Originally Posted by
wak9
I run XC & Track right now in College and I've found no problems with commuting by bike. Of course if I killed it on a hard commute or bike trip that might take a little bit of sharpness out of my workout. Honestly though, I've gone on a long-ish ride the night before an XC race and still PRd.
You can exhaust yourself and stress your body doing anything and if your tired that will affect how you perform in subsequent tasks. You gotta evaluate what you are doing in total for training. Not evaluate biking and running separately. For example, if you did a track workout and biked 20 miles, you total that, not evaluate it separately for how much you've stressed your body. If your fatigued in running you may want to cut back the biking temporarily or vice-versa to give the body time to adapt.
Hope this long answer helps. Biking has helped me maintain some fitness through several injuries. Like right now.
+1
I've been doing triathlons for a few years now and for the most part I think doing multiple types of exercise is better for your legs (and the rest of you) anyway. But like with anything else, doing too much too soon can lead to injuries. That along with not warming up, not stretching, etc.
A big part of triathlon training is doing what are called "bricks". Essentially that's going for a run immediately after a good solid ride. Your legs feel like rubber for the first mile or so. I don't do these on consecutive days or after a really long/and or intense ride.
Anyway it's possible to log both a lot of miles on foot and your bike as long as you work up to it, and give your body time to recover. For me the real limitation is time. While training I end up biking about 4 to 5 times a week and running 3 to 4. Some weeks will be less though and some of the runs/rides will be at a lower intensities or shorter distances. It's also not a bad idea just to take a week off once in awhile and do little or nothing, especially if you find yourself getting slower and more fatigued rather than faster.