Cycling Running Interference

I have to commend you on your running and cycling efforts. That's far more running than I've been able to do lately as I focus predominantly on cycling. You definitely sound like a driven person and like to take things to the limit. Like most things in life, it's important to strike a balance. This will only happen gradually as you become more accustomed to cycling. You may need to cut a bit of your running as you increase the frequency in which you ride. Of course, that's totally up to you and time will tell if that's truly the direction you wish to take. 🙂

I did some research on cycling and running interference, it seems as much as they are both cardio, they are clearly different sports. If you are a cyclist and decide to do some running, that's definitely going to have some negative impact on your cycling, and vise versa.

In another post I expressed my dissatisfaction with my cycling pace that I considered too slow, since even though I'm a beginner at cycling, I expected myself to be faster since I run. Now I should forgo that line of thinking and be more realistic with my cycling pace.

I think I will preserve my current level of cycling and see if I can still improve on running. It will affect my running performance a little but it's a price I'm willing to pay because I really like cycling. Also doing two sports may be bad for performance on either one of them, but will keep you in even better shape than if you do just one.

I wouldn't say that the cycling is affecting your running to a great degree. You can still do both of them. I've known of different people who do many different sporting activities and excel at all of them.

bigsmile said:

I did some research on cycling and running interference, it seems as much as they are both cardio, they are clearly different sports. If you are a cyclist and decide to do some running, that's definitely going to have some negative impact on your cycling, and vise versa.

In another post I expressed my dissatisfaction with my cycling pace that I considered too slow, since even though I'm a beginner at cycling, I expected myself to be faster since I run. Now I should forgo that line of thinking and be more realistic with my cycling pace.

I think I will preserve my current level of cycling and see if I can still improve on running. It will affect my running performance a little but it's a price I'm willing to pay because I really like cycling. Also doing two sports may be bad for performance on either one of them, but will keep you in even better shape than if you do just one.

If you are taking these exercises to a sportsmanship level, then doing both running and cycling will affect you negatively, but it doesn't have to be to a strong degree. You have to be the one to strike a balance.

I think for me it's mainly about recovery. Doing a 1 hour ride weekly takes a lot of recovery time that I could be otherwise recovering from running.

I think one thing I can do is to focus on improving technique instead of riding hard. That way I can improve while not getting too exhausted.

For this past weekend, I went on a trip so I skipped my cycling session. And today I was able to run my best time since I resumed running a few months ago. For the earlier weeks, the cycle had been that I had slower times for the few days of the week right after my weekly 1 hour cycling, and was only able to get back to top shape on Saturday -- the day before I would usually go cycling again. This weeks interruption made me realize that what I've been doing (that is, doing two sports at the same time) isn't working. It's like taking fuel out of a furnace while you are trying hard to achieve high temperature, it doesn't make sense.

Thus, I think I should focus on one thing instead. I'm planning on keep on running for 1/2 or 1 year, until I reach a point where I stop improving, and then consider switching to cycling. This decision is not to "snub" cycling, but rather running is kind of my "base" and I have started it this time around, so it only right that I stick to it until I have achieved some kind of goal. It's a hard decision too, right after I have got my road bike (even though a Walmart brand) for the first time in my life and bicycle computer and have to put them aside. But I think I'll come back, because cycling really has it's special appeal to me. One problem I have with running is that you can either run fast, or run long, but not both. With cycling you kind of can achieve both, and that's why I've been even doing 1 hour rides (as compared to I only run for around 10 minutes). Of course you slow down if you ride long but the point is you don't need to be an elite cyclist to sustain a 15 mph pace for a very long distance, but with running it's only about perhaps 6-7 mph, which feels painfully slow.

Sometime aback I heard some of my friends talking about this issue. They were saying that you're cycling really affects your running. At the time I was mostly involved in track and field, so I was being advised not to ride a lot because it puts a limit on the flexibility of my legs. I'm older now and I don't care for running anymore. I'm not sure how much bearing running has on your cycling. I should think that it helps you rather than hinders you. It is more of cycling affecting your running negatively and not the other way around.

Pardon me if there are runners here. I used to be a jogger obviously to taper down my bulges. It is said that jogging or running is the cheapest sport or exercise because all you need is the getup - running shoes, jogging pants or shorts and shirt. But when I started riding a bike, there's a big difference because riding is not only about expending energy, it is more about enjoyment to me. Now, running is an ordeal compared to riding. With the spent energy, you can ride for a longer distance to simulate the effort you exert in running.

kmars:
I think running may also interfere with cycling. They use different group of muscles, and as I mentioned previously, running is more punishing on excess weight, which means if you build up some muscle, it probably will benefit cycling but hurt running. Thus, you will probably benefit from lower body strength training as a cyclist, but running will undo those results from resistance training (This has been shown).
Corzhens
You are right on. As I said earlier, the appeal of cycling to me is the ease of covering long distances. But I think now my main hesitation on cycling is the danger of falling and road accident. If I keep cycling, I won't be satisfied with only riding the trails, but I'm daunted by the tales of accidents. Falling also scares me a little. I know it's not supposed to happen a lot but the mere fact that if it ever happens, then you are in for a nasty deal sounds very unpleasant to me.

But still, as I said, I want to come back to cycling once I stop making gains in running. My wife talked to me about her colleague who runs marathons regularly, and it just occurred to me that for majority of people, having run a marathon is much more of an achievement than a 5k. It kind of give me incentive to at least run one at some point in my life. It may be another half or one years training for that.

bigsmile said:

Both my running sessions and my ride are about full effort.

You are running for 10 minutes 5 days a week and cycling for 1 hour once a week. Both full out.

If you replaced your 1 hour cycling with a long run, I think you would find your other running days would be affected much as they are now.

It is not the cycling, but the length of the effort.

I would ignore the effect on the running days and over time lengthen them.

Training is something complex, so some experienced advice is always valued.

Did this for a period of time and it is difficult since your legs are thoroughly punished due to the extended use because of doing to different activities that target different muscles on a single body part. I somewhat enjoyed it in the past because I can feel that my legs were getting stronger but in the long run I stopped because I got lazy. Triathletes are the experts in "brick" training of alternating biking and running with swimming added.

I was never competitive in what cycling concerns, so I ride for pleasure and always to commute. If too much effort is involved I would simply relax and make it pleasant again.

I already wrote a similar post here. My personal experience is that you do not have to give up on any of the two. Especially if you are not a pro, which i think you are not. I have been doing both, running and cycling and it is working out for me just great. I prefer running but when i need a company they choose bikes because they usually can not keep up with my long runs. Recently i have been mixing long distance and short tempo changing routines. As for the cycling, for me, it is usually a planned trip. For example , me and my friend go to explore some beautiful nature outside the city. Those trips can be long , 80 km long. So, when that happenes, i tend to rest for a couple of days. The same thing i do after a marathon race. You should know that each person recoveres at its own pace so my advice to you is to listen to your body. If you push it you could break it. Be careful and enjoy both things you like. Set your goals and go slow, you have time to reach all of them.

I think cycling should benefit your running. I think the problem is, you are not pacing yourself correctly for the goals that you have in mind. If your target is a 5k(3.1 miles), you shouldn't be going all out for 10 minutes every time you run. When I started to realize i'm not immortal in my early 20's and started running, I did the same thing you are speaking of. I went full gas for as long as I can and saw diminishing returns on my effort. Every time you go all out, you put stress on your legs and need recovery time. When you do that on consecutive days, you don't recover properly, end up being slower due to muscular fatigue, and put yourself at risk for injury. That was me and I gave myself a stress fracture that took months to heal.

In my opinion, you need to spend more time at a lower intensity to reach your goals. If you train the right way, cycling should be for recovery days and running should be what you're recovering from. I'm no star or expert in either, but decent at both. Here is my advice(do these in sequence):

-Make sure you have proper running shoes and bike fit. If you don't have the right equipment, you risk slowed improvement at best and injury at worst.

-Disregard this one if you won't be able to cycle much due to weather,temperature,etc...Don'd do any running and focus on cycling for a month or two. this will give you time to rest your legs,become more acclimated to the bike, and gain a good aerobic base with a low impact form of exercise.

-Run for more than 10-15 minutes at a lower intensity or as long as you can 2-3 days a week and a mix of sprints, walking(think HIIT?) once a week maximum. running 3 miles will become much easier for you with proper pacing and a higher aerobic base. Increase the duration when you feel up to it and make sure to stay hydrated.Cycle if you want to train beyond this and get 2 recovery days in, 1 at the least.

A few things:I personally hate hydration belts and packs, but make sure you bring something to drink while running. They have these hand straps for water bottles that I've used for hiking and running before. For the distance you will be going, a 10 oz to 20 oz handheld bottle should be fine. This summer is when I started cycling and ran maybe 3-4 times since then and was pleasantly surprised at the results. My first run in 3 months and I was able to do 4.5 miles at a faster than usual pace without destroying my legs or lungs. Cycling will give you muscles that you wouldn't really get otherwise(just by running) and really gives your legs a chance to recover.

I've never really been in to running but as others have said, I don't think there's any reason that you can't do both. Cycling purely for exercise is totally different from cycling for the enjoyment, and if the main reason you cycle is for a cardio workout then its just the same as running I would have thought.

Somebody already mentioned pacing yourself and I'd like to underline that point. I've done both running and cycling as a exercise and both at the same time. Now, this was almost always in gym, but what's the difference? Anyway, I'd run medium effort for 15 minutes, then ride the bike full effort for 20, then a do or die of 10 minutes full effort running and then 30 minutes medium effort bike. I haven't done this every day, but I've done it 2-3 times a week, but in the end I always took a day or two to recover.