Negative effects on Running Power

[rollobluster]

Hi All,

My train got cancelled and as such i have started to ride to and from work. Normally i do this at least 2 days (usually only 1) a week but rarely 3. The trip in approximately 13km (26km return). i have been concentrating on Obstacle course racing and in running leg power, speed and agility specifically. Does anyone know if the increase in cycling and cycling distance will negatively impact the power/speed functionality in running?

Cheers

Rob

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Hi All,

My train got cancelled and as such i have started to ride to and from work. Normally i do this at least 2 days (usually only 1) a week but rarely 3. The trip in approximately 13km (26km return). i have been concentrating on Obstacle course racing and in running leg power, speed and agility specifically. Does anyone know if the increase in cycling and cycling distance will negatively impact the power/speed functionality in running?

Cheers

Rob

50km a week on a bike is not a lot once you are used to it, and being on a bike it's also non-impact. With a bike you can ride very easily such that it should not have much of an impact on your running, indeed it might be a nice way of including some active recovery in your training week.

One thing that might have an impact is if you have lots of hills to ride up. It's hard to ride hills very easy.

[madmacca]

Hi All,

My train got cancelled and as such i have started to ride to and from work. Normally i do this at least 2 days (usually only 1) a week but rarely 3. The trip in approximately 13km (26km return). i have been concentrating on Obstacle course racing and in running leg power, speed and agility specifically. Does anyone know if the increase in cycling and cycling distance will negatively impact the power/speed functionality in running?

Cheers

Rob

The answer to this probably lies in your overall training load. If you are running 3-4 times per week, then some low impact, moderate intensity exercise like cycling on a level route can be beneficial cross-training without adding to your impact load.

If you are already running 5-6 times per week and logging big miles when you do, and have some significant climbs on your 13 km cycle commute, then the intensity required to get over the hills can add to your overall training load, and might mean that you are not getting enough recovery time - over time this lack of recovery could hurt your running.

[RobertL]

I'm no expert, but I know that triathletes go into this stuff in detail. They have a slightly different issue in that they have to race a bike and then get off it and run hard, so they do things like choose a slightly different pedalling cadence or seating position in order to use their leg muscles differently for cycling vs running.

That's not quite your situation, but triathletes also need to manage training for all 3 activities, so they'd have a lot of knowledge. So, maybe try a triathlon blog too?

[rollobluster]

Thanks all for the responses. There are no hills. Well to be honest I am a not a strong cyclist so there are very slight rises that seem like mountains. Good point on triathletes. Will check that out.