Doubling Up: The Benefits of Running twice a day

Pressed for time and struggling to fit in the mileage? Running twice a day can be a great way to increase your cumulative mileage, as well as actively aiding recovery and boosting endurance.

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More Miles, Reduced Recovery Time

Doubling up allows you to increase your training load and mileage, whilst reducing stresses on the body, and aiding recovery. The trick is to think of your extra run as a key recovery tool, helping your body to recover more quickly and more efficiently, while at the same time boosting mileage.

Heading out for an easy run within 4-10 hours of a key workout is shown to help aid recovery from the first workout by increasing blood flow to the muscles and flushing out lactic acid and other metabolic waste products…meaning fresher legs for your next run. Further, by shortening the time between runs, you’re teaching your body to recover faster.

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Enhanced Endurance and Fat Burning

Running twice a day puts your body into a glycogen depleted state, training the body to run in a semi-starved or depleted state and to use alternative sources of fuel such as stored fat. This in turn helps train the body to adapt to use and store muscle glycogen more efficiently and become more efficient at burning fat, increasing the size and number of muscle capilliaries & mitochondria – and essentially teaching the body to keep going when fatigued. You also get the doubled benefit of a post exercise metabolic spike, and a peak in recovery hormones and enzyme production.

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Doubling up suits time crunched runners

If you’re pushed for time, doubling up allows you to fit in more miles alongside a busy schedule. It can be tough fitting in added mileage around the pressures of work and family, but breaking up your mileage can make it easier to fit running around your commitments. It’s also physically and psychologically easier to run shorter distances twice rather than one continuous long run.

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HOW AND WHEN TO DOUBLE UP

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Experienced Runners Benefit More

Doubling up benefits experienced runners with good base mileage more than less experienced runners running fewer miles. This is because running between 60 and 90 minutes is the optimal threshold for building aerobic endurance, and therefore maximising the number of runs you spend within this range will have the most endurance benefits.

So, if you’re running less than 30-40 miles a week, a longer single run of 60-90 minutes is more effective than two shorter runs of 30-40 minutes, which although still beneficial, won’t build endurance as much as a long single run. On the other hand experienced runners who already have good base mileage and maximised aerobic development will benefit from boosted recovery, enhanced training adaptations and reduced stress on the body by doubling up their runs.

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Primary Goal is Recovery

Bear in mind that a primary goal from doubling up should be to promote recovery. Always make one run an easy run, for example don’t follow a tempo run with intervals. Instead add an easy run on days of speed workouts, tempo runs and medium distance runs.

It’s fine to add your easy run either before or after your key workout - in the morning an easy run will help to loosen up muscles and prime the body for later, and after a hard workout will help promote recovery by helping flush blood, oxygen and nutrients to tired muscles.

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Don’t break up the long run

Doubling up is not a substitute for the long run - certain metabolic and endurance adaptations can only be obtained by long, continuous running.

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Build up gradually

As with all new training stimuli, it’s important to introduce this new activity gradually, and to allow the body time to adapt. Only double up once a week to begin with, apply the 10% rule, and gradually build up from there. Always make one run easy and ideally try to leave 6 hours between runs, making sure to rehydrate and refuel between. Listen to your body, stay alert for any aches and pains and find the formula that suits you best.

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