Cycle commuting when you're a runner
 

For those who are half serious runners, how does commuting by bicycle affect your running? I have a 20mi roundtrip commute. The first day I commuted, I went running and injured my knee, and I haven't been injured in years. I accept that as newness to cycling, but I'm wondering about it as a regular thing. Especially regarding how anything you're doing as a runner will be on tired legs.

I run in the evenings, and I'm a little slower if I've been cycling all over town during the day. If I can't run as hard as I want, then I just go longer. Both my lady and myself commute by bike 5 days a week, run as many errands as we can via bike, and run 5-6 days a week. The only noticeable side effect for me is that it doesn't take long to burn off the winter fat. The Lady G'Cakes will get an overuse injury at least once per summer, but it's usually in the ankle and I usually blame soccer, not biking.

You could've stressed your knee biking, then aggravated it into injury when you ran. I'd make sure that the fit on your bike is correct, an ill fit bike can mess up your knees.

I had to build up to it, just like building a running base. Some weeks my legs are real tired by my recovery day.

I ran cross-country and track all through high school and college. Then half heartedly tried to keep it up for a few years and finally quit altogether for about the last 2 years. I seemed to get injured a lot. Last year I started commuting by bike. I got my cardiovascular fitness back up a little and have not had any injuries. Now I'm getting the itch to start running again. I think I'm going to build up very slowly and try to run on days that I don't ride at first. I think patience and gradual increase is going to be the key whether you are a biker adding running, or a runner adding cycling.

I don't run on the days I commute or when I'm taking only one day off commuting (28 mile round trip). In practice, that means lately I only run on the weekend, usually both Saturday & Sunday (4 mile run). Versus running 4 days a week (my norm when not bike commuting at all), my running is a little slower, but not much. I have not noticed any pain or stress associated with combining running and biking. I sometimes notice a little leg stiffness associated with running again after 5 days off, but nothing significant.
Actually, on the positive side, replacing some of the running with biking has pretty much eliminated the shin splints I was experiencing.

I ran all winter while I wasn't riding. Now that I'm back to commuting I find it harder running every evening after my 15 mile round trip and a day of work. I went from 7 days a week to about 2ish. My knees feel so much better now that I'm not running every night and I still feel like I'm getting in my exercise for the day. I'd like to do both be I'm sort of feeling like in general it has to be one or the other for me. I did run tonight though and I feel pretty good. That was because of Friday night dinner guilt.

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.

I go by the Rule of 4. Cycled miles / 4 = miles ran (I'm well-aware that this is a controversy, but it's what I go by.)

For example, 20 miles cycling = 5 miles ran

Unless you are used to running more than five miles each day with no cycling, I would not run after cycling twenty miles.

I don't do long distance, but I am a big guy, and I used to get shin splints as well as just sore knees. I changed over to some shoes that mimic bare feet running and the difference was pretty surprising. I run a little faster now and I never get sore anymore. It's not for everybody and it takes a couple of weeks to run longer than a mile or two, but I've been very happy. I use vibram five fingers, but I think there are a few other brands out there.

Nike Free

hiljii, what kind of knee injury did you have?

I've been bike commuting for the last year or so, and then running (summer/fall) or skate skiing (winter/spring) afterward. The main effect I notice is that it takes me longer to get out the door again after biking home because of tired legs or low blood sugar. When I find myself feeling chronically tired/overtrained, I tend to take it easy on the biking part, since I care a lot more about my ability and training as a runner/skier.

As a collegiate runner, I used to get overuse injuries about once a year; now I just wreck myself occasionally playing soccer. No knee problems since college.

-Lady Griddlecakes

I have a 25 mile RT commute. My usual run is 5 miles. I find it a little hard to do both 5 days a week, mostly because of time. I have to pay really close attention to my body when trying to build miles running. If running 8+ miles in the evening I'm probably not biking that day, 10+ on Saturday means Friday is probably a rest day. Having said all this, warmer weather = wanting to ride everyday and sometimes only 3 runs a week. You have to listen to your legs.