Running as cross training for cyclists
This winter I decided to do a bit of running as a form of cross training.
There are a few reasons behind this…
- Joe Friel recommends it, so it must be good
- It’s less effort to go running in bad weather as there isn’t a bike to clean off at the end of it
- I don’t like riding when it’s icy
- My business partner Duncan runs, and I’m interested to see how we compare
My first run
As a pretty fit person compared to your average first time runner, something weird happens when you run. Your aerobic system is like “I’ve got this, push as hard as you want” but your legs are like “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!”. On my first few runs, I found it impossible to get my heart rate up beyond Z3 — my legs just couldn’t go fast enough.
After just a 2 mile run, I got back to my house with legs like jelly. Getting down steps for the next few days was hard. I found the short run completely mashed the muscle just above my knees, as well as my calves. It didn’t seem to affect my cycling though, and I went out for a ride the day after the run. I guess this just highlights how different the muscle groups you use are.
The next run was much the same, but after three runs I noticed that I wasn’t anywhere near as physically debilitated afterwards. After doing 1 or 2 runs a week for 4 weeks, I can now do a 5 mile run and hardly notice it the next day. So it doesn’t take long at all to adapt.
Equipment
The great thing about running is you don’t need anything specific except for shoes. I’ve just been using my Garmin 810 to record the activity, and you can just set the activity type on Strava and Training Peaks to “running” after you’ve uploaded it.
I did get some new shoes, even though I already had quite good trainers. This was because I generally run on the road, even though there are some great off road trails where I live in the New Forest. This is partly the road cyclist in me liking the consistency of the road, but also because I don’t want to introduce any additional risk of injury by running on an uneven surface.
My road shoes are Salomon Sonic Pro (pictured above) which are really nice. They don’t have a massively thick sole, but they have a great spring to them on tarmac. They also have a cool boa style lace like on high end cycling shoes. They cost me about £75 from Wiggle and were well worth it over my standard trainers for the reduced pounding sensation on the road.
A lot of people recommend going to a specialist running shop to get your “gait” analysed (whether you feet roll in or out when you strike the ground) but since I don’t plan on racking up tons of volume I decided just to go with a neutral shoe and hope for the best. Also Duncan (my business partner and keen runner) is really into “minimal” shoes that basically have no padding in the sole, and thinks all the gait analysis stuff is just a way of shops getting you to spend more money.
Speed
I was quite surprised how much quicker I got once I’d got over the initial painful phase. In running, the common speed measurement is “pace” which is measured in minutes per mile. I did a hilly 6 mile run the other week at a pace of 7:25 minutes per mile, which is pretty respectable.
I’ve been out with Duncan a few times, and surprisingly I was able to keep up. I even managed to drop him on a 6 mile group run we did the other week, which was a rather nice feeling. He was ill though to be fair and also in the middle of a big training week :)
I’d like to try and get a sub 20 minute 5k. This is the distance of the Saturday morning Park Runs that people do all over the world, and is a similar effort to a 10 mile TT. To do that I’ll need to run 2–3 times a week I think, and incorporate a few intervals.
Will I carry on?
My plan is to keep running once or twice a week through the base period until around February, when I’d reduce down to just once every couple of weeks. I do want to keep it going though, for a bit of variety and also to make sure I never have to go through the painful adjustment phase again which I think would happen if I stopped for a couple of months!
