The Value of 2-a-Days

 

 

It's snowing (again) and many are probably lamenting the prospect of another couple of hours on the trainer. Well here is an option that has the multiple benefits of making good use of precious time and increasing power & endurance - - the implementaion of two-a-day workouts into your training regimen. I learned the value of two-a-days early in my career. Here are 3 examples in how the program paid dividends.

 

1. It was my 2nd year after college and I was living/working in Dallas and making initial steps into big time running. I was fortunate in that I became friends with veteran track star Jim Crawford (3:56 miler and contemporary of Jim Ryan). At the time I was a 30:30 10k guy - ok for local stuff but dog meat on any major circuit. Jim introduced me to two-a-days (junk miles in the morning and then the workout in the afternoon be it easy, fast, long) and I started out with doing them twice a week and progressed to 4x a week. In 6 months my 10k time went down to 28:50 (6th - USTAFF championships in Wichita, Kansas - winner Craig Virgin in 28:12). Increased strength translated into increased speed.

 

2. In the early Fall of 1982 I was having a fantastic stretch of running capped with a 64:36 good for 10th at the Philadelphia half-marathon. But that was the last running step of running I took until mid-May 1983 due to a sciatic nerve problem. Did that stop my progress? No. I rode the trainer (early Schwinn spiining bike) in the morning and swam in the afternoon. Every day. I trained with fury so upset at being deprived of being able to run. After getting fixed by an ostropath (love those guys), I was running again and setting the course record at the Stowe 8 miler in July (see picture of crazy man above).

 

3. Being in footwear product development at Nike and Cole Haan entailed the need for me to travel often and long to Asia. There was one time when I had to travel the two weeks before the Auburn, Maine weekend of bike races. To maintain my fitness I rode the LifeCycle 45 minutes in the morning and another 45+ minutes when I returned to the hotel. The morning rides were just piling on the time in saddle. The 2nd ride of the day constituted the "purpose" workout. I did that every day and it was ok head-wise because the 45 minutes each time was digestible. I flew back to Maine on a Friday, spun easy on the bike outside on Saturday and then lapped the field in the Great Falls Crit on Sunday.  

 

So, if the prospect of two or three hours on the trainer makes you gag. Or if you do not have time to put entended hours on the bike (even in good weather) consider doing two-a-days as a way to build strength, maintain training enthusiasm and optimize the use of precious time. I think you will appreciate the results (but your competition may not!). 

 

Hope this helps.