Races - Places?

The seconds ticked away. It was nearly time for the 8 a.m. start of the Boston Athletic Association 10-K. "Come on," I muttered, looking at my watch for the 10th time, like I had a plane to catch. Which, in fact, I did. I had to get back to New York for the 5 p.m. start of the Firecracker 5-K in Massapequa. I never run races back to back. For me, a race is a long process of planning, training, and tapering that culminates in a great deal of pain. I'm so relieved when it's over, I can't imagine racing again anytime soon. But when I mistakenly committed to two events on the same day, I realized it was either leap on the back-to-back bandwagon with a sound plan–or end up as roadkill.

For runners looking to up the agony ante, back-to-back racing—two or more events in a single day or weekend—has emerged as the latest challenge. Several races have popularized the once-inconceivable idea of doubling (or tripling) up, including most famously Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge. In 2005, the organizers of the Walt Disney World Marathon and Half-Marathon decided to run the races over two days rather than one to accommodate the growing number of participants in each distance. "Runners started telling us, 'I want to do both races,'" says Bob Hitchcock, who works with the RunDisney series. The first Goofy Challenge was held in 2006, with more than 2,700 runners completing both the half-marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday; in 2012, participation more than doubled to 6,500.

Other multirace festivals followed in Goofy's wake, including the Bermuda Triangle Challenge–because if you're traveling to beautiful Bermuda in January, why not run as much as possible? Started in 2008, the weekend includes a mile run on Friday, followed by a 10-K on Saturday and choice of a half or full marathon on Sunday. This fall, the inaugural Runner's World Half-Marathon & Festival in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, will include a similar "hat trick" option: Participants can run a 5-K and 10-K on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday. And, of course, leading the back-to-back charge are members of the 50 States Marathon Club, who, in their quest to score 26.2s across the country, sometimes race on consecutive days in neighboring states–like the New Hampshire Marathon on September 29th followed by the Maine Marathon the very next day.

It may sound crazy, but double- and triple-dipping is a bona fide–and growing–trend: According to Running USA, race festivals that offered more than one opportunity to toe a starting line made up 51.5 percent of all road events in 2011. Such growth is no surprise, as it's happening in tandem with the continued increase in running's popularity, says Ryan Lamppa, media director for Running USA. "These family- and community-centered festivals offer something for all runners," he says, "the serious, new, young, and old–and at some festivals, even the dog!"

Still. Racing twice in a single day sounded like the perfect way to inflict a season-ending injury. If I was going to double up, I wanted to do it right.

As with any slightly insane endeavor, the first key to success is an honest reckoning of experience. "Running races back to back isn't such a crazy thing to do as long as you're racing distances that are within your reach," says Bob Otto, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist and director of the Human Performance Lab at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. "I wouldn't, for example, recommend doing your first marathon as part of a double."

Since I regularly log long runs of 10 to 13 miles, whipping out a 10-K/5-K double was definitely doable. How good I would feel on race number two was an entirely different question and depended, apparently, on what I did between the races. "You might think because you have a second event coming up, you should get off your feet immediately," says elite runner Galen Rupp, who qualified for the 2011 IAAF World Championships in both the 10-K and 5-K on consecutive nights at the USA Nationals in Oregon last June. "But it's important to cool down well, keep the legs loose, and do everything you can to speed recovery." For Rupp, that means an easy two-mile jog, followed by 15 to 20 minutes of dynamic stretching, a hearty pasta dinner, an hour-long massage, and a 40-minute ice bath.

Jog, stretch, eat–I could do that. I could self-inflict a rubdown on the plane. I could pretend I took an ice bath.

My race plan was similarly straightforward–run cautiously in the 10-K and let 'er rip in the 5-K–but Dr. Otto had other ideas. "I wouldn't be planning to run a personal best in either race," he said. "You should aim for a good first race, and maybe an adequate second." The microtrauma–tiny tears and damage to my muscles–caused by running the first event would likely leave me a bit sore for the second. By the end of race number two, Dr. Otto predicted with a chuckle, "If you get in a sprint with some guy in the last quarter-mile, I might not bet on you."

When at last the starting gun went off in Boston, I tried to forget I was going to do this all over again in nine hours. We ran past a blur of brownstones and beneath the shadows of Boston University's towering academic buildings. Despite the humid weather, I felt sharp and clicked off 6:40 miles until the turnaround. I had lived in these neighborhoods as a student at Emerson College, and as my energy flagged, I summoned 30-year-old memories of epic parties and old girlfriends to distract myself from the fatigue–and the future. I managed to out-kick a sinewy guy in the final hundred yards, and finished in 41:21–a minute off my age-group PR, and good enough for second in my age group.

I downed a Gatorade during the brisk mile-long walk to my hotel. At the airport, I ate a turkey wrap, drank a fruit smoothie, and did a few stretches in the gate area until I noticed people giving me weird looks. As the plane rose over Boston Harbor, I felt reasonably refreshed: One down, one to go.

Once home, I deposited sweaty running clothes in the hamper, gave my wife a quick kiss, and made for the door. My 15-year-old son sat on the couch, playing Xbox. "You just ran a race this morning, and now you're going to run another one?" he asked, eyes focused on the screen. I mumbled in the affirmative.

&Weeks until race day.

Perhaps.

It was nearly 5 p.m. when I lined up with 522 run-ners for the 31st edition of the Massapequa Firecracker 5-K. Steve, a fit 43-year-old triathlete friend, came up to me. "I'm looking to do about 20 today. You?"

I thought about it. "I don't know. I ran a 10-K this morning."

"You what?"

He laughed when I explained my commitment issues. "That's crazy, dude. But, hey, let's try to run together."

Why not? I thought. Our times are close. Who says I can't have two great races in one day? (Dr. Otto. That's who.)

Immediately after the gun went off, flashes of pain shot from my quads, and Steve disappeared into the surging crowd. Sub-20 minutes? Yeah, right. But a few minutes went by and my legs quieted. My chest stopped heaving. My lungs quit burning. I felt...kinda...okay? I clocked the first mile in 6:30. The second in 6:35. But by the third, my lower half started to unravel in earnest. Oh boy, hold on. There had to be a few muscle fibers left to fire. With about 200 yards to go, I surged to pass a runner with a blond ponytail. For a few seconds we ran stride for stride–then she dusted me. Just as Dr. Otto had predicted.

Still, I ran 20:28 for third in my age group. I was tired, sore, and ready for a nap and a massage and a beer and an ice bath (and not in that order). But–to my surprise–I also felt twice as happy with my day of racing.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media: 10
CA Notice at Collection

1. Choose Wisely
Stick to distances you have raced a couple times already, says exercise scientist Carwyn Sharp, Ph.D. You've trained your body to go the distance, and your mind to handle its challenges.

2. Practice Often
Eight weeks out, begin back-to-back training runs. (If doing a 13.1/26.2 double, begin 10 weeks out.) Mimic the race–if you're doing a 10-K on Saturday at 9 p.m. and a half on Sunday at 8 a.m., do workout one Saturday evening, and workout two Sunday morning. Ditto if doubling up in one day.

3. Add Mileage
If the shorter race is first, run 80 percent of that mileage in workout one and 25 to 40 percent of the longer event's mileage in workout two. So for a 10-K/half-marathon double, run five miles in your first session and three to five miles in the second. Each week, keep mileage for the first run the same and add one mile to your second run (reverse if the shorter race is your second event). Five weeks out, drop mileage on both runs by 30 percent before increasing mileage again. Begin your taper two weeks out. For how to build up to a half-marathon/marathon double, see "Long Weekend" (opposite).

4. Build Speed
Add short pickups to both workouts. If doubling up on 5-Ks and/or 10-Ks, start with one quarter-mile effort at goal pace. Each week, increase the length of the pickup and number of repeats. Build up to 3 x half-mile for a 5-K and 6 x half-mile for a 10-K. If doing a half-marathon and/or marathon duo, run quarter-mile pickups. Build up to eight pickups for the half, 16 for the full. Do pickups at any point, and run the rest of the session at long-run pace.

5. Weeks until race day
For three events in one weekend, do not run three times in two days during training–limited recovery can elevate injury risk. Add a third cross-training workout like swimming or cycling to offset running's impact, says Joe Puleo, head coach at Rutgers University–Camden. Time the XT to coincide with one of your scheduled races. Do it at a moderate intensity for 30 minutes.

Long Weekend
Build up safely for a 13.1/26.2 double

quot;Fail," he said, using the teenage term for moronic missteps:  10 weeks out
Half-Marathon (Saturday Workouts): 6 miles
Marathon (Sunday Workouts): 16 miles

quot;Fail," he said, using the teenage term for moronic missteps:  9 weeks out
Half-Marathon (Saturday Workouts): 8 miles
Marathon (Sunday Workouts): 18 miles

quot;Fail," he said, using the teenage term for moronic missteps:  6 weeks out
Half-Marathon (Saturday Workouts): 8 miles
Marathon (Sunday Workouts): 16 miles

quot;Fail," he said, using the teenage term for moronic missteps:  5 weeks out
Half-Marathon (Saturday Workouts): 8 miles
Marathon (Sunday Workouts): 19 miles

quot;Fail," he said, using the teenage term for moronic missteps:  4 weeks out
Half-Marathon (Saturday Workouts): 10 miles
Marathon (Sunday Workouts): 22 miles

quot;Fail," he said, using the teenage term for moronic missteps:  3 weeks out
Half-Marathon (Saturday Workouts): Begin taper
Marathon (Sunday Workouts): Begin taper