then, there’s the RaceVermont Fall Half, which was my PR half marathon last year. The problem is, it’s the weekend before W&D. I suppose it’s not completely insane to consider running to half marathons in 7 days, especially if one will be rife with character stops and walking breaks, and the upside is that I would become an official Half Fanatic. Despite my concerns about exhaustion and potential injury, it seems to be the best option; I get a discount through my LCRC membership, and it’s a 10 minute drive from my apartment.
What do you think, should I run two half marathons on back-to-back weekends? Would you ever do that/have you done that?
Hmm. I feel like if your training is going well and you have no niggles or anything at all, and run the VT half without any issues, then it shouldn’t be a problem doing the W&D the following weekend, especially as you won’t be straight-up racing it. (Is there a time limit on the W&D?) I feel like I’d do it, but then again, with my luck I’d get injured somewhere along the line 🙂
There is a time limit for W&D, but I know that even if I walked the whole thing, I could stay ahead of the sweepers. I’ll probably wait to commit for the RaceVT one until a little later in the summer, and see how I’m feeling.
That sounds like a smart plan 🙂
I think since the second one is a fun run, you would be okay running a race a week before. I ran a 15k a week before a half marathon. I PRd on the half marathon.
Woah, nice job!
I’d go for it since the 2nd one is a fun one where you’ll be stopping a lot for pictures and stuff. I so want to do a Disney race!
I’m excited, it’s my first Disney race 😀
Definitely – if it works for your budget, DO IT! I think it would be a great challenge … BUT – make sure you approach it as a ‘fun run’ so you don’t get hurt!
Absolutely. There’s no way I’d charge through Disney world without stopping for pictures and enjoying every moment 🙂
Haha… This morning someone asked me about doing a half the week after a half I’m already signed up for, so I’ve been having the same internal debate. The thing I’d worry about is if the first is going to be a hard effort, you may still be sore/not recovered, making the second a rough race. But from what you describe of the second, that might not matter.
I really think it could work, but I’m going to wait to commit until I have a better idea of how training is going. I just started an 18 week plan (!!!), so if I stick to that, I should be good.
Go for it!! Since you’re eyeing the Disney race as purely for fun with lots of breaks, I don’t think that would present any recovery issues at all. Plus, doing your big race BEFORE Disney will mean that there will be no stressing about a later half marathon during Disney! It’ll be awesome!! I’ve only done half marathons two weeks apart before but I’d definitely consider back-to-back half marathons. Just haven’t found the right time for it yet!
I’d definitely rather do it before Disney than after, so Disney can be the big celebration 🙂
You can absolutely do them back to back, just don’t RACE them. That is the trick!
I’d probably race the first one, and then just goof off the second 😉
Consider the first one as a training run and the second one as the real thing.
Good philosophy!
During marathon training, I did a 13 mile training run one weekend and a 14 mile training run the next. Definitely do-able if you condition correctly and are physically and mentally prepared! :0)
Good point. I never thought of the fact that people do crazy stuff like that all the time! 😉
Haha I know- it’s hard to think outside your own experience, though! And it only got worse; a back-to-back 16 and 17 mile long run if I remember correctly… O_O
Main point being, if I could do it in my state of fitness then, you can definitely do it now!
Goodluck with whichever you decide. I’m betting that you would be fine to do both though!
Thanks! I think I will too, but it depends on how I feel when I get there.
I’ve run a 25K and a half on back to back weekends before and it was fun! Disney sounds like it will be an amazing time and maybe it can work out any soreness you may have from racing the previous weekend? Call it a delayed, long shakeout run! 🙂
Sounds good to me! Especially if I do the training right, I think I should be fine. I’ve just never done back to back big weekend runs like that.
I say do it! I’ve run marathons on back to back weekends several times and it was great! I’m actually in a similar situation as you right now – deciding on a half, but not sure I want to commit. It’s not one I can really PR at – it’s brutally hilly – but I thought it might be good to do because it would be good for training. But it’s expensive. Gah, decisions!
It’s so hard! I hate having to make mature budget decisions…
Ugh adult decisions…I hate adulting!!
Do it! I say if you feel like your body can handle it, why not? I wish my budget could handle all of the races 🙂
Seriously. One of my goals for this year was to do 15 races, and it’s definitely stretching my budget 😦