Running and cycling

[Pera71]

Hi everybody,

Right now I'm training for our yearly cycling holiday in the Ardennes mountain. The aim is to cycle around 100 km daily in hillls up to 700 meters.

Sometimes during the week I have no time to get out of town and cycle a sizable distance and I've resorted to running before going to work. I run now twice a week 4 km and once a week 10 km.

Does anybody have experience with the combination of running and cycling and, the most important question, does jogging interfere with the cycling training ? Should I find some other training to supplement the biking ?

 

[wishes]

Ive done some jogging and cycling, if anything i felt the jogging helped expand my lung capacity more than anything.
It also helped with various muscles in the legs, it most definatly never did me any harm.

I stopped jogging when i hurt my foot a few weeks back though, but i cant wait to get back into it :/

 

[palewin]

does jogging interfere with the cycling training ? Should I find some other training to supplement the biking ?

Since triathletes are training their running and cycling skills in parallel, that's evidence that jogging doesn't interfere with cycling training. An exercise that would be a bit closer would be inline skating (since speedskating and cycling are complimentary sports) but that may not be practical. As the previous poster pointed out, running does help with cardiovascular fitness, so your routine should be fine, given your time constraints.

 

[benkoostra]

Running will help your cycling. It improved my top end speed dramatically.

 

[Pera71]

Thanks for your reactions and the reassurance !

After a long weekend (cycling 450 km in 4 days with friends) my thigh muscles were sore for a couple of days, but during and after running I felt indeed that I used other muscles which were not tired.

 

[John Picton]

Thanks for your reactions and the reassurance !

After a long weekend (cycling 450 km in 4 days with friends) my thigh muscles were sore for a couple of days, but during and after running I felt indeed that I used other muscles which were not tired.

Personally I don't like to run. I started a few months ago and built up really slowly, but definitely felt that the impact of the running was taking it out of my joints a bit. It may have been that my running shoes were not the best in the world, or perhaps cos I'm a big guy (6'5") but ultimately I packed the running in and focus more now on low impact alternatives, and hopefully my knees will thank me for it in years to come!

The cycling is still the main thing, and if I haven't a lot of time then I'll go and find a couple of big hills and work hard on them. I have also been swimming twice a week for the last four months which I find has helped my upper body strength a lot - so now I am more effective on hills and out of the saddle.

I found that running did make me work hard, and my heart rate was generally higher on a run than the average bike ride, but I guess that it just wasn't for me.

 

[OoAmericanGirl]

Yes, I run and cycle daily. I ice down my knees when they hurt and the only thing my doctor told me was that if I was going to run and cycle all the time, I'd have to ditch the high heels .

Running up hill will increase your running speed and help you in cycling, but don't try to run up hill all day and think you're going to ride that evening or maybe even the next day. Just make sure to listen to your body and don't run if your knees or ankles hurt, ice when you're sore, and strech before you run.

Enjoy your running!

 

[Pera71]

@ John Picton:

I had the same problem: big guy and bad running shoes, but I went to a specialized shop, where they filmed my running and decided I needed some shoes with extra bracing on the inner sole. With those shoes (Saucony, 130 euro's) I have no problems anymore with jogging.

@ John and American Girl:

I wish I could run often up hills. But I live in the north of the Netherlands, flat as an pancake, and the nearest hills are 120 km away, the Holterberg which is 70 meter tall...So difficult training for a mountain holiday.

 

[frenchyge]

....I'd have to ditch the high heels .

I imagine it helped your running times, though.

 

[Romis]

My personal experience (and opinion) is that running does not interfere with cycling, and especially - MTB. Moreover - running helps to improve speed in XC rough terrain riding, and I see the result of this right now. My rough terrain speed has improved a lot. Of course, road cycling should be different, but I suggest, not much..

 

[Pera71]

After only two weeks of combining running and cycling I've got already some significant gain in speed.

Last two weeks I did a lot of running, trying to get a better time every time.
Because different muscles are used, it is possible to for instance run in the morning and cycle in the evening after work, so you get twice an endurance test without overloading your muscles and joints.

Two weeks ago I was among the 2 last in our cycling group.
Yesterday, with the same people, I was equal to the best guy and we cycled often 40 km/h for some time and often had to wait for the rest at the crossings.
Admittedly, the differences in the group are not that big, but still it is amazing how easy and fast my speed improved.

 

[HowardSteele]

Hi everybody,
Does anybody have experience with the combination of running and cycling and, the most important question, does jogging interfere with the cycling training ? Should I find some other training to supplement the biking ?

cross training is a big favourite out here and a friend who recently completed the Cape Epic told me that in future she'll even include walking pushing her bike up long hills,if she enters the event again.

 

[BigUgly]

I ran before I took up cycling and because of a tear in my acl part way through a half marathon(which i regretfully finished) I no longer run. Took up cycling and love it. Do miss running but ever since I had the injusry whenever I try running again no matter how I try to ease into it my lower leg goes numb and only goes away if I do not run at all