Running to compliment cycling

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Comments

  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Interesting, the I notice with my breathing when running I always seem to hit the ground while I'm breathing out which interrupts my breath and thus makes it harder. Any tips to overcome this?
  • mercia_man
    mercia_man Posts: 1,431
    If I'm just out for a training run I don't really think about breathing. But if I'm competing in a road race I get up to my target pace with help of my Garmin watch and maintain that pace, breathing hard and steadily in time with my feet. Just had a quick sprint round the house and I reckon I breathe out as my foot hits the ground. I Don't find it a problem.

    I wonder if that's how Paula Radcliffe runs. The way she rhythmically nods her head while running makes me think she breathes in time with her footfall.
  • Alex_Simmons/RST
    Alex_Simmons/RST Posts: 4,161
    A few studies for reference:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7068297
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2228355
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2266758
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7871294

    The latter link concluded:
    Cross-training effects never exceed those induced by the sport-specific training mode. The principles of specificity of training tend to have greater significance, especially for highly trained athletes. For the general population, cross-training may be highly beneficial in terms of overall fitness. Similarly, cross-training may be an appropriate supplement during rehabilitation periods from physical injury and during periods of overtraining or psychological fatigue.
    RST Sport : Coaching - Training Plans - Powermeters -- My blog -- AeroCoach Australia
  • Stalin
    Stalin Posts: 208
    Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:
    A few studies for reference:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7068297
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2228355
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2266758
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7871294

    The latter link concluded:
    Cross-training effects never exceed those induced by the sport-specific training mode. The principles of specificity of training tend to have greater significance, especially for highly trained athletes. For the general population, cross-training may be highly beneficial in terms of overall fitness. Similarly, cross-training may be an appropriate supplement during rehabilitation periods from physical injury and during periods of overtraining or psychological fatigue.

    Thanks for posting those studies.

    After about 15 years doing nothing but cycling I have started doing some work on the Comcept 2 rower and I have lost about 75 watts sustainable power over 20 minutes in the 15 years. On the rare occasions I have been for a run, I have found the legs really suffer and performance is diabolical compared to when I regularly ran.

    It seems even the muscles you would expect to be well trained in one sport are pretty useless doing another sport even if the movements are similar.

    My cycling 20 min power is currently about 100 watts above my rowing power over the same duration.

    Cycling is not a good sport for all round fitness.
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    The OP doesn't seem to have come back into the discussion. But here's my 2p worth. If the op wants to perform well in cycling events, they need to focus on cycling. Personally I cycle to get fit, physically and mentally. I used to say "You never see a smiling jogger" but then I started doing Parkruns on a Saturday with my kids and found I liked it. It was hard work as I was 45 and hadn't done any running since age 18 Cycling is good for my head, but didn't help me lose weight. With one Parkrun a week (5k) and occasional midweek runs of 5k I have lost 4kg over the winter. I did very little cycling due to weather and some significant flooding on my usual routes.

    So cycling and running do complement each other in terms of overall fitness, if it's not about getting a competitive edge - something I know little about.

    The OP also said he was thinking of running as a safe alternative to cycling in the dark. Personally I'd go with cycling in the dark anytime. There were a few threads on the subject last year. Now the weather is better I hope to get out at night soon.

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