By Rich Stiller

I have never raced The Double Road Race. 

I have headed up the course monitors at two of The Double Road Race events so I have seen the race up close without actually having stepped on the course with a race number. I have raced other doubles but that was years ago, back in the 1990’s, as the running member of a two-man duathlon team. Back then I was paired with a cyclist. I ran 5K, waited around while the cyclist did his 25-30K leg and then I ran another 5K leg.

Photo: Rich Stiller on a training run

No it’s not The Double but the problem was the same. Run, wait around 45 minutes to an hour and then run again.

How does one do that and maximize their performance?

At the time I was racing Duathlon’s, I was a 36-minute 10K racer so it would make sense that I could expect to run two 5K’s at around 18 minutes each. Especially if I had a 45-60 minute rest in between. In fact the 5K equivalent performance of a 36-minute 10K is around 17:20. So could I reasonable expect to run a two 17:20’s with a rest in between?

Probably not.

I noticed that there were duathlon who ran all out on the first leg. They would suck wind during the second 5K. Somewhere during the second leg I would pass them. Observation is a great learning tool. So no, I couldn’t race that way. It wasn’t efficient.  I could not expect to run two 17:20 5K’s even with an hour rest. I simply could not recover.

I decided that the answer lay somewhere between 2 x 18:00 and 2 x 17:20. I took the easy road and split it in half. In other words, 2 x 17:40.

Over several races I experimented. Control the first 5K and run the second one as hard as I could. Sort of like a race. Eventually I settled into the 17:40-45 range. If all went well I ran a 35:30 10K split into two parts. At 47 to 48 years old, I was consistently beating almost all the runners in my class.  Even pacing brought the best results.

Rich Stiller's approach to racing the Double. I am not sure if I can run the 10k leg without running all out! But that's just me. I always run my 5k leg at the same or faster pace. My best Double is 1:05:03. I ran 43:25 for the 10k leg (6:59 pace) and 21:38 for the 5k leg...just a little faster. But there is no right or wrong way to race the Double. The best way is what works for you! Thanks for sharing your thoughts Rich...
Bob Anderson 3/24/14 3:51 pm

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I don’t think The Double is much different. It helps if you know how fast you are at 15K. If you raced at all there are calculators on the Internet that will tell you your potential by plugging in race times from other events. At my very best, in my 30’s, I could probably run around 50 minutes. So I’d choose 49:30-45 as my target for The Double. This means I am going to run no faster than 33:15 minutes for my first 10K and 16:15 for my 5K.  Since my PR’s were 32:34 and 15:46, this was certainly possible.

But that wasn’t enough.

I paid attention to the recovery habits of my fellow runners in between 5K’s during the duathlon.  

Most sat around the start-finish area chatting, stretching and rehydrating. When I followed that prescription, I tightened up. When my cyclist showed up, I had trouble getting going again. I decided that movement was critical.

Photos: San Jose Double 10k leg

I developed my own recovery zone strategy. I knew it was going to be 45-60 minutes before my partner showed up. Every eight to ten minutes I would jog slowly down the road. Maybe a minute out and a minute back. Then one or two 50-meter striders. Not fast but not slow. I might get in 5 to 7 of these mini warm-ups during the break.

The key was to never allow myself to totally cool down. My legs stayed loose and once the second 5K got going, I was able to run hard right away. Depending on how my cycling partner did I might be running from behind or ahead. Whichever was the case, I needed to be able to put the pedal to the metal and race.

The Double Road Race has a great Recovery Zone. You can lose yourself in there. Drinks, energy bars, food, massages. It’s a veritable plethora of recovery.  But not for me.  I might drop in, get something to drink but as soon as I stopped moving, I’d be dead legged for sure. After the whole Double is over, I would devour the Zone but not in between races because I am going to be jogging and striding and moving around.

I had a chance to talk to some successful age group runners who have run multi Doubles. Two of them made it very plain that they kept on their feet and jogged on and off during the halftime between the two races. One said that he spent 50% of the break jogging. The other said he went to his car and had his own stuff. This meant recovery drinks and quick energy food. He too jogged on and off throughout the break.

So do I believe my “pacing centric, keep moving in between events” approach is the right one? The answer is an unqualified yes. I raced for 25 years and ran at least 500 serious races. I have experience to spare, as the saying goes. But even I recognize that there are outliers. There are those who break the rules and still do well.

The defining personality of The Double is Bob Anderson, the creator of the event. He runs both races all out. Nothing held back. During the break he goes back to his hotel room, often takes a shower and changes into dry running outfit before going back out to the Recovery Zone to circulate with his fellow competitors.  I’ve hung with Bob at races. He is generous with his time but rarely gets an optimal warm up.

But his style works for him. Bob is never going to pace himself.  Could he run faster if he paced himself during the race and jogged consistently between the 10K and 5K? I like to believe so but then that wouldn’t be Bob.