Trail running races

Last weekend I did my 4th trail running race, a 21km run with 900m of elevation gain. I did it with my brother, as always, and had a good time overall. I had only done 4 weeks of preparation, since I haven’t really run (or even walked) during the summer - what with all the cycling we did - so I was a bit concerned, but it ended up going well. I had no pain and could have sustained a faster pace - even though I felt severely tired in the following 3 days.

I was eyeing a trail marathon in late January as my next race, but then, as we were hiking last Sunday, I started thinking and realized it may not be the best course of action. Trail running is not a sport in which you should rush through the steps, as it takes quite a toll on the body - and much more so if, like myself, you partake in multiple physical activities. I’m trying to juggle strenght training, trail running, gravel cycling, jiu jitsu and hiking all at the same time, while continuing to work on my business - so it’s hard to fit in longer and longer runs, in terms of both time and (especially) recovery.
So, I’ll probably keep running and hiking in prep for trail running adventures (which is what actually interests me, rather than races), but not have a long race as a major focus in the near future. I have no real desire to do a marathon soon, and would rather spend more time hiking and cycling with my partner than having to devote lots of time to running alone.