Road Cycling - Running and Cycling (Do they Mix)?

Hello To All:

I am curious to know if cycling and running go well together as a cross training concept. I like to do both but I race as a USCF Masters Road Racer and have heard that running could have bad effects on my cycling. Is this true?

Thanks to all.

Terry

HI. I don't know of any studies which suggest that running will have bad effects on your cycling. However, there are many which suggest that running is not particularly helpful to cycling. That is to say that running is not really going to improve muscles and tendons needed most for cycling. It will add to your aerobic endurance though.

Some of my reading suggests that running up hill will improve some of the cycling muscles.

Both exercises are good for you. If however, you are trying to do xtraining for the purpose of improving your cycling ability exclusively, running probably isn't the one to choose. But I don't think running will hurt your cycling.

Originally posted by Terry
[B]Hello To All:

I am curious to know if cycling and running go well together as a cross training concept. I like to do both but I race as a USCF Masters Road Racer and have heard that running could have bad effects on my cycling. Is this true?

I guess it depends upon where you are in your season. I suspect your season is over (as most are) so you're looking @ augmenting your training with a run or two. Joe Friel in the Cyclist Training Bible lists all sorts of sports as potential for cross training, running included. It's more important that you stay active.

Like most folks (Masters included) be careful of knees and ankles and replace your shoes regularly if you decide to run.

Personally, I run twice a week because I find it helps me during cyclocross, and I get to work different muscles in my legs than when I'm on the bike. During your race season you might run less frequently than in the off season, or not at all.

Good Luck

I can't see it really "hurting" your cycling, especially if you are only running during the offseason as another way to keep fit. If you want to train for cycling, the best thing you can do is get on a bike- but running will help your aerobic capacity.

Some of the same muscle groups can be used in cycling and running, but their uses are usually different and because our muscles adapt to certain movements- even if you are working the same group it won't have the same effect as cycling would.

If it's the off-season, run but still keep riding (might want to get an indoor trainer or join a gym). But remember that if you want to keep trained for cycling- you'll want to do most of your training on a bike and maybe some easy recovery runs to keep things interesting.

- Mike

I run on recovery days. I don't run hard, it's usually more of a fast jog. Running harder does impact my cycling because, I think, it depletes glycogen stores. In any case, it's a decent cardio work-out, and easier to get your heart rate up.

i used to do a 60-40% bike-run split but since i now have back and knee problems i do more 90-10% plus other stuff like xCountry skiing in the winter.

the aerobic crossover from running is very good, but the muscular/skeletal is not much.

basically, i think running helps so long as it doesn't contribute too much to back/knee problems or overtraining.

i try to run at least 3 times a month (usually once a week) to help stay "all-round" fit. in the off-season (winter) i tend to run a little more.

especially for maintaining your cardio fitness if you're not on the bike much during the winter, i think running is great crosstraining. during the race season it probably is better to just ride more b/c your body can only handle so much training and running will contribute to potential overtraining (although it's still good to mix it up a little - thus i run a few times a month even during bike race season)

I HAVE TO run and cycle because of the Duathlons I participate in. I am not a lover of running long distances seeing as how it really irritates my IT band.

A general benefit of running, or so I've heard, is that it helps maintain bone strength in the legs, from the repeated pounding. Obviously, you can get too much of a good thing.

For me, it's a psychological aid. I don't especially like running, and I have to push myself to even tie on running shoes. It helps that I have a great cross country trail to run, but it's still not anything I'm really excited about doing. But, the fact that I push myself to do it helps me on the bike. Riding is easier after running in the Winter. Probably just me, but I think cycling is such a psychological sport that anything to strengthen that aspect of my riding is a big plus.

I also lose weight faster when I run and ride. Helps keep the pounds off during the eating season.

I'm a pretty serious runner, normally running 50+ miles a week. I'm just going to get this out there now: I am more of a runner than a cyclist (whew!)
I think that cycling is bad for running, mostly based upon the fact that I feel like crap when i get back to running the next day. I'm not sure what makes this happen. Also, theoretically, cycling could add more "slow-twitch" muscles to your legs then you would like, due to the longer distances involved, causing you to have less "speed" in races like 5Ks or 10Ks. Next, if you don't have your seat adjusted right, you can get knee problems, and running can aggrevate that more (you shouldn't get knee problems just from running if you have the correct shoes).

I was thinking about something else. Cycling mainly strenghthens the quardracep muscle, and the primary cause of "runner's knee" is an imbalance between the hamstring and the quad. Cycling then could cause runner's knee.

I am a runner and cyclist too. I run 50+ miles per week with phatman and the cross country team. so usually i have to cram as much cycling in on the weekends as i can because theres no time during the week. I find that cycling has made me a lot quicker and given me more endurance for running. But with cycling, youre not working as hard as when you r running, thats why a cycling workout is a lot longer than a running workout. so i find that after a weeekend of cycling my mind is set on going at a steady pace for a long time, but running requires more energy so running seems little hard until i get used to it again. but i think cycling is a lot better than running, running has too many overuse injuries

Since we're wandering, topic-wise, I guess I'd add that I like several things about running, as opposed to cycling. And these, more than x-training, factor into why it remains part of my fitness regime. These reflect my experience... someone more focused on running may experience something completely different.


Simplicity... Shoes, shirt, & shorts. Watch or HRM optional. You're good to go.
Time... an equivalent work-out (not really equivalent, but you know what I mean) takes 1/2 to 1/3 the time, and a lot less space.
The "high"... different. Maybe it's the post work-out oxygen flush w/out the muscular weariness that accompanies a ride. I dunno. Distinct but good. And lasts for hours.

yes, roadbuzz, i agree...

with the main advantage to running being: TIME
but the low equipment is a plus too as you can throw shorts and running shoes in a bad and take the on vacation and run almost anywhere on the planet...

although i would also add: more weather flexible: i.e. running in the cold or snow or rain is less problematic than cycling b/c 1) it's not as long 2) you don't have as much wind to cause the "chill"

BUT, i just don't enjoy running as much as cycling...

but running, like weight training, is something that i think brings major benefits from a little time investment (1/2 hr to 2 1/2hrs/week)...

the X-training/all-round training that i would like to include but never seem to get in into my routine is Streching.

I was a runner, five plus miles a day, every day (seven days a week) Lord that runners high felt so good! After three years of this I suffered impact-loading damage to my spinal column (disk injury). Doctors orders, give it up and either cycle or swim! It’s been cycling and I’ve never looked back. And yes, I ran in good running shoes, but on pavement, who doesn’t?

Please note that everyone is built differently and the limits of ones body are reached sooner by some than others. My surgeon (team physician for a local university) advised strongly to wait 48 hours between doing the same event with high intensity; the body needs that period to recover! Obey and stay well, disregard and risk injury.

The pros and cons of cross training will continue for as long as there are cross-trainers. However “if it feels good just do it”, doesn’t work for everybody nor all the time. Trust me, I know from a very painful personal experience (and way too many months on the “bench” recovering).

Do I miss running, yes absolutely! Will I run again, no. Experience is a brutal teacher.

And remember, the replacement parts for the human body never seem to work as well as the original equipment. Please take very good care of the orginal and it will last a "life time".

bummer...no running

nathank:
Good point. Running is definitely easier when weather is uncooperative. And, yeah, I enjoy cycling more.

faith:
Running was my ticket when I first got up off the couch, so to speak. But I was always limited by joint pain, etc. It never got to the point that I had to see a doctor, but 7 miles was pretty much the limit of what my joints could take in a single outing. Later, I got into cycling and eventually stopped running all together. Then one day, after a year or two of strictly cycling (and a fair amount of overtraining) it hit me like a ton of bricks... I really missed running. It's been part of the program ever since.

phatman (I don't believe it) and Omalley:
50+ miles a week... awesome! An anecdote... when I first started cycling, having been a recreational runner, I would just jump on my 40 lb Schwinn Continental and go as hard as I could for 30-45 minutes, a time equivalent to my runs. It didn't take long to figure out cycling and running were apples and oranges.

I used to run a lot (I've completed 12 full marathons), but my knees went. So I took up cycling, and it has been great. Next week, I am entered in a mini-triathlon. I expect to do well in the 15 mile bike race, but then I will finesse the 5 k run and doggie paddle through the 200 yard swim. All the ones I passed in the bike race will pass me in the run. Then if there's any left behind me by the time the swim starts, they will swim right over the top of me in the narrow pool lanes. But I figure if I finish, I win!

Apropo articles from Ultrafit:
Road Racing: Running for Cyclists (http://www.ultrafit.com/newsletter/october02.html#dirk)
Running for Cyclists (http://www.ultrafit.com/newsletter/november01.html#andy)

I have a few questions.....

I am hoping to enter a duathalon or two next year, and have begun to run, one or two days a week.

However, after almost every run, I suffer terrible terrible pain in my quads - so much so that it is extremely difficult to walk after running.

What's up with that? What am I doing wrong, or not doing?

I do stretch for about 10 minutes before a run.

Hello:

I can only relate that experience tells me that running is a powerful and good training tool for cycling. I get very high heart rates and my climbing improves in dramatic fashion. The running also relieves any stale emotions from riding all the time. The variation seems to help. I am 39 years old and running sometimes hurts my legs but I try to limit it to about twice a week.
Thanks,

Terry

Anastasia:


I am hoping to enter a duathalon or two next year, and have begun to run, one or two days a week.

However, after almost every run, I suffer terrible terrible pain in my quads - so much so that it is extremely difficult to walk after running.

I think that's pretty normal for cyclists who just start to run, without having a running base. Your muscles have been trained to work in a certain fashion and when you run they try to keep working in that fashion; they end up literally working against you for the first few days until they learn the new movements, causing extensive micro-tears and soreness.

One advantage to cross training with running, x-country skiing etc is the fact that they are weight bearing exercises, and cycling is not.

Apart from the immediate benefits of the cross training, long term, weight bearing exercise helps combat osteoporosis and bone density problems as one gets older.