Do any masters here run doubles?

My training partner and I, both over 40, both do 100mile weeks and double most days. He doubles Mon to Thu, me mon to thu and sat and sun. He has run a 15min low 5km and a 2.26 marathon since turning 40, I have run 1.54 800m and sub 31min 10km and everything equivalent in between since 40. We also do strength 3x weekly and receive a weekly massage. I haven't missed a day of running due to injury for 6 years, he had lower leg issues a few years back but has had 2 years uninterrupted training since.

Malmo says to start doing doubles even if you're only at 40mpw....just do doubles because they're proven to make you the best you can be!

I run about 10 times a week. Anywhere from 65-85 miles. Some days even a couple of short 30-40 min runs seem easier (mentally) than going 70-80 mins in one run. Two of these shorter PM runs include my drill & core work.

Works for me ~

And one last thing about doubles, if you're not doing them every day, it's best to do them on your hard days so that you recover fully on your easy days and get the most benefit from doing the double when your body is already tired.

I've done doubles but not on a consistent basis, it all depends on how I feel. I do like to get most of my miles on singles but if I feel crunched for time or the heat is getting to me then I will do doubles, otherwise in the future when I can sustain a certain mileage without breaking down due to quality workouts, I would like to add doubles more consistently. I think the most I've done in a week is three or four.

Couple years ago when I wasn't really training for anything, I did doubles to get about 70 miles in 5 days. It was more of a challenge to myself. The first set of doubles was tough but once I got through it, it wasn't too bad. I do think if you're just base building, it's easier to incorporate more doubles versus when you're in full peak training but I suppose that also comes with more experience/mileage too. I'm hoping next year I will be able to do doubles in my sleep meaning it will just become part of my training regime.

Piece of Cake wrote:

My training partner and I, both over 40, both do 100mile weeks and double most days. He doubles Mon to Thu, me mon to thu and sat and sun. He has run a 15min low 5km and a 2.26 marathon since turning 40, I have run 1.54 800m and sub 31min 10km and everything equivalent in between since 40. We also do strength 3x weekly and receive a weekly massage. I haven't missed a day of running due to injury for 6 years, he had lower leg issues a few years back but has had 2 years uninterrupted training since.

Sounds like it's working for you guys

I occasionally do them, but not frequently enough to really count. For example, if some people in my track workout group need a pacer, I'll sometime do my intervals at lunch and run with them instead of with the "faster" group.

Without doubles, I'm capped at 45-50 a week if I include some quality workouts, some easier recovery days and long runs up to 90 minutes. I'd like to see if 60-65 miles per week makes a difference in my races next spring, so my plan is to stabilize at that mileage for a few months and then add a few doubles in Dec and Jan.

Old post, but still must correct bad info. Like Malmo says, do doubles whenever, it's still extra miles, more efficiency, more growth hormone and better recovery.

If a treadmill is necessary, it works for Dennis Simonaitis

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=22154

thanks for the article

smd wrote:

OldXCguy wrote:

I'm in my late 50's, and I generally run doubles 2-4 times a week. My "extra" runs are usually around four miles. I'm not sure that I'm benefiting much, but I enjoy doing them.

Similar here, 3-5 doubles/week, more because I like the rhythm they give the day than anything else.

I agree- I double every once in a while (4-5 miles) then I feel better about eating a little extra or a couple beers.

It seems that as I get older, the more I eat, the "fatter" I feel- like almost bloated after eating. Doing doubles prevents this.

I'd like to know if any masters found that doubling actually hinders recovery and leads to slower race times.

Not in running. Doubles when mastering cuties. That's a real challenge. Those girls are hungry and can f%%% like kinky b^^^^^.

Mastering doubles is a lot more challenging, physically and psychologically, than running them.

dddd wrote:[/b

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I'd like to know if any masters found that doubling actually hinders recovery and leads to slower race times.

w

Seriously, are any of you "doublers" married or have kids? Do you work? What is the point of running 12 times a week? Get it over with in one run. Then you won't have to take another shower and can eat regular meals, etc.

bachelor? wrote:

Seriously, are any of you "doublers" married or have kids? Do you work? What is the point of running 12 times a week? Get it over with in one run. Then you won't have to take another shower and can eat regular meals, etc.

Most people run like 10 times a week, with just 3 doubles or so. And doubling doesn't take much longer. Maybe it's the extra time to shower again, but seeing as the mileage is split up, you should be able to do the runs slightly faster anyway.

Treadmill Doubles wrote:

I have been doing 2-3 doubles usually T, Th, and maybe Sa. I plan on adding 5 miles at night on the treadmill. Has anyone done it this way is it better to just run outside with a headlamp?

If you like to run on trails or grass or whatever, it's probably better to stay on the TM because it's soft, but you won't sprain an ankle really easily. Other than that, hit the roads because it's slightly different running on a TM.

DON'T DO THAT!

My body says drink beer, eat chicken wings, and watch TV...I don't listen to it.

_______________________________________________________

^That man speaks the truth.

I'll listen to Queens of the Stone Age and my dogs before my body. I listened to it this winter and ate a ton of ice cream and slept like a bag of pudding.

My body is angry at me and it's been conspiring against me to stop asking so much of it for years now.

I do doubles when I just don't feel like going 10-15 all in one run for the third or fourth day in a row.

it's really not that difficult to run doubles. Lots do with demanding jobs, kids, etc ... If you want it bad enough you'll find a way, that means running at 5 :30 a.m or 9 p.m. most elites and elite masters run doubles.

It's easy to eat regular meals and shower. You just have to be good at time management .

started doubling as a master in march 2009 (age 41) because i had an athlete i was coaching wanted to start them up her junior track season. i don't know what science there is to support what the length of the morning run HAS to be, other than jack daniels pointing out that a run of 30 minutes provides optimal benefit. we were doing closer to 25 minutes 2-3 days/week, but i ran to the workout, so i was getting closer to 38 minutes. i found it helped me and my athlete tremendously--she had a great last year and a half of high school, and i had my fastest carlsbad 5k time (after only a month of doubles, so it's hard to measure what effects the doubles had for that one race), and probably my best full year as a masters runner.

still doing them pretty regularly now, so about 10 workouts a week (i rarely take days off), though i'll go certain months without doing them at all. and, yes, i do have kids, but i'm lucky enough that a couple of them are usually doing the morning runs with me since i coach at their school...