Running three times in a day?

Karel Lismont (08/03/1949)

1971 Euro Marathon Champion, 1972 silver O.G., Munich, 1976 bronze O.G. Montréal,

3rd World Cross and many top 10 finishes world cross.

Much of his career Lismont trained three times a day running 10 km in the woods in the morning, 10 km at lunch, and 10 km in the afternoon. each one would last between 35 to 40 minutes. Most of his runs were done in the woods on a soft surface. He hated running longer than 20 km in one go.

His record speaks for itself. He had a very long and successful career spanning about 15 years.

Karel Lismont, born 1949

5000 Metres 13:31.22 Köln (GER) 21 MAY 1976 1098

10,000 Metres 27:56.75 München (GER) 29 MAY 1976 1137

10 Miles Road 47:19 Amsterdam (NED) 19 OCT 1975 1076

20 Kilometres 59:59 Heule (BEL) 31 AUG 1974 1053

Half Marathon 1:03:37 Breda (NED) 02 OCT 1987 1046

Marathon 2:11:13 Olympic Stadium, Montreal (CAN) 31 JUL 1976 1140

Karel Lismont, first love was cross country. In this pic. he is #22.

In cross country few could beat him. Multiple top ten placings in world cross.

2 Olympic marathon medals -silver 1972, bronze 1976, Euro marathon champion in 1971 at age 22.

I thought of Lismont after I put up my response. Also, Garry Henry often did three and sometimes four runs a day.

Of all the Kenyans I have coached during now soon 6 years online only one of them trained parts of the year 3 times per day. When I changed his routine to mostly 2 runs per day and recovery day on Sundays he ran faster than ever at half / marathon. As I use to say, it`s just a matter of pace.

I also chat with Daniel Komen a couple of times and ask him if it was true he always trained 3 times per day in his best years. He told me he mostly trained doubles as most Kenyans.

I don't know about elites but I did triples as part of a quarantine mileage contest. Typical was 7, 2, 3 but also did some others like 3, 4, 9 and 6, 5, 5 at the end. Peak week was only in the 90s. Lots of showers, laundry and junk food but we were in lockdown without much else to do.

The body can take a lot if you can stand running easy enough to not get injured. I felt stronger aerobically than I had in years and if I were doing races probably could have set 2nd running life PRs in 5k - half that next month.

The Wizard JS wrote:

Of all the Kenyans I have coached during now soon 6 years online only one of them trained parts of the year 3 times per day. When I changed his routine to mostly 2 runs per day and recovery day on Sundays he ran faster than ever at half / marathon. As I use to say, it`s just a matter of pace.

I also chat with Daniel Komen a couple of times and ask him if it was true he always trained 3 times per day in his best years. He told me he mostly trained doubles as most Kenyans.

Yeah, stories can take on a life of their own. Sports Illustrated sent a writer to Australia in 1965 for a story on Ron Clarke. The story described Clarke as doing 5-6 miles before work, 6-7 miles at lunchtime, and his main session of 10-12 miles after work. Fred Wilt must have read the article because when he included Ron in his "How They Train; Long Distances" that's how he described Clarke's training. But Ron told me that he was nearly always a two a day guy but had one brief experiment with three runs a day that happened to coincide with the visit from the SI writer.

+1! :)

I've done triples in conjunction with run commuting. Easy to work, intervals at lunch, super easy home.

I've also done triples when camping. That's more about just getting into a different rhythm. Sitting by a mountain lake, reading and drinking coffee. I just end up running a lot because I feel like it.

I suppose one possible reason to do it would be to influence your hormonal profile and to facilitate better refueling. Running releases growth hormone, so running more frequently potentially means a larger percentage of your day is spent with elevated GH levels. You are also more easily able to replace muscle glycogen immediately after exercise, so doing at least a short run before every meal could help with that.

Anyway, in my limited experience, triples are neither a recipe for disaster nor a secret to success. It's pretty similar to doubles, but less convenient.

Doubles vs. singles, on the other hand, is probably the single most important change most runners could make to improve.

Sham 69 wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

I did 3 x a day in 1975 when I recorded my high volume week at 175 miles. You do spend quite a bit of time in prep and showers, but a valid way to train if you build up to it.

175 miles?!?!? Are you sure we aren't talking about kilometers?!?!? Wow!

Yes miles. I probably averaged 110 miles a week 1970-1976.

Ghost1 wrote:

https://images.app.goo.gl/eGLHV498drgHrBco7

Karel Lismont, first love was cross country. In this pic. he is #22.

In cross country few could beat him. Multiple top ten placings in world cross.

2 Olympic marathon medals -silver 1972, bronze 1976, Euro marathon champion in 1971 at age 22.

If I recall correctly, Lismont had an unusual gait.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Ghost1 wrote:

https://images.app.goo.gl/eGLHV498drgHrBco7

Karel Lismont, first love was cross country. In this pic. he is #22.

In cross country few could beat him. Multiple top ten placings in world cross.

2 Olympic marathon medals -silver 1972, bronze 1976, Euro marathon champion in 1971 at age 22.

If I recall correctly, Lismont had an unusual gait.

Yep, he had a kind of choppy stride and he kind of looked hunched over when he ran but he was very effective with that style and that’s what got him great success. His mental strength was second to none. Typical dutch speaking Belgian. Very determined and strong willed. Very modest and unassuming.

At one point, Gerry Lindgren would run up to 5 times per day, 350 miles per week. 88 mile round trip to Mt Spokane and back.

And that was his down week...