Tried something new this 4th of July
 

I ran the annual 4th of July race in Ashland, OR as a training run instead of as a race. The result was a very comfortable run and I kept thinking throughout the run "this is great, why haven't I done this before?" However, after the race I felt disappointed and a bit ashamed at not having "left it all on the road". I don't think I'll use a race as anything other than a race again.

I don't think you have anything to feel bad about. In general I don't think using races, particularly long ones, as training runs is a bad idea. You have a closed course, water stations along the way so you don't have to carry anything, and you get the camaraderie of being with a lot of other runners. The risk, of course, is that you get caught up in the wave and go faster than you should, or you don't want people you know who may see the results to think you're slow. If you can avoid the traps, it's a good idea.

Hal Higdon even recommends using marathons as training runs, and just stepping off the course at the distance of your long run.

That sounds expensive. Does he mean bandit running or actually paying the fee and then not actually finishing?

I took care of this risk by running under my good friend's name. He couldn't make the race and I saved $10 by running under his registration. I need to apologize to him for ruining his good name.

He means paying the fee and then just stepping off the course. Obviously, it's not something you would want to do every week, but to me, the benefit of a closed course and not having to carry my own liquid would be worth paying to do on 20 milers. I would never step off the course, though, I'd have to finish them. I'd just take the last 10k nice and slow.

Training through races is good strategy. Most race theorists posit one A race per year and several B races with more C races.

In the C races you try to reach different goals other than maxing out.

Good deal Steal, it's a smart idea.

That's a pretty good idea. I may have to do my future training run races under an alias. Of course with my luck, through some one-in-a-million fluke, it would be the one time I place in my age group, and nobody would believe me.