Weekly Workout: Double Run Day with Tempo

I love double run days! You know you are getting in good running shape when you can handle 2 runs in one day. For those of you who have not done this challenge, you might find that you implement it every week after trying it. It is very effective at upping your mileage in a sneaky way. I begin doing a lot of double run days when I want to get my mileage over 80 miles a week. It gives your legs and feet a little break between runs and spreads out the impact making it easier to handle higher mileage. On the downside, it can be time consuming and can require more showers than usual. One of the runs will be a quality run, a short tempo. The other run will be an easy recovery run. I also suggest that you begin keeping track of your workouts every day so you can see how your training affects your performance and daily life.

Summary for the week:

• Begin keeping track of your daily workouts 
• Do a 'two run day' (tempo quality run + recovery run), 
• try a yoga class
• practice 2 days of clean eating

Miles: Quality run will be 6 miles, recovery run will be 4-9 miles. Total of 10-15 miles

Elevation Gain: Not important

The Workout: You will do two runs. One run, preferably in the morning, will be your Quality Workout. By "quality" I mean that you will put a lot of effort into it. The other run will be recovery. By "recovery" I mean that you will run easy. If anything ever feels hard on a recovery run back off and ease up. The recovery run is not designed to make you a better runner like the quality run is. It is designed to get your legs used to the stress of running higher mileage, to loosen you up, keep your metabolism up, and aid in recovery.

Quality Tempo: Run 1 mile easy as a warm up. Run the next 3 miles (5k) at your 10k race pace (hard tempo). If you don't know your 10k race pace, then run the 5k at a pace that feels intense. By intense I mean that you should feel uncomfortable but be able to maintain this pace for 10k (6.2 miles). Run the last 2 miles easy as a cool down.

Recovery Run: Run between 4 and 9 miles on your second run of the day. Notice how your legs and body feel. Be sure to take it very easy. Easier than you think you should. Slow down, enjoy the views.

Additional Challenge for Overachievers: Last week we did a day of clean eating. This week try doing 2 days of clean eating. In addition, I challenge you to do a yoga class this week. I recommend that if you don't already have a studio you go to that you choose a location that only does yoga. In other words, don't pick a gym or athletic center with yoga. Yoga studios will have more choices and usually be higher quality than the classes you find in gyms. Become a yoga snot from the start. My favorite classes are Power Vinyasa classes. For more on running and yoga, go to my Yoga for Runners Page.

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