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"Nothing is worse for your cycling than your running"

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vtate75
vtate75 Posts: 221 Member
in Social Groups
I don't love to bike. I do it, but I don't love it. I love to run.

So, about a week ago I was in a bike shop. We are looking for road bikes for the kids. The sales lady was trying HARD to sell me a tri bike. I can't afford it. I love my road bike. I'm not buying one. NOT. Maybe one day I'll have the money, but I am not going there now. I have a nice road bike with tri bars. It's good enough for me.

We got to talking about my 70.3 in May. She said, "nothing is worse for your cycling than your running." She went on to say that if I were her client, she would tell me only to run once a week. I'm not going to do that. I love running, and I'm getting faster. IN FACT, I signed up for a marathon group and plan to run a marathon in February. I didn't tell her that. I am training for both a marathon and a 70.3. I love triathlons. I love running.

SO...what are your thoughts? Do you agree that running is bad for cycling?

Replies

  • scott091501
    scott091501 Posts: 1,260 Member
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    Bwahahahaha. That's rich.

    Now training for a marathon and a triathlon is generally frowned upon because of the amount of running needed and the recovery that goes along with.

    http://www.endurancenation.us/blog/training/marathons-and-triathlon-training/

    I have yet to see a viable triathlon plan that says to run once a week. One long run a week? Yes, but I don't know how you expect your run fitness to be at any kind of level only running once a week.
  • vtate75
    vtate75 Posts: 221 Member
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    Bwahahahaha. That's rich.

    Now training for a marathon and a triathlon is generally frowned upon because of the amount of running needed and the recovery that goes along with.

    http://www.endurancenation.us/blog/training/marathons-and-triathlon-training/

    I have yet to see a viable triathlon plan that says to run once a week. One long run a week? Yes, but I don't know how you expect your run fitness to be at any kind of level only running once a week.

    I know, I know, I know...but I WANT to do the marathon. LOL! So, I know it is not ideal, but I'm not trying to WIN it. I just want to finish. PLUS, I will have exactly 3 months between the marathon and the 70.3, so I can recover. As the article says, sometimes you just want to! :)

    Thanks for the article.
  • scott091501
    scott091501 Posts: 1,260 Member
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    Bwahahahaha. That's rich.

    Now training for a marathon and a triathlon is generally frowned upon because of the amount of running needed and the recovery that goes along with.

    http://www.endurancenation.us/blog/training/marathons-and-triathlon-training/

    I have yet to see a viable triathlon plan that says to run once a week. One long run a week? Yes, but I don't know how you expect your run fitness to be at any kind of level only running once a week.

    I know, I know, I know...but I WANT to do the marathon. LOL! So, I know it is not ideal, but I'm not trying to WIN it. I just want to finish. PLUS, I will have exactly 3 months between the marathon and the 70.3, so I can recover. As the article says, sometimes you just want to! :)

    Thanks for the article.

    Sounds good to me. I want to do a marathon eventually. Funny that my first will come at the end of an Ironman.
  • trijoe
    trijoe Posts: 729 Member
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    Really, when you think about it, training for one discipline is in some way or another, always going to hurt the two other disciplines - if for no other reason than you're too busy with one to worry about the other 2. Bike shop people always swear by the importance of the bike, and running shop people always swear by the importance of finishing strong, and my hunch is somewhere, there's a swim coach out there that'll tell you "You can't win a triathlon in the water, but you CAN lose it there."

    I'm sure there've been endless studies - none of which I'm the least bit interested in reading - that suggest optimal times in each discipline, and overall. Me? I have 3 kids, 2 of whom are sick A LOT, and a wife who's rarely home. I'm lucky to have an hour in the morning before everybody else bothers to wake up. So I don't worry about all the training plans, and optimal discipline this or that. I'm just tickled pink if I can fit in something - anything. Yes this sucks as a podium-specific training plan, but who cares. I'm happy with it. When I want to bike I bike, and when I want to run I run. (I rarely want to swim, so that I actually have to pencil that in lest I blow it off even more than I already do.) I enjoy cycling the most, so it's what gets the most volume, and the greatest intensity workouts. But that's just me.

    In short, my 2 cents is, if you like running and it makes you happy, screw the gurus, pundits, and lab science people. Do what makes you happy. You may end up with a race time 20 or 30 seconds slower than if you training planned like the pros, but oh well. You had fun.
  • Drudoo
    Drudoo Posts: 275 Member
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    My first marathon was during Ironman Louisville. What a fun way to finish one!

    Scott, have you ever thought about joining Endurance Nation? I recently joined up; liking it so far.
  • scott091501
    scott091501 Posts: 1,260 Member
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    My first marathon was during Ironman Louisville. What a fun way to finish one!

    Scott, have you ever thought about joining Endurance Nation? I recently joined up; liking it so far.

    I have a friend that uses it. I'm intrigued.
  • jerikris
    jerikris Posts: 9
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    Go ahead and do your marathon. It's hard on your legs and feet, but you have three months to recover. Reduce your running after the marathon, recover with biking and swimming, and ease slowly back into your running schedule.
  • MrsVanderRad
    MrsVanderRad Posts: 2
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    I say do your marathon!!

    I did my first Olympic triathlon and a 2.3 mile swim race within 6 days of each other! Yes, I was exhausted after that swim! But the 2.3 mile swim was the last part of a series that I REALLY wanted to finish.... and Olympic tris only come to town twice a year. So.... ya know... I just did it! I didn't finish first, but I finished!

    GO FOR IT!
  • bethvandenberg
    bethvandenberg Posts: 1,496 Member
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    Nope don't agree. :) That woman wanted to sell you a bike. I love my road bike with Tri bars. I wouldn't invest in another bike unless mine got hit by a car (hopefully I wouldn't be on it).

    Advice from people is always wonderful don't you think lol
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
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    Nope don't agree. :) That woman wanted to sell you a bike. I love my road bike with Tri bars. I wouldn't invest in another bike unless mine got hit by a car (hopefully I wouldn't be on it).

    Advice from people is always wonderful don't you think lol

    Road bike with aero bars FTW! Unless I decide to get competitive with triathlons, I doubt I will ever switch.
  • Mdin1029
    Mdin1029 Posts: 456 Member
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    I think each activity helps you in the other. Swimming helps my knees get a break, running builds by endurance, cycling strengthens by quads. And yoga helps them all by making the core stronger.

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