Take a look a your most recent year of training and racing? How often did you race and what was the goal of each race. Did you get faster with each race? Were you trying to PR each race? If you can resist the temptation to race year round, you are likely to have that break out performance you have been hoping for.
Here is the rationale behind it. If you are always racing, there is a high likelihood that your training is somewhat the same throughout the entire year with maybe a little volume change here and there. You would be likely training hard because you want to do well in “next month’s race”. This typically eliminates the true base training that is so necessary for any endurance athlete. Too much racing also causes a loss of motivation because there is no build up (both physically and mentally) for the race.
Your training should have a different focus at various times of the year. This not only allows you to focus on different components of your fitness and address your limiters, but it is also a nice mental break. Once you accept the reality that you cannot be at your peak year round, your training will begin to take on a new meaning and your race day performances might just be new personal bests.