Pros and Cons of Running Doubles

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Fit your run inMy marathon training plan has me running pretty high mileage during the week. I usually have at least one 7-mile run midweek and in the coming weeks I’ll be logging upwards of 20 miles between my runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. While my training plan is a little more aggressive than a typical first-time marathoner training schedule, many marathon training plans, no matter the experience level of the runner, have at least one high mileage day during the week. If you’re like me and have a pretty busy work schedule, it’s hard to log the mileage in one run so I opt to split it up during the day and run what’s referred to as a double, or running twice in one day, a.k.a. two-a-days.

At first, I was weary about doing this because I thought I might not be getting the full benefit of a 7 or 8-mile run on a Wednesday, but after asking around and a little research, I learned running doubles actually has more pros than cons. If done correctly, running a double can boost fitness and build mileage (without feeling like you’ve been running forever).

When I have a double day on my schedule, like I did on Wednesday, I like to make one run a “workout” and the other an easy, recovery run. Since I’m training for Big Sur, my workout focus was on hills. I had to run a total of 7 miles for the day but instead went out for a 6 mile run at lunch that included two intense hills with an elevation grade that looks like this:

Screen Shot 2013-03-22 at 2.47.30 PM

Since I already got 6-miles of my daily mileage total done, after work I only had to run a mile so I opted for a slow, recovery run at the gym followed by tons of stretching and some strength exercises.

This was a more intense double day than I usually do. Usually I’ll split up a 7-mile run into a 4-mile tempo run at lunch followed by a 3-mile recovery run after work. I prefer to do my second run at the gym because then I’m able to get some strength training in after but you can do it outside too.

One tip I have for running doubles is to make sure you do some dynamic stretching before your second run. You’re muscles are going to be a little tight from your first run, especially if it was a workout, so you want to make sure you warm up before going right into the run. Then, as always, be sure to stretch out after your second run and hydrate- running twice in one day takes more out of you than you think!

Still not convinced about the benefits of two-a-days? Don’t you fret, of course I asked Twitter for its opinion on the pros and cons of running doubles. Here’s what people had to say:

There are also some cons though, although the majority seem to revolve around having to shower twice in one day.

So if you can get past showering twice in one day, endless hunger and not to mention some extra laundry, two-a-days really aren’t that bad. At the end of the day you have to ask yourself: how bad do you want it and how much are you willing to work for your goal?

Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day 10-K Race Recap

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Post race celebrations with Paige and Lindsey!

Post race celebrations with Paige and Lindsey!

Last weekend I ventured back to Massachusetts to run the infamous Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race, a 10-K in the small western Massachusetts city known to have the second largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the country (this is no joke).

I registered for the race with a group of my best friends from home, which included my cousin (and faithful running buddy) Paige, my other running buddy Lindsey, another friend Lindsay, and Paige and Lindsay’s’ boyfriends, Johnny and John. No, we never get confused with all the common names.

Anyway, we all had very different goals going into this 10-K. Paige, Lindsey and myself are all training for marathons and had a long 17-miler on the schedule for the day after the race. Lindsay is training for her first half and was using this as a training run. John was trying to PR and go for a sub-50 10-K which he blew out of the water with a 46-minute finish. And Johnny just joined in for fun and beat all the girls.

Because I had a long run to do the next day I made myself promise not to race this road race. That last all of a mile and a half before I got way too excited and wanted to run faster.

The race began at 1:00 p.m., which was the latest start time I’ve ever experienced and made fueling beforehand difficult. We got to the start early because there were 7,000 people registered to run (just under 6,000 actually crossed the finish) so we wanted to ensure we’d have time to park and get to our corral.

We didn’t even know there would be corrals until we got there and made the joint decision to jump in the 8:00/mile section. The corral was packed and there was hardly enough room for me to sync my Garmin, let alone tie a shoe or stretch. But this helped because it was a cold, windy day so body heat was welcomed.

The race itself went really well. The course was pretty hilly, with the first major hill coming at mile 2, followed by a stretch of rolling hills until about mile 4. A huge downhill came just around 4.5 miles and it was a great opportunity for runners to kick up the pace and eat some time. I came running down the hill at 7:40/mile pace.

Overall the race was well organized and I thought the course was great. The people of Holyoke came out in droves and provided excellent spectator support along the entire route, which really helped to power runners up the hills. I think it would have been great if the race organizers provided an elevation chart prior to the race so runners could know where the hills were to better strategize how they were going to handle the course but I couldn’t find any so I just had to wing it.

My official time came in at 53:55, an 8:34/mile average. Splits:

Mile 1 – 9:14/mile
Mile 2 – 9:22/mile
Mile 3 – 8:55/mile
Mile 4 – 8:42/mile
Mile 5 – 7:41/mile
Mile 6 – 7:56/mile
Mile 7 – 2:03/mile (for 0.28)

I think, had I intended to actually race the course and planned out a strategy, I could have done better but this is a hard race to race if you’re not at the front of the pack. The first two miles were slow because the field was so congested. I think the hills split up the field a bit which helped but the beginning definitely hurts times for runners not at the front.

Despite some minor changes, I would absolutely run this race again, especially given the same company I had during and after the race. There’s a huge block party following the race and being able to spend the time with my friends was the icing on the cake!

A prerace photo with my friends before the Holyoke St. Patrick's Day 10-K!

A prerace photo with my friends before the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day 10-K!

Big Sur Marathon Training: Week Eight

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A prerace photo with my friends before the Holyoke St. Patrick's Day 10-K!

A prerace photo with my friends before the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day 10-K!

This past week was a great one for training. I was able to get in all my training runs, including my first ever attempt at Yasso 800s and my first 10-K (race). I also was able to go back to Massachusetts for the weekend to spend time with my close friends and family and honestly, it was the most perfect weekend. I couldn’t have asked for a better week of running and I hope this week will be the same! Here are my workouts:

Monday: Cross-training day. I went to metabolic boot camp at the gym after work. It was no-repeats Monday and we did four circuits with five different exercises for 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off.

Tuesday: Easy 5-miler in 44:00 at 8:52/mile pace.

I thought this run was going to be awful because for one, it was on the treadmill, and secondly, I forgot my headphones and there’s nothing worse than running 5 miles on the treadmill with only Sports Center on repeat to keep you entertained. So, I decided to entertain myself by running intervals. During ever commercial break I cranked the speed up to 7.1 mph and during the show I ran at 6.6 mph. This kept be entertained enough to make it through the run feeling great.

Wednesday: Easy 3-mile in 25:12 at 8:24/mile pace.

This was a really great, short lunchtime run. My shorter distance runs are starting to get much faster and what’s even better is the faster average pace is feeling easier. I think after Big Sur, during the summer, I’m going to focus on shorter distance races and trying to get faster overall. My splits:

Mile 1 – 8:32/mile
Mile 2 – 8:23/mile
Mile 3 – 8:16/mile

Thursday: Yasso 800s- 7 miles with 6×800 at goal marathon time, in 1:01:00 at 8:42/mile pace.

My first ever attempt at Yasso 800s was a success! (And that’s a good thing because Bart himself came over to my cubicle on Thursday to make fun of me for never having done them) My training plan called for 7 miles with 6×800 at pace. I ran this on the treadmill because I don’t have access to a track and I thought it would be the best way to make sure I hit my pace.

1-mile warmup at 9:22/mile pace.
6×800 at 4:00 with 200m in between at an easy pace.
1.5-mile cool down.

Friday: Rest day!

Saturday: Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race (10-K) – Official finish time 53:55 at 8:34/mile pace. Came in 1787 out of 5777 (top 30 percent!) overall and 332 out of 1657 for my age group (women 2-39 years old) which was top 20 percent!

I ran my first 10-K ever Saturday and while I wasn’t trying to race it I ended up doing pretty well! The course was extremely hilly which I thought would be hard but didn’t turn out to be too bad except for the final hill right before the finish. My splits:

Mile 1 – 9:14/mile
Mile 2 – 9:22/mile
Mile 3 – 8:55/mile
Mile 4 – 8:42/mile
Mile 5 – 7:41/mile
Mile 6 – 7:56/mile
Mile 7 – 2:03/mile (for 0.28)

Sunday: 17-mile long, slow distance in 2:49:00 at 9:56/mile pace.

Probably wasn’t the best idea to run my long run the day after racing but lesson-learned. It was really great though to get to run with my cousin Paige and my friend Lindsey. We took it really easy because we were all tired from yesterday’s 10-K that we promised we wouldn’t race but ended up racing anyway. It was also a tough route we ended up choosing because there were a ton of hills but it was a really nice run. The wind set us back a bit too but overall, a great run with great friends.

Total mileage: 38 miles

See all training recaps here.

{Monday Motivation} Life is Too Short

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I had one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time with some of my best friends and my family. I went back to Massachusetts to run a race and spend the weekend with friends I hadn’t seen since I moved to Pennsylvania. We did a lot of running and catching up and I couldn’t have asked for more. I hope y’all had great weekends too! Happy running this week!

3.18.13 life is too short

{Friday Faves} Reads, Runs and Raves

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I know I’ve missed this for the past few weeks but I’m going to be honest with you, it wasn’t until this week that I found some things on the interwebs that were Friday Faves worthy. But boy did the World Wide Web come back with a vengeance and serve me up a big healing on Internet awesomeness.

  • First, and most importantly, yesterday social media came through in the clutch to make all of my Pi(e) Day dreams come true. This is a MUST read story (even if it’s a bit of shameless self-promotion… – It’s a Pi(e) Day Miracle via me on Storify.
  • Keeping with the shameless self-promotion theme, I was in Runner’s World video about a breathing technique called “rhythmic breathing” that goes along with our April issue feature on how to breathe while running. – Breathe Right via Runner’s World.
  • After reading a hilarious and awesome review of the new Oiselle sports bras, I decided, I must get my tatas in them asap (I ordered the strappy!) – Have Boobs Will Test Your Sports Bras via Once Upon a (L)ime
  • Greatist re-designed their website this week and now they have these wicked awesome community pages so the greatists of the world can interact! Check them out and join the conversation! – #imagreatist community via Greatist
  • Then there’s this, and it’s awesome:

badass

Also, from this very Irish girl to all of you, Happy St. Paddy’s Day! I’ll be celebrating by running a 10-K in Massachusetts with my closest friends on Saturday, followed by an 18-mile long run with them Sunday, which will no doubt be followed by some celebratory St. Paddy’s Day beers! Cheers!

On Marathon Training and Getting (Much) Faster

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(source: Pinterest)

(source: Pinterest)

I tend to get a little bit ahead of myself when it comes to goals. For example, when I first started running last March I registered for a goal 5-K race, but when I had to miss it to cover a story for work, I registered for a new race- a 4-miler. What’s one more mile I thought?

After a successful race, in the pouring rain, I decided, on a bit of a whim and a lot of peer-pressure from my cousin, to register for a half-marathon. Couch-to-5K-to-4-mile-to-Half-Maraton, sounds good right? No problem.

Before we even finished training for the half, my cousin begged me to register for a full marathon with her and our friend Lindsey, less than 14 weeks away. While I was heavily considering it, and even wrote a blog post about it, I knew it would be a bad idea- too much too soon. Then, my body decided to pull in the reins by giving me a lovely, painful bout of IT Band Syndrome to remind me I wasn’t Shalane Flanagan and I needed to calm down.

I ran the half and was really happy with my finish. It wasn’t fast, it wasn’t the best race, but I finished 13.1 miles. Woah. Then I landed a position as an editor at Runner’s World. If I thought the peer pressure to race from my cousin was bad, the peer pressure at Runner’s World is on a whole other level. But it’s healthy right?

It took my fellow staffers about five minutes to convince me to run my second half-marathon in January with less than a month to train, but I set a PR, by 17 minutes! Coming off of that I was confident and ready to make the distance leap up to a full marathon- the Big Sur International Marathon to be exact.

I’ve been training for the Big Sur for about eight weeks now and I’ve been feeling really good. I’ve been running my highest mileage weeks ever and my longest distances ever- longest run so far ahs been 18 miles. I knew what I was getting myself into with the mileage, and it didn’t surprise me that I’d be able to handle it because the build-up is so gradual. What I didn’t expect to see was an difference in my average paces.

Since I started running my average paces have always hovered around the mid-9-minute mile range. This was fine by me because I wasn’t experienced at racing and since I kept increasing my distances, the goal was always just to finish, not to hit any specific time goal. But now, my mid-week short runs of 3, 4 and 5 miles have been averaging 8-minute per mile paces and sometimes, on the 3 and 4-mile runs, the mid-7-minute per mile paces. This is new. Who do I think I am, being all fast and whatnot?  The more alarming (exciting?) part is this- it doesn’t feel hard.

Basically, I’m starting to get faster and I don’t know what to do about it since I’m currently training for a marathon. I don’t want to take these faster paces out on a long run because that sounds like a recipe for disaster and/or (probably) injury. But, I also don’t want to lose this newfound sense of speed. See my dilemma?

Circling back to how I opened this post, I’m getting ahead of myself, both literally and figuratively. I need to focus on the goal at hand and that is to complete Big Sur, my first marathon. The course is not an easy one but I want to finish feeling good and having enjoyed the experience. I can’t and won’t be able to maintain these faster average paces for a whole 26.2 miles but that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to use them after the marathon.

So, I’ve decided this summer, post marathon recovery of course, I’m going to focus on shorter distances. Focusing on shorter distances will help me to get faster and more importantly, teach me how to race. Since I will have hit my goal distance PR with Big Sur (I never plan on doing more than 26.2 miles in one race) I need to get back to basics and learn how to race. This is going to help me not only with shorter distances but with the next marathon I run. While I believe in dreaming big and making goals, I also know getting ahead of myself too much can lead to injury or burnout. I’m going to take the rest of this training day-by-day and if I’m feeling good enough on a short run to run faster, then I will. If not, I’ll see you this summer 7-minute miles!

Do you sometimes get ahead of yourself with running goals? How do you deal with it?

Big Sur Marathon Training: Week Seven

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Photo from Sunday's recovery run through Trexler Park.

Photo from Sunday’s recovery run through Trexler Park.

Another week down, another week closer to the starting line. Training went really well this week. It included an early morning run, speedy mile splits, yoga, a glorious long run and shorts! The weather over the weekend was absolutely gorgeous and has put me in the best mood (despite losing an hour of sleep). While this warm weather is not here to stay for very long it gave us all a taste of what’s to come: SPRING! Here is a recap of my workouts last week:

Monday: XT – Did a 50-minute yoga class at the gym at work. This class was a bit more challenging than one’s I’ve done in the past- which was a good thing. She had us doing a bunch of hip openers and twists which felt so good. Nice way to start off the week!

Tuesday: Easy 7 miles in 1:03:00 at 9:00/mile pace.

This was my longest pre-work run ever and honestly it felt great! I’m sitting in my cubicle now and I feel like I’ve already accomplished so much today! The run itself was really great too. I went out sans music because it was still kind of dark and I didn’t want to risk getting hit by a car. My splits were pretty good too which was really great. Overall, awesome run!

Mile 1 – 9:39/mile
Mile 2 – 8:59/mile
Mile 3 – 9:05/mile
Mile 4 – 9:24/mile
Mile 5 – 9:01/mile
Mile 6 – 8:52/mile
Mile 7 – 8:44/mile

Wednesday: 4-mile lunch run in 32:30 at 8:07/mile pace.

My lunch run went much better than anticipated. I thought it was going to be terrible, especially since there was supposedly a huge snowstorm coming and it decided to be super windy/rainy/snowy during my whole run. Alas, it was a great run and I don’t know where this speed is coming from on my shorter runs but I’m not complaining! My splits were:

Mile 1 – 8:35/mile
Mile 2 – 8:07/mile
Mile 3 – 8:15/mile
Mile 4 – 7:38/mile

Thursday: 7 miles total for the day, broken up into two runs.

Run 1 of 2: 5 miles in 45:16 at 8:52/mile pace. This was the first run of the day at lunchtime. I felt really good during this run and my paces were really great. I took it easy but I’m starting to notice what now feels like an easy pace is actually a lot faster than I’m used to. I had to do a total of 7 miles for the day but unfortunately for me, that’s too much for a lunch run. My splits were:

Mile 1 – 9:01/mile
Mile 2 – 8:51/mile
Mile 3 – 9:02/mile
Mile 4 – 8:51/mile
Mile 5 – 8:44/mile

Run 2 0f 2: 2 miles in 18:00 at 9:00/mile pace. This was the second run of the day, after work and on the treadmill. I took it really easy with the pace because I’ll admit, I’m afraid to run fast on the treadmill. My legs felt good though and it was a nice, easy run to wrap up the day.

30 minutes of strength training- Arms and core exercises.

Friday: Rest day- foam rolling and stretching

Saturday: 16 miles in 2:28:24 at 9:16/mile pace. (My last 16-miler was completed in 2:34:00- HUGE improvement!)

This run was absolutely AMAZING! It was a whole 6 minutes faster than my last 16-miler AND I set a half-marathon PR of 2:01 during the first 13-miles, who does that?! Seriously though, I needed this after last week’s terrible 12-mile run. I felt great the whole time, the weather was an unbelievable 55 degrees and sunny, and I think I finally got my fueling down (although I wouldn’t have minded more water). I went out a little fast to start but scaled back my pace in the middle to remain pretty consistent. Splits:

(1) 9:16

(2) 8:49

(3) 8:58

(4) 9:09

(5) 9:18

(6) 9:18

(7) 9:06

(8) 9:26

(9) 9:22

(10) 9:25

(11) 9:21

(12) 9:47 (humongous hill)

(13) 9:26

(14) 9:25

(15) 9:24

(16) 8:54

Sunday: 3.35 mile recovery run in 31:00 at 9:15/mile pace. I went for a nice recovery run through a local park with my roommate. It was just too beautiful out and instead of going on my normal running route, my roommate suggested we check out a park nearby instead. The park was PACKED with runners, cyclists, families and puppies. So fun!

Total mileage: 37 miles

See all training recaps here.

Monday Motivation: Strength Will Find You

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If you live on the East Coast, especially in the northeast like myself, you probably experienced the insanely beautiful weather this weekend! This weather put me in such a great mood and my 16-miler went better than I ever could have expected because of it. After a terrible long run the weekend before, my long run this weekend left me feeling strong and confident. I hope everyone has great runs this week. Happy running!

(source: Pinterest)

(source: Pinterest)

It’s My One Year Run-niversary!

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Finishing the Disney Half-Marathon with a 17-minute PR.

Finishing the Disney Half-Marathon with a 17-minute PR.

Today marks my one-year run-niversary! I really don’t want this post to be all sappy and cliché about how running has changed my life and all that blah, blah, blah. But the truth is, it really has- and not just because I’m now training for a full marathon, it’s changed my whole way of life.

Literally, a year ago, I kid you not, running a mile seemed like an impossible task. I would make excuses to avoid any sort of running. My cousin would ask me to go out on a 3-mile run with her during the summer and I’d reject the offer every single time. When I look back, I’m not sure if it was because I didn’t think I could run that far, I think it was more that I was afraid and insecure about running.

When I started running, those insecurities did not go away. In fact, they took months to go away. I only ran on the treadmill, at the gym, on a very low speed. I was afraid to run outside because of passing cars, nervous my form was awkward or that I’d get to a certain point and not be able to turn around and run home. I was also afraid to run with other people because I was insecure about my pace, my breathing, and my (sometimes) lack of motivation.

But in a year’s time, all of that has gone away. Now I loathe the treadmill and will do anything to be able to run outside. I went from a run-walk a year ago, to being able to run 18 miles in a single shot today. My paces used to hover around the mid 10:00/mile speed to now the low 8:00/mile and even some 7:00/mile paces lately. All within a year.

In this past year, my running has taken me to places I never thought it would. I’ve been lucky to find support through social media and this blog, and that support is what has kept me logging all those miles. I’ve developed relationships with runners all across the country and people are now turning to me for advice, which is something that continues to humble me every day. I also went from being just a blogger to an online editor at the nation’s leading running magazine, and that’s definitely not something I take lightly.

I think a lot of times, we, as runners, can get intimidated by other more experienced runners. I know I do but I also know the effort, strength and devotion it took for me to get to where I am now with my running. When I started this journey a year ago, I never could have imagined where it would take me. But when I look back at all the amazing gifts running has given me, the one I cherish most and will continue to build on is my self-confidence. Before I started to run I was able to slap on a smile and express faux-confidence but after this year, I know how to truly be confident in my own skin.

One of the first running blogs I ever read when I started this journey a year ago was Dorothy Beal’s blog Mile Posts. Her story was very similar to mine and I admired her drive and flat-out honesty. My favorite quote from her that has kept me going this year is “I run this body.” It’s me. I’m the one who had brought my body across two half-marathon finish lines and countless shorter races throughout this year. I’m the one who brought this body to the track after work on 90-degree summer days just so I could work on my speed. I ran this body through rain, sleet, snow, humidity and wind, just so I could prove to myself that I was strong enough to do it. I run this body and I will continue to run this body until I physically cannot take another step. I’ve still got a lot to learn but so far, I can say with confidence, I’ve enjoyed this journey to fit…

Respect the Long Run – No Matter the Distance

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(source: Pinterest)

(source: Pinterest)

A few months ago, before I began training for Big Sur, I was talking with my Dad about running. My Dad is a 16-time marathon veteran, a nine-time Boston Marathoner, repping a 3:09 PR. He started running during the first running boom, which he describes as the “hippie days” of running, and while he doesn’t run very often anymore, he is still a vault of knowledge when it comes to anything having to do with running.

At the time of our conversation, I was getting ready to run my first half-marathon and in the midst of dealing with a pretty bad IT Band flare-up. He told me, “Hannah, running is like riding a rollercoaster- it can get you so high to the point of feeling invincible and send you crashing down in a second.” But, he reminded me, at some point the ride levels out.

I remembered this conversation while I was running my 12-mile long run last Saturday. It was a cutback week for me and I thought to myself, “12 miles, that’s a piece of cake!” Maybe I was overzealous coming off of successful back-to-back 16, 18, and 15-mile long runs. I was climbing the roller coaster and didn’t realize I was in for a long downwind decent. All I know is that 12-miler was one of my worst long runs in a long time.

But, you know what? It wasn’t just me who had a bad long run last weekend. In fact, many of my friends training for spring races had bad weekend runs. One person, who was also on a cutback week, said it perfectly – “I didn’t respect the long run.”

I know I didn’t respect the long run last weekend and the long run knew it too. Did I have to stay up until 12:30 the night before? Was it a great idea to try to squeeze in my run before a hair appointment in the late morning? I allotted myself 45 minutes of prep time before heading out the door, was that enough to digest my cereal and coffee? The answer to all of these is probably not.

I think it’s common in marathon training, at least in my experience, to assume the shorter long runs are going to be easy. But it’s that kind of thinking that leads to being less prepared for these shorter long runs. I tend to put the 16, 18, and 20 (which I have yet to do) milers on a pedestal. But in earnest, all long runs should be put on that same pedestal.

So why was the 12-miler such a bad run? It wasn’t that I was hurting and it wasn’t that I wanted to stop, I just felt like my heart wasn’t in it. My stomach felt terrible for some reason and all I could focus on was getting back to my apartment, showering and making it to my appointment on time. But looking back on this run, maybe I was not as prepared for it as I am for longer long runs, but I will take that as a lesson learned.

A blogger friend of mine, Michele Gonzales, had a less-than-fantastic long run last weekend as well. In her blog post about it, she said, as much as she enjoys a successful long run, there’s a lot to learn from the bad ones too. Whether a run is good or bad, short or long, goal pace or easy, there’s something to learn from every run. While these ups and downs can be strenuous, they are what levels us out in the end, so we can make it to the starting line, knowing what works.