The secrets of double threshold training are revealed. From Norway to Flagstaff: How Double Threshold Training Is Taking Over the World

In the late 1990s Bill Dellinger served as the interim head distance coach for 6months at Wake Forest while they were recruiting a new coach. I got to see his “Oregon System” which I presume had been in place for decades. It consisted of 2 workouts a day every Tuesday and Thursday and a race or single hard session on Saturday. The workouts were shorter but more intense than the double threshold stuff but still the same principal. Here’s the breakdown:

Tuesday am - Oregon drill - 3 x 1000m done easy (3:30), medium (3:00) and hard (2:40) - these times are rough estimates for what the avg runner was hitting (mostly 14:20 ish runners). Rest between intervals consisted of 10x 100m strides done easy, medium hard with 10s between strides.

Tuesday pm - 4000m continuous running alternating 400m at 5 k race pace with 200m at tempo (a variant of the old pre workout)

Thursday am: Oregon drill

Thursday pm: 2400m continuous running alternating 300m at just below mile pace with 100m at just below tempo pace (ended up running ~5k pace for the 2400m)

Saturday: race or more traditional intervals.

The wake guys improved massively with this training. They ended up with three guys running under or close to 4min and finished 7th in XC the next year.

I’m pretty sure this training was what Dellinger used in the glory days of Salazar, Prefontain etc at Oregon. Maybe this was the dawn of the two workouts a day philosophy.

I signed up for Marius Bakken's marathon training site. He doesn't do any of this stuff in his marathon training programs.

What if the system you believe in is 5 minute jog everyday? Or is there a proper way to train? I’m bet the two of them training is very similar if you look closely at it

so double threshold seems to be running varying interval paces at Half marathon pace?

Personally I love seeing where the trends are going with training and the trickle down to all levels. I think for a while we were headed back to the low mileage fad that killed US distance running for a decade or two.

I think what is missed with the plan is that it requires A TON of work. It does require hard work to run fast. A wake up call for everyone else.

No offense to some US pro groups but I remember seeing a video of Kyle Merber doing a 2 hour run at the end of his career like it was a big accomplishment.

Another example was I know a few pros that ran into team Ing a few years ago in Flagstaff and were dumbfounded by how hard they trained in comparison.

Get out there and pump up the volume, pump up the workouts

As others have noted, outside of using fancy new lactate testing kits is this concept really new? Perhaps its widespread usage in the US may have dried up in the 90's, but it seems like a lot of American runners were doing very similar types of double workout days in the 70's.

Did you chuckle to yourself as you typed this out?

Tell us what life is like in Des Moines, IA.

I have this pet theory that the primary reason so many elite athletes improve using double threshold is because It forces them not to red line the pace. Doesn't seem like there is anything special in double thresholds mechanistically, it's how it makes the athlete change their pacing and effort.

Running right at threshold is super taxing and you get 99% of the benefit and much less risk by running a couple percentages less than threshold. Targeting half-marathon pace works the heart and lungs, doesn't stress the tendons that much and doesn't accumulate fatigue.

If you know you also need to run a hard workout in the afternoon, you aren't gonna smash. Elite runners love to smash the pace and exhaust themselves. Especially, when they are in a training group and are trying to "race' the workouts as a measuring stick. In my experience threshold effort varies day by day based on fatigue. Some days it might be 6:00 min pace and some days it might be 6:45 pace. Lots of runners struggle mentally to slow that pace down and double thresholds make you pay attention to how the running feels.

It also makes you take recovery seriously. You really need to eat a lot of carbs to make this style of training happen. It's possible to be underfueling substantially and not have an eating disorder. There was a just a journal article on a norwegian XC skier that became world champion by just being more diligent about fueling carbs during workouts. He also abandoned double threshold training because it was too taxing for him!

Feel free to post a training log of anyone in the 70s doing double workout days around threshold intensity. What I remember is a lot of mileage, a lot of fast 10 milers(probably roughly the same as doing 2 30 min workouts at a bit higher intensity), and the 16-20x400😁.

There is no doubt that the system is working. Is it better than doing day 40mins in 1 session? Upping the intensity to 10k pace (cv) and only doing 30 mins of work? Doing the Lydiard hour at 3/4s runs? Making every 4th double threshold day a vo2ma type? Who the heck knows...

Look up Frank Shorters training. That’s your typical training of the 70s.

The fact that double threshold days is this headline-grabbing, innovative concept really highlights how far behind the curve distance running is in comparison to other endurance sports. Stuff like this is the norm for sports like triathlon and swimming and has been for decades

Runners believe that absolutely killing 2 workouts + a steady long run each week is ideal. My "pet theory" is that it is not. No other endurance sport operates this way. Triathlon, cycling, swimming, skating, etc all believe in spreading the work throughout the week to increase overall training volume and quality. Rarely do you show up to a workout feeling 100% recovered but you are also rarely asked to go to the well. Running is the opposite.

The first world class runner that incorporates REAL (not aqua jogging/easy spinning) race-specific cross training into their program and dedicates multiple years to the process will revolutionize the sport.

Running always seems to get dragged kicking and screaming into the future while everyone else happily embraces new concepts, technology, and innovation. Not sure why this is.

College programs are blindly adapting this. Well, double Threshold = Double injuries.

What are you talking about? Train don’t strain has been a mantra of running for a long time now. Not many coaches advise absolutely crushing two workouts a week. The irony here is the new thing is actually doing more with a hard focus on managing the effort each session.

The other sports you mention are none weight bearing so it makes sense coaches would be more willing to try the double workout thing whereas running the injury aversion is a big concern.

Also what is race specific crossing training? Sounds like an oxymoron.

Can these workouts be adapted at slower speeds for slower 5k-10k runners? (Like 16:xx men and 19:xx women?), or, proportionally, 34-35 10k males and 38-39 10k females?

It's funny how everyone wants to talk about this. Maybe you get like an extra 1-5% better out of this? I think maybe you should focus on the other 95% first.

I would be interested in how and if colleges are incorporating this into the schedule. How they manage it with the NCAA rules on how much a team can officially be together, kids class schedules, less time available etc.

Did Gault write it? i doubt it was good. he's a hack