Racing is what many of us train for, and it is fun. Unfortunately, racing too often can lead to staleness or injury. There is a balance that must be kept between racing and training. Even in training before and after a race, there is a delicate balance between doing too little, losing conditioning, and doing too much, going over the edge. The purpose of this column is to give some guidelines, based on my 38 years of running and coaching, of how much rest is appropriate with respect to racing.

In 2003, Ted Poulos ran 53 races that were rated by the Washington Running Report. That is more than one race a week! The truth is, Poulos ran even more races than that (338, to be exact. Editor), because his quest to race constantly led to him run many lesser races, as well as several that were out of the area. Poulos also managed to rank fifth in the Washington Running Report's Year-End Rankings in the 40-44 age group, so his "race all the time" philosophy seems to work for him. Most of us, though, are not like Poulos. Too many races and we will break down.

Over the years, through trial and error, I have developed formulas for how frequently a runner should race. The formulas are based on two variables: L = the length of the race in miles (e.g., L=6.2 for a 10K race), and RM = the best recent 10-weeks average training mileage. To calculate RM, find your highest mileage 10-week span in the last three months or so, and calculate the average miles per week during that period. The idea is that the longer the race is (or the skimpier the runner's endurance base), the longer the runner should rest following the race.

For runners who are in the endurance phase of their training, the formula would be:
Weeks between races = 30xL/RM
For example, a runner with a 40 miles per week base who runs a 10K should wait 30x6.2/60 = 3.1 weeks before racing again. I usually round to an even number of weeks (in this case, 3 weeks), and figure that a maximum of four to six weeks should be required for any distance and mileage level.

For runners who are in the sharpening and racing phase of their training, the formula becomes:
Weeks between races = 10xL/RM
In this phase, a runner who is doing 30 miles per week who runs an 8K should wait 10x5.0/30 = 1.67 weeks (round to two weeks) before racing again.

Following these formulas will keep you from over-racing. You should be able to stay sharp and continue to race for an extended period of time. A couple of caveats should be added to the above formulas. First, no runner should run 5K or longer in three consecutive weekends. Second, a 10K or longer should mean no race the next weekend, no matter what the training mileage.

The other key issue to racing and resting is how much to taper, and how much to cut back following the race. Let us assume, for illustration, that the runner is in the sharpening phase of training, and wishes to race a Saturday 10K. Here is the taper week that I would prescribe (warm-ups and cool downs should be added for the fast days): Sunday=long run as usual, Monday=short and easy, Tuesday=one mile at 5K pace, Wednesday=run of medium distance, Thursday=8x100 meter strides, Friday=easy, and Saturday=RACE. There are several principles reflected in this plan. First, the Sunday run maintains the endurance base. Second, the plan alternates long and short, and alternates slow and fast, enabling faster recovery. Third, the faster work on Tuesday and Thursday are intended to maintain the fast twitch muscle response without incurring too much lactic acid buildup. Fourth, the reduced mileage is intended to let the runner go to the starting line fresh.

Following the race, it is a mistake to simply jump back into hard training. I suggest the following plan following the 10K race described above: Sunday=long run (perhaps shortened), Monday=short and easy, Tuesday=run of medium distance, Wednesday=resume speedwork if sufficiently recovered. The runs above may need to be shortened, depending upon the runner's endurance base. Using the definition for RM above, my rule of thumb is no more than (RM/3)-L the day after the race. For the runner with a 30 mile per week endurance base who runs an 8K, this equates to (30/3)-5=5 miles maximum the day after the race. Two days after the race should be limited to (RM/2)-L, and three days after the race should be limited to (3xRM/4)-L.

Races of 15K distance or more generally require more of a taper before the race and a full week of reduced running after the race. I know one elite local runner who races marathons frequently, and immediately follows them up with shorter distance races, sometimes even the week after a marathon, but this is definitely not recommended. For sustainable racing results, the best bet is to not race too often, taper appropriately before each race, and build back slowly afterwards.

Roland Rust coaches a handful of dedicated runners. (His coaching and running resume can be found here.) He also compiles the Washington Running Report runner rankings. Roland can be contacted at rrust9@comcast.net.