Marathon Training Journal: Day 15 – Running Doubles

Running Doubles and More

Running doubles is not a complex term. It just means running twice in a day. It's not my primary focus right now, but usually people choose this approach either to get the miles in due to their schedules or to teach their bodies to run in a glycogen depleted state. For me it's about the time factor. I'm starting to enjoy my half hour outside just before sunset.

Mondays are pretty intense training days. It is also a generally busy day at home and with work so I have to manage my time very carefully. Because of this, it's one of the high risk days for me to doubt myself and it can go either way.

I decided I want a mini version of a car wash set up at the garage door so I can walk through that on my way into the house. The brushes could be soaped up foam rollers.  Sounds perfectly practical to me. Even better if I can emerge on the other side with all my clothes dried as well.

The day seems to consist of working out, taking showers and adding to the ever growing pile of  yucky, sweaty clothes. It's really just a day of intervals between being stinky and smelling like soap (for a brief period).

Cramming Plenty in the Training Journal Entry

It starts with an easy run, activated by the 4:20 am alarm. I set my clothes out the night before and if I were awake enough at the time, I'd be wise to pray that nothing is on inside out or backwards.  But it's happened so many times before that I don't care. After tucking away 20 ounces of electrolyte water, it's warm-up time.

I come back inside, grab a few more swigs of Nuun and try to be outside, ready to start my run by or before 5:20 am.

Florida Summer Makes Me Smell Like a Swamp

It's so darn humid that I'm already dripping with sweat before I start. There's just so much moisture in the air and I'm a little stinker!

My pace stayed pretty easy this morning. I put in 10 miles, depositing trails of salty sweat everywhere I went. It felt good and there was nothing special or bad about the run. If anything, it helped me get a clear head, which is not a bad thing on a Monday.  Especially on a Monday … this is a pretty full day for me between running and non running responsibilities.

I dropped my soaked running clothes into the laundry sink, took a quick shower and got some breakfast.  Oh, and my coffee. I really like my coffee in the morning! My shoes were also wet so those went out into the garage to dry out.

No, it wasn't raining.  One of my pet peeves, especially running in the dark, is sprinkler systems. I don't mind if people (or the City for that matter) want to water their lawns, That's great. I am less pleased about sprinkler nozzles that are set on one side of the sidewalk to spray across it onto the grass on the other side.  Yeah, I know it sounds nice and cool, but firstly, this is reclaimed water.  Yuck!  And secondly, when you live in a humid climate, getting wet doesn't cool you off. It just makes your clothes heavy and they stick to your skin.

The Burn of Core Strength Workout

Somewhere in the mid to late afternoon I made a gap for the hour I needed for my core strength workout. For some reason this one felt pretty tough.

I really enjoy the strength work I don't mind that it takes me longer to get through the sets of push-ups.  That has always been one of my weaker points and it's not that I have a goal to do a certain number within a given time frame; I just like knowing that I can't keep doing them and get any worse.

The biggest problem for me is supporting my body weight on my wrists. Maybe I'm just too heavy for my own arms. Who knows? The point is, single arm and side planks make my wrists hurt and I'm not sure if there s something I can or should be doing to correct this.

By the time I went through my last round of sets, there were quite a few exercises that had me shaking as those muscles tried their best to do what they are supposed to do.

Yet I enjoy this. I know it makes me stronger. The Monday workout is also easier than the Wednesday. Aside from the push-ups, the work is in the core with some leg work. These are areas where I don't usually suffer too much. It's also helpful that I'm not carrying around a ton of fatigue from previous strength training, as is the case on a Wednesday. Still, I'm breathing pretty heavily when I take my shaky legs  through to the shower afterwards.

By the time I was done I'd spent over an hour on the workout and had to get back to my desk. I took a very quick shower and dumped the heap of wet clothing with the first batch from this morning.

Two hours to go and already running behind on getting dinner in the oven.  It's Monday. This is a busy day. We all know it and we won't starve.

Time for Running Doubles

With two sets of workout clothes and a soggy pair of shoes already piled up, I dumped the ‘regular' shorts and top I wore today into the rapidly growing laundry pile that now had a couple of towels added to it. Last set of running clothes and a different pair of shoes and I was off.

My evening runs right now have two objectives: 

1.  Get used to running later in the day (I'm preparing for a night time race)
2. It's a practical way for me to add a bit of mileage to my week without getting up even earlier in the mornings.

Although there is no structure or plan for these double runs, it is surprisingly easier to run faster at a lower effort level  It's a much hotter time of the day than the early mornings so I can only think its the less soupy air that helps. It sure makes breathing easier! I'm getting about 4 miles in every evening right now. I don't know if this will change as the plan progresses. I'll see what works as things change up.

There is also no evening run photo because I was just too tired and I forgot. I'll fix that next time.

Where Did The Day Go?

It's amazing how much time gets put into running and related workouts. I really enjoyed today, even though I am pretty tired now. My husband kindly kept an eye on the dinner while I was out running and I'm about to go battle cleanup on the laundry deck so that tomorrow doesn't smell like yesterday's runner!

While I tend to other things at home, I can also count my blessings that I have an incredibly supportive family who always stand behind me with my running.  You just can't buy that stuff and I couldn't put in the hours I do without them.

Time to head off for my final shower of the day. That will last me 12 hours and I'll be back in there again.

As for the laundry … I probably don't need to paint a picture for you. Two towels, three complete sets of workout clothes and anything else I wore during the day today are already soaking in cold water waiting to be washed.

I want that mini car wash! And sleep.