Friday, August 22, 2008

Two-a-Days

Today I started a training segment of two-a-day runs in order to get ready for the 48 Miles in 48 Hours event in October. I ran 4.5 miles this morning and 4.3 miles this afternoon for a total of close to 9 miles.

Since this was the first time I did it, I wanted to keep the mileage reasonable and not go out too crazy. I'm a little tired, but it feels more like I just did one run rather than two.

I won't be running two-a-days every day, but I'm planning to do it at least once a week--probably twice. I need to get my body in the habit of running multiple times a day and recovering in between.

For the 48 Miles in 48 Hours event, I'll actually need to run three times a day, two days in a row of 8-mile segments each. There's no time crunch, but I'd like to do it in a respectable time. That means that my body has to cooperate which requires, at the least, good fueling.

After my morning run, I had a Smart Choice pizza, almonds, a Clif Bar, yogurt and blueberries. For dinner, I have a huge piece of chicken (boneless/skinless, of course) and a piece of swordfish (wild) with a side of vegetables. I'm going to get my protein in if it kills me (and it just might).

I have to admit: I did love going out that second time. Makes me almost feel like an ultrarunner, which is a title I can actually claim in a couple of months.

4 comments:

Susan said...

Sounds like a GREAT idea!

Marlene said...

48 miles in 48 hours... not something I could (or would) attempt right now, but I'll look forward to reading about your experience.

CewTwo said...

Glutton! Glutton for punishment, that is!

If it works for you, it has got to be a good thing.

Of course, I think when a quick water and Gu stop takes more than a minute, it may qualify as a 2 a day!

Good luck, friend! Keep it up!

ShirleyPerly said...

Will you train to do three-a-days too as for your 48 in 48 event?

A couple years back when I was running much higher mileage, I used to do 8-10 miles in the morning on my own and another 5-6 in the evenings as part of a group speed workout. I don't know if I could have run another 8 in the afternoon or done the same the next day. Perhaps if the last workout wasn't so killer and I'd focused more on recovery between the two (did not do any ice water baths). Will be interested in seeing what you do.