Cycling as cross-training

I’ve been having problems with shin splints and my soleus muscle for about the last 2.5 months. When it started happening, I was taking more time off running that I wanted to, and decided to get a bike so that I could still train when my calves were too sore to run.

I went to bikesdirect.com and ordered a cyclocross bike for $500, to have a basic training machine for my off days, and started to ride 1-2 times per week, and more when I was hurt.

Since that time, I began to add those rides to my training log, and began to talk to my brother (an Ironman triathlete) and surf the net to get an idea of how to count the miles/time of cycling into my running log. 

I ended up deciding on a 4/1 ratio of miles to use as a basic equivalent (ie 24 miles of cycling would count as 6 miles of running) – after a few rides I decided that that was a bit too generous, and went to a 3/1 ratio of TIME instead (3 hour ride = 1 hour run). 

Finally, after I got my new heart rate monitor (Timex Ironman) and was able to better gauge my heart rate effort and calories burned vs. running, I started to use the VDOT tables in Daniels’ Running Formula, and just count it in as normal work in my new spreadsheet.

I have recently begun reading Arthur Lydiard’s training methods, and he is very adamant about running every single day to achieve a large aerobic base. My legs cannot handle running every day, but with the bike, I am able to do the same amount of work and hopefully get closer to the same reward as those 10+ hour running weeks he recommends. 

If you too are struggling with durability issues with running as I am, I highly recommend using a bike as cross-training. I am now starting to train 7 days per week, which I was never able to do with running OR cycling by itself, but if you do it every other day, your legs always feel rested the next time, even though you just exercised the day before. It is pretty awesome, and I am quickly building up my time per week, and expect to be reaping the aerobic benefits when it comes time to start racing. 

I have now worked out every day but 1 in the last 2 weeks, and will burn almost 7,000 calories this week from my workouts – the equivalent of more than 8 hours of running! My average running week in 2008 so far has been 3-4 hours. I realize that some people do run more than 8 hours per week, but for a relative beginner like myself, this is a major upgrade in aerobic load that I expect to put me way ahead over time. (as an example, my bro, who 'only' runs 30 miles a week but does heavy cycling, just ran a 36:37 10k today) Plus, it seems that going cycling on my non-running days actually helps to clear out the soreness from my running muscles, allowing me to put in a decent effort each and every run. Yesterday I ran for 1 hour and 46 minutes, the most I have ever run in 1 day, and that was after 10 days in a row of working out… plus I was able to go do a hard 25 mile bike ride today no problem. 

As an ex-cyclist, I do have the advantage of already having a lot of the gear needed to ride regularly, which helps. I did initially have some reticence about putting in the extra time on the bike, as running is somewhat more time-efficient, but when you look at your heart rate monitor and see that you burned 1,000 calories on a day off instead of burning none, it really feels good.