Doubles. I doubt this term has any real meaning outside of the world of competitive distance running, but it's the topic of today's training talk. Outside of running they use terms like "two-a-days". The implication is usually that the two-a-days are out of the norm; a special, relatively short-term period of intense training. In distance running, this is not the case: for us, doubles are the norm.
I am, as a rule, a very hard person to convince of anything. Some have even said I have a tendency towards cynicism. But the argument for training twice a day is this: 99% of all elite distance runners, for at least the last 50 years, have run twice a day. Every day? Maybe not. But nearly all distance runners, who for the most part train very differently, do 10-13 runs per week. As the great Haile Gebrselassie famously said, "I run twice a day every day but Sundays and Christmas." And personally I don't see why we can't run twice on Christmas.
So why doesn't everyone run twice a day? Well I would guess that the bulk of weekend warriors, of which I count myself a proud member, just don't care to actually change into running clothes and sweat twice a day. Which I understand. I mean, I don't particularly enjoy these 100+ degree afternoon runs. And the fact of the matter is, we all make compromises between achieving our potential in a particular endeavor (in this case distance running) and having a good, balanced life. But, assuming that someone is actually interested in coming close to whatever their "potential" is, why would they not run doubles?
Honestly I don't really know. There's a weird misconception that running twice a day is somehow harder than running once per day. And maybe that's true if you really believe that running is some sort of arduous task; something you should fear. But I believe that once you've gotten used to the daily grind of being a runner - once you've really taken on the lifestyle of a serious runner, a 2nd run should be a nice way to loosen your legs, and an easy way to pack a little more mileage into your week, not some chore to be avoided if possible.
I'll close with an anecdote from one of the best and worst places on the internet to discuss distance running, letsrun.com. This particular post comes from one of the old letsrun regulars, "malmo", or George Malley, former American record holder in the 3000m steeplechase and half marathon. In it, he discusses training with a young Terrence Mahon, who would later gain more fame for coaching Ryan Hall to a 2:06 marathon and 59:43 half marathon than he got for his own athletic career.
"In 1989 Terrence Mahon was in the same place as many of you today. As a college freshman at the University of Oregon he sucked. He hadn't improved since his junior year of high school (9:13.6 2 mile in 1987). He decided to get serious and train for the Summer and asked me about how he should go about doing it. I told him to bump his mileage up and do doubles every day he could. Eager to improved he asked "what happens if I get tired?" I said, "IF? I know you'll get tired, it will pass." About three weeks later he reported back to tell me his training was going great and he was not feeling so fatigued anymore. Wud I say?
"Terrance went from being an unknown to his coach in June to All-America 5 months later in November. He ran a sub 29:00 10k in December of 89, which still ranks as a top 10 US Junior performances.
"Terrence had the same gift that many of you have back in May of 89. He just never bothered to use it until June."
I could post up a hundred more examples, from this year's 2nd place finisher at the Boston marathon to this year's World Cross Country Champion. But it's getting late, so I'll yield to old Malmo one more time. After all, I couldn't say it better myself:
"Runners around the world do doubles. You should too. Of the hundreds of athletes that I've known and trained with, I don't know any who ran singles."
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