Preserving race fitness?

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J2R
Oct 2015
12:40pm, 1 Oct 2015
164 posts
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J2R
From all I've read, it seems it takes a little less to MAINTAIN a given level of fitness than it does to ACHIEVE that level of fitness in the first place, at least for a short while (it obviously doesn't make sense that you should be able to do so indefinitely). I'm interested in hearing about others' experiences with this - getting up to a level of race fitness and then maintaining that fitness for a while without necessarily trying to build on it.

The relevance for me is that early last month I narrowly (by 13 seconds!) missed out on my target time for a half marathon but the course was not an especially fast one, and I'm pretty sure that had I done the same run on a really fast course that day I'd have comfortably attained my target. I'm running another HM in 10 days time, this time on a known fast course, and since the last HM I've been doing my best to maintain my fitness levels with the minimum effort, because I came down with a respiratory tract infection immediately after the last one which has proven very hard to fully shake off, so I've not wanted to push myself too much.

Has anyone here managed to do a great time in a race and then keep the fitness 'topped up', as it were, for a while, without necessarily pushing that hard (or at least, not as hard as you did to get there in the first place)?
Oct 2015
3:16pm, 1 Oct 2015
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Gobi
Often but I was healthy between races so my first thought is you should probably have rested more and probably lyrics shouldn't be going at it again this soon but that aside.

For short distances it is not hard to maintain a level

All you really have to do is a few days easy after an event followed by a few days steady with an small speed session in there then a few days easy/steady and then races.

If you have trained well for the first one you can maintain for about 6 to 8 weeks
J2R
Oct 2015
3:30pm, 1 Oct 2015
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J2R
Thanks for that. I understood all of it, I think, except the puzzling bit about lyrics...
Oct 2015
3:36pm, 1 Oct 2015
57,307 posts
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Gobi
Auto type added a word.

Damn phone
D2
Oct 2015
4:20pm, 1 Oct 2015
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D2
fitness maintained but only if you sing...
Oct 2015
5:42pm, 1 Oct 2015
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Mrs Jigs (Luverlylegs)
J2R as a point of interest my time at Wissey was 1.37.30 and a week later 1.37.06 at Bristol, oddly enough Bristol had a higher hill score.
J2R
Oct 2015
6:13pm, 1 Oct 2015
166 posts
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J2R
Mrs Jigs, what did you do between the two races?
Oct 2015
7:29am, 3 Oct 2015
22,579 posts
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Mrs Jigs (Luverlylegs)
General run Monday just short of 9 miles, 7 miles on Tuesday, track intervals wednesday, rest Thursday & Friday, 5 miles Saturday including a parkrun.

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Maintained by J2R
From all I've read, it seems it takes a little less to MAINTAIN a given level of fitness than it do...

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