I'm a runner at heart. But after a 4-month vacation full of ~15 mile weeks, I've been spending the summer in a slow base-rebuilding mode. This is good, and safe - but sometimes leaves me feeling a little bored. My runs are at conversational pace, and my primary mental struggles are to keep things easy, and to avoid piling on too many miles too fast. Very seldom have I had to harness my mental fortitude to push through a hard workout. Boring, yes. But "These intervals HURT and I don't know if I have two more left in me", no.
However, I'm finding that I can build bike time much faster. When I was getting started, I'd ride for an hour, then an hour and a half, and now I'm up to two hours - over the course of just a few weeks. I could do such a ride a few times a week, if I wanted - and I feel confident that I could go out for a three or four hour ride today, if my schedule allowed. I've done all of my bike work thus far without acquiring any worrisome twinges, tweaks, or pains.
Sure, my quads get sore, and I have to stretch my hips out every day. Sometimes my back aches a bit. But my feet, ankles, IT bands, and hips have been very accepting of my new habit.
Of course, a longer/harder ride will leave my legs feeling fatigued. And so, I recently had a revelation: I can harness this fatigue to make my runs more challenging. Once or twice a week, I can safely ride myself to tired legs, then enjoy a more challenging run on these legs. This is not dissimilar to running the final miles of a long run at goal-marathon pace: Holding a pace when your body is tired. But instead of running myself to a tired state, I bike myself there, then pick up the run. [Note: I don't usually do this like a brick workout: get off the bike and go immediately into a run. Instead, I usually give myself 6-16 hours between the two. This creates a different kind of fatigue, I think.]
It wasn't until I added biking to my workout repertoire that I've been able to achieve a good, solid, tired-legs feeling. And the truth is: I love it. How much will this improve my running physiology right now? I really don't know. But I do know that it's providing solid mental training and varying my workouts a bit, while keeping me healthy and strong.
I also haven't done much research into the physiological validity behind this approach. But my legs feel tired and I'm getting a challenging run workout that my hips and IT bands are tolerating well. [They are the first to complain when I push too hard, too fast.] And since I'm not in event-specific training at the moment, I have some time to experiment on myself.
I don't know how my relationship with cycling will change once my legs are back up to running 50+ miles/wk. But for now, cycling has been a much-needed release for my athletic energy. So despite my grumblings (in a few minutes, I have to load my bike into the car for a trip to the bike shop, grrrr...), I'm thankful for this opportunity to explore a new sport and some new approaches to training.
I've also been motivated to learn/read/think more about integrating different kinds of cross-training into a running routine. While this is relevant to me in the short-term, I think it also holds considerable promise for runners with chronic/degenerative injuries, who are looking to improve running performance but whose bodies only tolerate a certain mileage each week. As a running coach, I have lots to think and learn about - good thing this stuff fascinates me!
However, I'm finding that I can build bike time much faster. When I was getting started, I'd ride for an hour, then an hour and a half, and now I'm up to two hours - over the course of just a few weeks. I could do such a ride a few times a week, if I wanted - and I feel confident that I could go out for a three or four hour ride today, if my schedule allowed. I've done all of my bike work thus far without acquiring any worrisome twinges, tweaks, or pains.
Sure, my quads get sore, and I have to stretch my hips out every day. Sometimes my back aches a bit. But my feet, ankles, IT bands, and hips have been very accepting of my new habit.
Of course, a longer/harder ride will leave my legs feeling fatigued. And so, I recently had a revelation: I can harness this fatigue to make my runs more challenging. Once or twice a week, I can safely ride myself to tired legs, then enjoy a more challenging run on these legs. This is not dissimilar to running the final miles of a long run at goal-marathon pace: Holding a pace when your body is tired. But instead of running myself to a tired state, I bike myself there, then pick up the run. [Note: I don't usually do this like a brick workout: get off the bike and go immediately into a run. Instead, I usually give myself 6-16 hours between the two. This creates a different kind of fatigue, I think.]
It wasn't until I added biking to my workout repertoire that I've been able to achieve a good, solid, tired-legs feeling. And the truth is: I love it. How much will this improve my running physiology right now? I really don't know. But I do know that it's providing solid mental training and varying my workouts a bit, while keeping me healthy and strong.
I also haven't done much research into the physiological validity behind this approach. But my legs feel tired and I'm getting a challenging run workout that my hips and IT bands are tolerating well. [They are the first to complain when I push too hard, too fast.] And since I'm not in event-specific training at the moment, I have some time to experiment on myself.
I don't know how my relationship with cycling will change once my legs are back up to running 50+ miles/wk. But for now, cycling has been a much-needed release for my athletic energy. So despite my grumblings (in a few minutes, I have to load my bike into the car for a trip to the bike shop, grrrr...), I'm thankful for this opportunity to explore a new sport and some new approaches to training.
I've also been motivated to learn/read/think more about integrating different kinds of cross-training into a running routine. While this is relevant to me in the short-term, I think it also holds considerable promise for runners with chronic/degenerative injuries, who are looking to improve running performance but whose bodies only tolerate a certain mileage each week. As a running coach, I have lots to think and learn about - good thing this stuff fascinates me!
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