Should a cyclist run ?

edd

I have never run, well I ran as a kid, but never as a way of building aerobic fitness. At 59 years of age I though it might be an idea to do some short runs if not for another reason other than the "use it or loose it" effect of the human condition. So I went eagerly to a grassy track with a friend who is a competition squash player to do some sprint work. Session was fairly easy lasted 30 minutes. Next day I was a little tight in the hamies, Rode the following day, about 40 k into the ride legs gone, looked down to see just blubbering girly legs.

Today the day after the ride I'm still kind of sore. Now before you write a long reply about explosive movement and muscle fibre damage similar to weight training. I'd just like to add, I know all that. But I'm motivated by a deeper understanding of my aging body. And yes, that was a truly dumb thing to do, nevertheless I been coming to terms with a strength imbalance, specifically a weakness, even more precisely, a lack of endurance in my glute meads. Running seem like the best thing to do at this stage. Longer runs than 400 metres maybe a better idea then sprint work.

Anyway the question is … ya think cyclist should run ?

gclark8

Yes, but you may need to modify the bike and the riding style.

A more forward 'tri' position and spin at a higher (88-96) cadence, try not to have more than 1-2 minutes from 'off the bike' to running.

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Cheers,
George.

beerco

Running almost certainly will harm your cycling performance, but it may be the right thing to do anyway from a health perspective.

Make sure you ease into it really slowly, like 15min the first day. I was out of town without a bike for a week once when I was still a noob to all things training. I went for an hour run and couldn't even walk for two days afterward even though I didn't think the run stressed me at all.

YMMV

edd

Thanks for that George, but I'm not a triathlete and haven't the time, inclination or love of water needed to become one.

mikesbytes

If your goal is general fitness then its a great idea to mix it up. However just because you are fit at one disclpline, don't expect to be go into another at full tilt, take it easy with the new disclpline and let the body adapt.

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edd

How ?

edd

No… my goal is to be quicker on the bike. AND not have bits of me wither, die and fall off or ache so bad they keep me awake at night.

beerco

Any time you spend running will take time away from your cycling and provide additional fatigue. Perhaps "harm" was a little strong but it will certainly not help.

A very famous man once wrote: "Rode the following day, about 40 k into the ride legs gone, looked down to see just blubbering girly legs" He was describing a biking session after running.

italiano

Edd, I am happy you mentioned your obiejetiv for mixing running and bici. That's how I would cominc had I the question. The answer is rigidly tied to your obiejetiv.

Running is a sport different . It utilize 70% available muscol. Bici, OTOH, (surprize-surprize) uses only 40%. This muscolar disparità (and different training duration) is/are responsabil for different fisic effet on body the two endurance sports provide... Running makes busy both propellant and equilibratura-needed muscols. . Bici -- principally only propellant.. Bici needs both strength and endurance. Aerobic running -- requires endurance only.

Normally, or should I say in maggiority case, running will not render you rapider on bici. It will render one important part of your body fitter -- cardiovascolar system. If your cardio was under-developed by your bici, then running will render you speed.

I ran over a dozen maratons. Some sub 3h. I also like long rides (150 to 200 km) and racing local. My personal conclusion when mixing two sports was that I non-variabilly loss climbing bici strength as I got fitter/addapted running.

Uh (cleaning sweat from my head), this post was difficult

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upstateSC-rider

The older you are the more important it is to throw in a weight-bearing activity (like running) to minimize bone density loss.
Go ahead and run, it won't ruin your riding. Just do like others have said and start slow.

Good luck.
Lou

mikesbytes

italiano has provided a good comparision between endurance running and cycling. Many cyclists consider running evil as its really hard to run if you are a cyclist and the reason for that is that running incorporates muscular activity that isn't required for cycling.

italiano also discusses the important issue of bone densitity. From the age of 35 we loose bone density. To counteract this we need to do impact and/or resistance exercise.

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edd

thanks Lou,

I do two 40 min weight sessions a week that have no real relevance to my cycling fitness … to keep up my core and upper body strength … done this for last thirty years.

edd

Thanks for your input, my bone density is just fine. I've worked in the fitness industry as second job since I was 35. I'm no body builder, but I probably carry more muscle mass than most cyclists, I figure about 6kg. my body fat is lowish, could be lower, and I'm going to drop this, about 4kg.

italiano made a few points that have interesting relevance:
1) if you're running, you're not biking, so this impacts time on the bike.
2) adaptation within the active muscle is different and therefore not helping ones cycling.
3) additional fatigue was also impacting bike training time.
4) his perception that doing marathon length runs made him faster on the bike by improving his fitness but hurt his hill climbing ability.

… now the fitness thing has my interest there is more to this then just ones VO2 max ?

beerco

First off, happy new year all.

I would bet that this perception is incorrect. If he were to have ridden at an equivalent intensity level on the bike instead he would have been faster yet and all all aspects of cycling.

I've read that weight training doesn't really do much for bone density. It's really the shock of running and other high impact sports that stimulate bone densification (is that a word?).

I would imagine that if you stick to your weight routine and run maybe 15min a day two or three times a week after a ride you'd have pretty decent "overall fitness" without having it negatively impact your cycling too much.