I can't tell you what you should do, but I will say that running shorter races leading up to marthons is something I've always done. Susceptibility to injury varies from one runner to the next.

I like the idea of running an extra 5 miles or more after a race as a replacement for your regularly scheduled long run. It will definitely make you stronger. However, I wouldn't do it more than twice a month if the race distance is 10k or longer. You might be able to get away with it 2 or 3 weeks in a row with 5k's. Of course, you need to lighten up some during the last couple weeks before your marathon.

Although I'm not currently running marathons, I still combine races with several miles of additional running as a replacement for a generic long run. This is something that Timan often recommends and that I feel has helped.

Jim[/URL" target="_blank">

If they're on recovery weeks, I definitely wouldn't sweat the extra mileage. If anything, I'd be concerned that by racing I'm not getting the recovery that is intended for the week, and tacking on an overly-long cooldown would just make it worse. But I think that racing at shorter distances is an essential part of your physical and mental preparation, so I'd go for it, with just a regular cooldown.

To add to last comment, my first exposure to this method was in the late 80's while I lived in Phoenix. There was a 50-year old masters runner I started to train with named John Weldy. He was running 10k's in 33's a that time--yes, you heard right. He was 50 years old. He still holds some AZ state records. One of his favorite methods was exactly what we are talking about. I hadn't read about it anywhere, but there were some other good runners in the area who were doing the same thing. I tried and got faster.

More recently, I met up with Tinman and found out that he adovcates doing the same thing. This guy knows what he his doing--beleive me. There is more than one way to skin a cat, as the saying goes. If you keep and open mind you might run across some ideas that are helpful.

I think one of the things if you are going to be serious about training for an racing marathons is that you just have to accept that you are not going to be able to race very frequently or with a taper at other distances. Those things have to fit in as part of your marathon training plan and goal.

I am not in favor of racing 5ks in training for marathons, it is just too short, especially if you are using it in place of a long run. I would say you could do it if you were willing to put in a 15 mile long run (you said it was a cutback week) on Saturday and then race on Sunday--even then I don't think the cost/benefit is worth it, but you definitely cannot substitute a race of that distance (even with a good warm-up and cool-down) without compromising your goal.

A 10k is more in the range, but again I could not justify that in place of a long run, but only as a supplement to it. It is a good racing distance to build some fitness and gives you a good idea of where you are at (a 5k is just too far from marathon distance to be any good for this). I personally try to race on Saturday and run long on Sunday, but I usually find shorter races are on Saturday, not Sunday around me.

I do not think you risk injury if you add on to a 10k with a good warm-up and cool-down, but you should run the additional mileage pretty slow. Again, try to get in about 15 total.

Southern Man

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