What is the most effective way to run doubles? Running around 70 miles right now but want to bump that up to get to around 90. been running 70 for past month no really hard workouts. long runs around 16 miles. before this month I took a month off after the chicago marathon. peaked around 90 for that race. want to increase mileage back up but do not want to get injured in the process. will doubles help me get there? thanks!
"What is the most effective way to run doubles?"
there is no such thing as "the most effective way..." there is only whatever way works for you.
when I did this, I ran a fairly short distance to work in the morning (3 - 5 miles) and ran a much longer route to get home in the late afternoon (8 - 14). depending on the day I broke up the afternoon session into progressives or a tempo or an easy start with a race pace finish or whatever was required for the day. If I was working on Sunday I did my long run late in the evening and took a rest day on Monday.
Mike Gratton was a geography teacher and he did his the other way round; a longish run to work in the morning and a shorter, sharper, session in the evening. Ian Thompson also ran the long bit in the morning and did track work or other "up-tempo" sessions in the evenings. experiment with stuff and figure out what works for you.
the one thing I will say is that you should start easy and not expect to get results quickly. it takes time to adapt and you should give yourself 2 - 3 weeks (at least) to settle into a routine before pushing the length or pace.
good luck.
Malmo started out doing doubles by adding two miles in the morning. Start with that and go from there.