Krull

I started biking because of a knee injury that does not allow me to run. i am 27 and I was a pretty good runner, running in college and competing for Puma right out of college. I know a lot about running training but I was wondering if any of that crossed over into biking. Long runs consisted of 20 milers, how long would a long bike ride be? Can you do fartlek training on a bike? How do you build your speed on a bike? Just a few questions I have for now. Thank you for your wisdom.

russdaz

The basic princables are pretty much the same, in terms of heart and LT, although you'l find max heart rate and LT is at different points then for your running. So best bet is to find those figures out first.

long rides depend on what distance you want to compete at, or your own training goals. so if you train for say a 5km sprint event, 10-15km could be classed as long. but if your doing 50km events then 100km could be called long.

Yes intervals are very good methods to improve speed, strength, increased LT. just the train periameters would be different for different goals.

So ask your self what goals have you got, i.e speed over x distance, compete at x distance. as the training needs tobe adapted to each goal.

Krull

Thank you for the advice. I really hope I can compete well with out my knee bothering me. What do you suggest for a person who is 27 and just starting to compete?

russdaz

25mile events would be a good start based on you running history. i think you should quickly get used to that and want todo more.

start todo the distance work training around 70-80% of your LT max. the add a few interval work. doing say 15miles at time and slowly build you distance up.

Alot of people prefer group rides personal i prefer doing my own thing.

the mai thing's you'll have a good based areobic's for cycling, but the muscles are used in a different way, your best off to start less then progress, rather than start high an finding out you cant.

Billy Ray

Not to be an ass, but your best bet is to not compete for a while. Spend some time on the bike building up the various muscles in your legs that you didn't use (or use to the same degree) when running. A few months spent building up the muscles around your knees may save you pain and heartache down the stretch.

I've cycled for years and am now getting into running. The two use so many different muscles it isn;t even funny.

Take care of your knees first and the racing will come.

BR

Krull

Trust me you are not being an ass, you should see the peope in the runnersworld forum. They are assssssses. Thank you for the dvice. My legs are very thin right now and you are right that I should be doing some base milage.