I saw an Active.com article on doubling up your runs: Double Up Your Daily Runs… so being me, I figured I would give it a shot. I have doubled up workouts in a day before but not runs. It’s usually a cardio/weights split. So I ran a tempo 5.65 miles the other morning and planned an easy 5 miler for the evening. I really felt pretty good and can understand the benefits of doubling up but I had two issues: shower and fuel. After my morning run, I finished the Mix 1 that I had started before the run and I had a light lunch about an hour later – that is my usual post workout M.O. When I started my evening run, I felt a little sluggish – I was pushing a 9 minute mile which is less than race pace these days. I mean – don’t get me wrong – it was totally doable and not the hardest thing I have ever done –but I felt a little off on the 2nd run. The other thing is, I totally hated showering and washing my hair twice – I definitely need a gentler shampoo for this routine.
I find it interesting how a 10 or 11 mile run seemed easier to me than splitting it up… the author of this article reported the opposite:
“…felt the advantages of running twice a day. My morning run was easy enough that I wasn’t exhausted in the afternoon. But I wasn’t fresh either, so it got me used to training through fatigue. I always rehydrated, rested, and refueled before the afternoon run, so I had a much better chance of hitting a quality pace than if I’d tried to grind out those same miles on the end of one long run.”
It’s probably a mental thing for me – once I am done working out, showering and grubbing – I am just done. But I get what the author is saying and I’ll play around with hydration and fuel and double up again.
