Like most of the folks here I'm a regular working stiff/weekend warrior. I don't live or train in a triathlon vacuum and I do my best to fit in training around the demands of work and family. As I was driving across the Golden Gate Bridge to work yesterday morning I noticed that there were a helluva lot of people out on tri bikes...and it got me a thinking....either none of these people have jobs or they aren't utilizing their available training time to its maximum.
So here's the question. If I have an hour in the morning, or an hour at lunch to get in some work why would I even bother getting on the bike? By the time I suit up and inflate my tires I only have about 40 minutes to ride if I have to shower afterwards. I think the same hour would be much better served going on a 6 mile tempo run.
Right now I'm only riding once a week on Saturday mornings where I can get in a 4 hour ride and actually get some benefit from it. Every other day (work and family permitting) I'm doubling up run/run or run/swim.
Running fitness translates better to both the bike and the swim in that its the best to reduce your lactate threshold, its a better HR workout, it burns fat faster, and it requires a lot less time to do...shoes on out the door. I think a hard 6 mile run every morning will, in the long run, make me faster on the bike than a hard 40 minute ride.
Am I way off base in my thinking, do I need more time on the bike?
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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill
So here's the question. If I have an hour in the morning, or an hour at lunch to get in some work why would I even bother getting on the bike? By the time I suit up and inflate my tires I only have about 40 minutes to ride if I have to shower afterwards. I think the same hour would be much better served going on a 6 mile tempo run.
Right now I'm only riding once a week on Saturday mornings where I can get in a 4 hour ride and actually get some benefit from it. Every other day (work and family permitting) I'm doubling up run/run or run/swim.
Running fitness translates better to both the bike and the swim in that its the best to reduce your lactate threshold, its a better HR workout, it burns fat faster, and it requires a lot less time to do...shoes on out the door. I think a hard 6 mile run every morning will, in the long run, make me faster on the bike than a hard 40 minute ride.
Am I way off base in my thinking, do I need more time on the bike?
----------------------------------------------------------
"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill