Biking & Running

[kacie tri-ing]

Ok--good point. Aerobic fitness is great from running.

For me, as a triathlete, running is SUCH a risky thing. I put in big miles, and I CAN'T get hurt and achieve my goals. I run what I need to run to get the job done, but I don't overdo it. However, i run on tired legs all. the. time. I never train feeling fresh when I run. For my purposes, that defeats the point of long distance tri training. I want tired legs to feel normal. That's also probably why I feel like running just brings me down in the other things :-)

Running is really tough on your body. Cycling and swimming...not so much. I guess that for me in the overall picture, I am always balancing the risks of running with the overall aerobic fitness that I need.

I did some serious high intestsity cycling sessions a couple of year ago, and a little bit of running tempo work, and I had a HUGE HM PR. Ok, I am going to keep thinking :-)

[limewave]

Kacie, I agree with you! I have to be careful about putting in the miles running--I'm much more prone to over-training and injury when I increase my running miles. I have to be careful with how I incorporate a run workout into my training schedule. That's why when I'm training for a specific running event, like a marathon, I still only run 3x a week and use cycling for cross training.

[Bike Chick]

I began my training for an October HM during tri season while I was still training for tris. I was putting in two workouts a day, 6 days a week. That was fine and I felt great but there wasn't any room for a race on the weekend AND a long run or a long bike on Saturday AND a long run on Sunday. It seemed that everything was suffering because of it so I have stopped racing and devoted my energy to the running with swimming and biking as cross-training, as you said Lime.

I agree with you too, Kacie.

[rubysoho]

My experience:

Biking helped my running tremendously (I was never able to run a mile without stopping prior to biking. Now I am up to three! Yay!)

Recently I have been more consistent in my running than biking and I feel I have regressed in my biking. I get tired on shorter distances than what I was riding before (averaged 20 mile rides with one long weekend ride around 40 to 50 miles, now I a back down to 10-15 mile rides.... )

[luckylilmama]

Ruby, my experience has been the same thing! I just started running 6 weeks ago and was pleased that I was able to go 3 miles without stopping and just last week I did 8 miles. Riding, on the other hand, has really suffered. I couldn't believe how slow my average was for an 18 mile ride last week! I think I just need to find a balance when spring comes but for now running is so much easier with the cooler weather, early darkness, and toddler...

[OakLeaf]

Well, you don't use the identical muscles in the identical way for both sports, but when you get on your bike, your legs are fatigued from running, especially if you've been pushing for time or distance gains in your running. Just because you weren't on your bike the day before doesn't mean your legs will be fresh.

[colby]

Interesting thread...

I can feel the benefits of swimming on biking and running, mostly in the way I breathe and pace my breathing, and that it's an all-body workout. Also great for recovery, mentally and physically.

I think running benefits my cycling by extending my aerobic fitness, but there's still a lot of muscle-specific stuff that requires cycling-specific training (hills, riding aero). Running is harder on my body, but it's the thing I have the hardest time with, so I have trouble shorting myself miles.

Cycling benefits running definitely as a recovery exercise, and it's sometimes easier to control my heart rate cycling than running so I can get specific zones of activity (especially lower zones - the gap between a light jog and walk you can hit easily on a bike, good for recovery; or high intensity but not maximum intensity zones).

Makes me tired just thinking about it.