by Barry Anderson, Ujena Fit Club Coach   One of the best ways to add to your mileage base just may be to add a second workout to your day. During the endurance base building phase of a distance running training program, the primary focus on workouts is increasing weekly mileage and developing aerobic capacity. Most coaches and exercise science specialists agree that only a 10%-15% increase in total mileage run per week should be added to help avoid overuse-type injuries.

For many runners, this weekly mileage consists of 2-3 long runs at what is often called “steady state” running pace. For those who use heart monitors during their runs, a steady state run would be where the heart rate is maintained in the 65%-70% of maximum heart rate. For those who run by feel, a steady state run should produce a sense of effort during the run but not exhaustion when completed. On the other days of the week, shorter and easier runs should be completed.

During your gradual increase in weekly mileage you may want to consider the addition of a second daily workout to add to your mileage. If you primarily workout in the afternoon or evening, start with an additional morning run twice per week. Then, continue to gradually increase your weekly mileage by adding more morning runs.

Photo: the second workout of the day for Bob Anderson and Matt and Mark Thompkins.

This method of increasing your volume of running miles each week can help reduce the stress-type injuries that are often seen during the endurance base building phase. Often times, a 4 mile easy run in the morning followed by an afternoon 6 mile steady state run is much easier on the legs than to get in a 10 mile day all in one workout and, depending upon your current fitness level, may be just as beneficial.

Building your endurance base will, to a great extent, determine the level of results you will be able to achieve as you add intervals, speed, and other forms of training to your program. Keep the 2-a-day workouts in mind as you plan this important part of your training program.