Losing my Religion

dwj444 said:

I've been a runner for 7 years and a roadie for 3. I love running, and I love riding. I try to divide my time equally between the two, and during warmer weather, when I have time, I enjoy combining them.

This spring/summer, I've been training for the Chicago marathon. The marathon is being run on October 10, 2004. My training schedule calls for alternating days of 45 minutes running and 45 minutes cross-training (for me, cycling). I've been doing more than my 45 minutes on the bike though, because that seems too short to me (maybe I should ride faster, but I like at least an hour or two to cover any distance worth mentioning).

This marathon is taking the joy out of my riding though. My legs feel like lead and I miss being able to really enjoy my rides. I've had to give up riding to and from work because of how tired I am from my runs. Every weekend, I go on the "long run" -- last weekend it was 20 miles and it builds to 22 next weekend. That run throws my entire system off for at least a day or two.

I am a 2 time marathoner training for my first century now... What I have decided to do is focus on cycling in the summers and running in the winters. I have a really hard time running if it is over 80-85 F, but very little trouble biking in that weather. I still run all summer, but I keep the long runs under 15 miles... I think I am going to train for marathon #3 over this coming winter.

It does get easier too, you might have to back off the cycling a fair amount for your first marathon (is this your first?), and a lot less for the following ones. You could also do duathlons and triathlons...

I have this crazy pipe dream that I will some day do an ironman.

best of luck,
TamMan2000

This is my first marathon (sometimes I think it's for sure my last, too).

Thanks for the sound advice. I think the pipe dreams are what keep the rest of this interesting for us. I like the idea of focusing on maintaining seasonal splits in training -- that makes sense as an organizational principle.

Good luck with marathon #3, and let me know if you come up with any more good training ideas.

Cheers.

Try talking to some triathletes, even though you didn't mention swimming. All the triathletes i know are experts at cross-training because they have to be, and tri people could probably give you some valuable advice. It can be done, I know people who do stuff like Hawaii Ironman (mother of all tri races) and their legs are fine. It's probably just a matter of getting the balance right. I do agree with you though that 45 min on the bike is not enough. It doesn't feel like you get a decent ride in when you do that.