Hi, a few weeks ago I realised that I probably shouldn't do my Saturday run as I was doing a big hike in the Sunday, so I "doubled up" and did the programme twice on Thursday.
It probably wasn't the best idea as my legs still weren't feeling very fresh on the Sunday!
Anyway, I have carried on doing double on Thursdays as I have time and run in a nice place on that day.
However! Tomorrow's run is week 5/3 with the first 20 minutes continuous run. I'd be mad to double that... Surely?!
Just wondered if anyone else has doubled up sessions and how it has gone!
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Bimbalander
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Always take your rest days. Any activity that relies on muscle strength is going to cause the muscle fibres to tear. These are micro tears, and (when they repair), the muscle gets stronger and more developed. If the muscle is exercised too frequently the tears never heal, the muscle does not repair or strengthen. This can lead to more serious injuries.
After 16 months of running (including some injury time) I have once once done consecutive days running, the second being a short one, and it gave me a lot of discomfort, so I ended up taking 5 days off (running, not work!)
In my opinion, it's just not worth the risk of injury.
Some would say taking a plan that was carefully devised to minimise injury risk and running it twice in a day was mad... so yes, being set for 20 minute and running 40 would be batshit crazy. You seem to have been lucky so far, but a badly torn muscle is likely if you continue down this route... that could easily mean no running and no long walks until the winter... is it worth the risk?
I don’t know about doubling up in a day... but there are many tales of people not taking rest days and ending up injured on this forum. What’s the rush? I hadn’t done any physical activity for years... finishing this on a particular day wasn’t going to make any difference.
I think most people agree not to do it... The plan is not a tick box exercise, the time between the runs is intended for recovery and to build new muscles and to let your body adjust gradually to the exercise and increase your stamina. It doesn't mean that you cannot get to 30 min running in less time than the 9 weeks program (it could be a bit less if you go for sessions with alternate days, as you would do 7 runs in 2 weeks instead of 6), but this particular program was designed taking into account the training benefit of the breaks between runs, so if you really want a faster result, you probably need to use a different program (I don't know enough to say if that program exists)
Just to clarify, I run 3 x per week and am taking the rest days. It is just that I do an hour instead of 30 minutes on a Thursday!
Also, I have repeated weeks, even if there was a minor twinge and I am under the supervision of a podiatrist with custom inserts and an exercise programme to look after my knees.
So I'm not completely out of control!! I just have time today and a nice forest to run in so tend to do a bit more whilst I'm there...
"It is just that I do an hour instead of 30 minutes on a Thursday"
After the programme is completed, and you have done a few weeks consolidation then you can increase you run times, but even then most running forums recommend no more than a 10% increase per week .
Doubling up once a week is still likely to be damaging.
Hiya, I know the feeling to just get in with it, but others are right, doubling up is way beyond a 10% increase and not a good idea! However, I often “hike” on a Sunday and find it fine to still run on the Saturday and Monday. It’s different impact and hasn’t caused me any problems. Doubling up has proved to yourself you’ve got the stamina, so just be patient and don’t risk unnecessary injuries. Good luck and let us know.
I listened to your advice and "only" did the 30 minutes session, week 5 run 3 - the first continuous 20 minutes of running yet.
It was fine, bit tired after 15 minutes but kept it neat and tidy and just did a bit of an extra walk at the end. Best of all, NO NIGGLES, knees, ankle, old injuries behaving. WOOHOO!
The lovely thing was that I did it on the local park run course, so I sort of used it as a test of how I would feel when I get up to doing 30 mins/5k. I covered 2.4 miles with my fastest mile being 11 minutes, so I guess in another month or so I should be on target for doing the full 5k in something like 30 minutes which would be amazing.
Very clever folks, thanks for reigning me in!
(Though I will say that I think doubling up the earlier Thursday sessions has probably got me pretty fit!!)
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Double First!
Double first! 
Double celebration!!!
Doubled the running time 😱😱
First Parkrun - warm-up query
