This week’s training overlaps the New Year period and the beginning of the 13 week count down to my first 50 mile race (The Manchester to Liverpool from GB Ultras).  It’s a week that’s ran off the back of Christmas week (obvs) and seen us go to quite extremes of cold weather and the snow! 

I am also in an area that is in a Tier 4 lockdown (thanks Covid) so the routes have had to be adapted/continued to be adapted for that too.  

Weather considerations and the tier restrictions have seen me road running more this week than I’ve done in quite some time.  

A quick run down of this week’s training has been;

➡️ Monday 5.36 mile recovery run (after a 22 miler on Sunday) 

➡️ Tuesday – rest day 

➡️ Wednesday 10.04 miles trails & swimming 1km (plus a move into tier 4) 

➡️ Thursday 7.81 miles easy (New Years Eve – to take the 2020 total up to 2,200 miles for the year) 

➡️ Friday – 9.61 miles easy 

➡️ Saturday – 12 .1 miles 

➡️ Sunday 12.03 miles 

So that now gets us to the point of the article! The back to back long runs.  You’ll see from this week’s training that Fri, Sat & Sun have been on the longer side. 33.3 miles in 3 days.  

Why back to back long run? 

Is it a good idea? 

What’s it all about? 

The Back to Back Long Run 

So, the principle is simple.  You run long two or more days in a row.  You don’t start these at the length of an individual long run but you start to work up from 2 runs that you might deem to be just on the early side of being “long” or perhaps that will add up to just around the distance of your long run.  

When you get into the big big distances of ultra training then there’ll be occasions where you simply can’t do your long run all in a oner (time, injury risks, commitments etc can all factor). 

I’ve seen general rules of thumb banded about that training for a 50k should see 30-40 miles over 2 days, 35-50 miles over the 2 days for 50 milers and 40-55 miles over 2 days for 100 kms or miles. 

What’s The Point? 

The main aim is to learn to run on tired legs and a little more depleted.  In an ultra race you’re going to get tired legs and knowing that you have the capacity and capability to work on tired legs is not only a confidence builder but allows your body to adapt (rather than it being a big olde shocker). 

I do think that they have a stack more capacity than this too. 

For me the back to back long run is an opportunity to fit in those longer lumps of training in a more measured way, without me disappearing from home for long periods of time and interjected into my training means that I’m not going long long every week, which is giving my body a chance to recover from the times where I’m on my feet for longer stretches. 

They are great in the early stages for testing gear & nutrition as they aren’t so long that anything that doesn’t work can be catastrophic but long enough to be a good test. 

They are also good tenacity training.  You’re mindset comes into play with a long run generally but when you’re not done after the oner and ready to kick back and recover the double is asking for you to be ready to go again the next day.  The next day you might still have yesterday in your mind and come level of fatigue which you need to be able to work beyond in terms of what your brain is attempting to tell your body.  

Things You Need To Know 

OK, so when you’ve gone long long you seem much more able to prioritise recovery, refuel better and within your psyche know that you’ve efforted your body and it needs replenishing.  When you first start with back to back longer runs you may well be well within yourself for each individual effort and you MUST make sure you’re giving your body the same treatment as this training is based on a culmulative effort.  Day one will have likely seen you deplete your glycogen stores (your body’s energy preference) and these will need to be restocked and your body will need adequate nutriton before, during and after each individual session.  Treat it the same as your long long run!  Fuel day one with day two being focal in your mind and recover from day one as if you were hitting your long long run the next day.  

SLEEP! Make sure you’re getting a goodnights sleep between the two sessions (again, your body needs to recover). 

HYDRATE – yup, make sure that the fluid is going in after run 1.  

I like to make sure I’m eating almost immediately upon returning through the door.  Today is was wet kit off, onesie off the radiator and onto me and straight to the kitchen to munch.  I also am pretty anal about getting protein in within 30 minutes of finishing too to allow my muscles the optimum fuelling for recovery (all those little micro tears need a little assistance in healing – it’s a myth that endurance athletes don’t need protein, in fact studies show that there need is equal, if not superior to those athletes with strength/hyerthorpy in mind).  

Don’t just slump on the sofa after the sessions.  You’re body needs you to remain active in order to recover.  I like to have a walk to the coffee shop or supermarket to ensure that I have a reason to keep the legs turning over and to minimise stiffness and soreness.  

Variations 

There’s lots of ways you can implement back to back long runs.  Here’s a few examples; 

➡️ equal distance & elevation each day 

➡️ a harder effort/hilly route on day one and then an easier session the next day 

➡️ an easier run on day one and then a harder effort/hilly route on day two (to do on tired legs) 

➡️ A shorter one day one and a longer one day two 

➡️ A longer one day one and a shorter one day two 

Think about the fact that these are all switching the training stimulus and therefore thinking about what you want to get from back to back running is important.  

What To Be Aware Of With Back To Back Long Runs 

✔️  This is a hard training stimulus – make sure you have a base level of fitness that can cope with it. 

✔️  You NEED to have the ability to recover well between sessions. 

✔️  You NEED to build these up and not start at the edge of your oner long run capacity. 

✔️ NUTRITION!!!!!!! I can’t impress this one enough.  You’re asking your body to work across 2 days and you MUST dial into your nutrition in the same way as you would on a oner.  

✔️ I DEFINITELY do NOT recomended that these are undertaken as “fasted” training (<< without pre-fuelling). 

✔️  RECOVER 

✔️ LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.  If on day two your body is screaming at you then please take heed.  Yes, you are simulating running on tired legs BUT the benefits of that are entirely stripped away if you end up with a niggle or injured.  

So, just in case I wasn’t clear – NUTRITION, REST, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY, SLEEP, HYDRATION are ridiculously important.