Oh Those Doubles!

I reach my training goal of 72 miles this week and started adding doubles to my week. Doubles in ultramarathon training are when you run 2 long runs on consecutive days. The theory is that your legs will not be fully recovered yet when you start the second long run and this will mimic running on legs that feel like they are already halfway though and ultra. In that sense it works because that is exactly how my legs felt. The first few miles can be really hard as my swollen and stiff legs get warmed up. Then as I get into the run things get better and somehow I made it though each time. To make things a little easier on the second run, I am alternating between 8 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking. My first double started on Sunday 2/17 when I ran 22 miles on the roads around home. This was followed up by 18 miles in the hills below Red Rock on some awesome trails I ran with a friend. I found out the trail we were on goes all the way to Harris Springs Road which connects to Mt. Charleston which opens up some awesome options for a long mountain run crossing the Spring mountains from east to west. I ran the the second double yesterday 20 miles and today 18 miles which included a 1,500 foot climb up Potosi Mountain on HWY 160 which leads to Pharump. What have you added to your running/training routine lately?