The use/benefits of doubles

1) Check out the Summer of Malmo, if you haven't already. (Use the search function, or just use Google.)

2) Some decades back, it was found that doubles produced greater fitness than singles, in a very wide variety of sports activities. (Interestingly, the same research found no additional benefit when the doublers moved to triple sessions.)

3) Though most people do the easier run in the morning, there's nothing wrong with having your "main" session in the AM--and if you're running in considerable heat, it's probably smarter to do it then.

4) For me, personally, and for many of my students, doubles made a striking difference in fitness level--even if the total mileage was not much more than for singles. However, you should be able to build to *somewhat* more miles-per-week and actually have it feel easier than when you were doing singles.

5) General advice is to start with 2-3 nonconsecutive "double days" per week, then add another day every couple of weeks. You may find that the optimum number of double days *for you* could be anywhere between three and seven per week.

6) Be sure you're getting just as much sleep as you did when running singles. Don't short your sleep (and other recovery) to get the doubles in.

Good luck. Please periodically keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks so much for your response. How old are you students, high school, college, etc.? And can you give me an example of a double? Would an acceptable/beneficial double be 8 AM, 6 PM or what about 8x1k or a 5-6 mile tempo in the AM and 5-7 in the PM? Again thanks so much for the reply.

This is awesome! Thank you. I guess I have some reading to do.

Here are a couple of threads discussing doubles:

100 mpw on singles or doubles:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3965743

What is the science behind doing doubles:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4318634

redux - first thread wrote:

P.S. Someone the other day posted something about Dave Wottle saying that you have to wait at least 6 hours between runs for them to really be doubles. No idea what the scientists say about that. But, he has a gold medal in the 800m and I'm just a moronic desk jockey...

Good luck!

Is that the real Dave Wottle? Do we know?

I've done most of my doubles about 5 hours apart. But I don't have a gold medal. My morning run is short and slow though so the 6 hour rule may not apply.

Many of the sample Kenyan schedules I've perused show a run at 6 am and another at 10 am. I've always heard four hours separation for doubles, but mine have always been eight or more hours apart.

Here's the thread. Scroll down to read what sactomaster says.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3719627

A good read from Jaguar on the subject of doubles: http://camilleherron.com/2012/03/14/what-turkeys-and-other-studies-teach-us-about-frequency-intensity-doubles-and-rest-periods/

You are the same person who started that other thread. I find that I like to do a longer run in the morning with a shorter easy run in the afternoon. You are going to have to find out what is right for you in terms of mileage and how you run doubles. I think you should add on second runs instead of splitting up mileage.

Thanks for the responses

Damn, this is a really informative thread--I guess LRC still gets some like this. Thanks to all!