Faster Than Your Couch!
I've been doing doubles occasionally, and want to do more of them. However, I have run (haha) into some bumps along the way:
- how do you manage the huge pile of running clothes, hats, bottles, handhelds,... that running (and sweating heavily) twice a day produces? Wash clothes every other day? Have several sets of each (I have very limited storage space, so not really an option)? Not wash, just re-use (eww, but doable, if it has to be)?
- wash your hair, and soap down twice a day (to remove insect repellant, sunscreen, sweat)? My hair is already a puffball...
- how do you dry your muddy shoes so quickly? Mine smell terribly if I don't dry them out in between runs, or at least every other run.
Any tricks of the trade that I'm not aware of, to share?
Run for fun.
With an infant and a toddler at home and a full work schedule, I sometimes rely on doubles to get some decent mileage in on weekdays. On my double days, I'll run in the morning before the kids wake up and then again at lunch at work.
Clothes - I find that it works best for me to have a 2-use cycle for my gear. While gross, doing laundry every other day or having 10 sets of running clothes isn't very feasible for me.
Shoes - I pack my shoes with newspaper and try to keep them out of my gym bag so they can somewhat dry until my lunchtime run.
Hair - I can't give any advice for making your hair not look like that of someone who showers and washes their hair twice a day. My hair stays in a perpetual state of post-washed dampness and I just try to make it look as professional for work as possible without having an extra thirty minutes to do things like style my hair.
Of course I would rather get my daily mileage in all at once, but I find that doubles work as a nice substitute when needed even if there is an ever growing pile of laundry as evidence of your more frequent runs.
For the hair, it's simple: don't shampoo every time you shower. Once every other day works well for me. For the other showers, use only conditioner, or just rinse well if you aren't too grimy. A little cheap conditioner will do just as good a job removing insect repellant and sunscreen without drying your scalp and hair.
I don't do doubles too often, but..... my DW has me very well trained. I have lots of running stuff, so I never wear the same stuff for 2 runs in a row. Our washer and dryer are located in a tiny laundry room right inside the back door. After a run I walk directly into the laundry room and strip off all my running stuff and put it directly in the washer. We keep a huge supply of old towels in the laundry room so I don't have to traipse thru the house in the buff (nobody wants to see that.) The other thing is I usually have a few pairs of shoes in rotation so I hose down my shoes after each longer run and on the next run I take the driest pair. The shoes generally stay out in the garage.
We then wash my running stuff each time that we do a load of laundry, which is quite often, but nobody actually has to touch my running stuff. MY DW is usually the one who transfers the stuff from the washer to the dryer and she takes my running shorts out to dry on a hanger that we have. They dry quickly in the AC and there is a little less wear-n-tear that way.
You have to remember that down here in TX it is all about sweat management for 9 months out of the year, so we have devised this system. It works.
Sorry I can't help you about the hair, I just go for it.
2/17/24 - Forgotten Florida 100 Mile, Christmas, FL
Thank you. Good to know that the conditioner will remove most of the insect repellent from the hair. I can just tie it up for work then, and only shampoo after the second run.
Keeping towels in the laundry room is a great idea. That works for me, too, because we also have the laundry room just next to the door, so I can take the wet (often dripping wet) clothes off and "change" into the towel. Good thing DH has mounted a few shelves!
For me, the doubles are also sometimes the only way to get in a few miles more, which adds up over the week - and now I need every mile I can run.
+1 on not shampooing each time. I only shampoo twice a week and use conditioner the other times. But... I don't spray my head/hair with bug spray. I also use a leave on conditioner to combat the dry fuzzies.
January , 2022 Yankee Springs Winter Challenge 25k
I only spray the base of my hairline, below where the hat ends, as the gnats tend to crawl up there.
Sometimes I wish I could wear a hat with a net, like the ones of the bee breeders (can't remember the word right now --> ESL problem).