"i am not all that nuts about running. "

It's totally beyond me how anyone can actually enjoy running. I view tri as a recreational swim followed by a serious bike race and then a cool down run.

My wife is a serious runner and she has currently been off for the past three weeks with an injury(again).

I've wondered about the PC's myself. Frank claims they improve your running. If they actually do so without having to run more, then that in itself would be enough reason for me to buy them.

The three months that I've been training on Powercranks have helped my running dramatically. I dropped my 5k split from 16:30 to 15:00. Frank made a good comment as to the strength training that PC's provide, amounting to lifting x amount of weight up 14" 4k-5k times per hour. It is useful in the same way that running stadium steps is useful, for a stronger leg lift. You still need to run some to work on proper form and to "harden up" some parts of the body that are naturally pounded a bit by running, especially feet, ankles, knees, hips, etc. Personally, I receive all of the aerobic training that I could need from my cycling. I think it is harder to run when you are using running to improve overall body composition and build aerobic efficiency. Cycling does that for me. I can run 40 miles per week now, with half of it being low intensity or steady state running, while the other half is intervals, hills, and track workouts. I don't like running slow and struggling at it, but I love the endorphins that come with running fast and effortlessly.

Has anyone, who has used Powercranks at all, disputed that there is a significant positive impact on running? I would be very curious to hear any argument against using Powercranks to improve the run.

ttn, I have no proof of these thoughts but observing various users (and especially SL, who did a 2:55 first marathon on less than 20 miles a week and has yet to even come close running a lot more) leads me to the following thoughts on this.

I think the elite triathlete, training full time on PC's, should be able to cut their running mileage down to 25-30 miles per week, especially if they take the time saved and put it mostly back into the bike.

For someone with your stated, much lesser, running goals, I think 10 miles or so a week should allow you to be ok, as long as the time on the bike is enough (which you have). You can't do 2 hours a week on the PC's and 10 miles a week running and expect to run to the 18 mile mark of an IM. You simply need to run enough to keep the joints and tendons used to the pounding and make sure your shoes don't cause blisters, etc.

Again, this is my thought and I expect we will learn more as there are more PC'ers out there doing different types of training. Another study idea for M. Prevost!

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Actually, the running improvements came as a surprise to me. It was only after users repeatedly and consistently came back and remarked as to how dramatic running improvement was and how rapdily they saw it that I thought about it and came up with reasons why it would be so and added it to my claims.

The run improvement comes so fast and so dramatically for most that I now tell triathletes it is the first thing they should see and they can expect to see it in 3 weeks.

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

I saw a 1' improvement over 5k. not over my pb but over the time I run at this time of the year. so, it's not as impressive as 1'30'' over a pb, but that's good enoug for me.
I still believe you need to run anyway. feel of the road (not as important as feel of the water, but important anyway), and getting used to the pounding.

You definitely need to continue some running. I have tried going 2 months without running but still riding the PCs a good amount. When I did finally run again, I found the running very easy for my muscles, but a bit hard on my joints & feet. I also found that my run cadence went down a bit from the normal about 95 to about 88. One other thing that I have seen is that the most significant speed differences have been for my LSD paces and not quite so much for my top end pace.

I am definitely seeing a benefit to my running. I would suspect that I could cut the running back to twice per week (1 long slow distance and 1 longish tempo run) and achieve what I could with 3 runs and no PCs. That is sort of what I am doing this year. I am actually running 3 1/2 times but one is 15 minutes off of the bike and hardly counts (the 1/2 run) and one is purely a form workout where I cover maybe 3 miles with good form and low intensity. I am very prone to running injuries. I am hoping that the PCs carry me through to a decent IM run without having to run 3-4 times per week and beat up my joints. Time will tell, but based on how things are going, I would suspect that it will work.

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Simplify, Train, Live

Mike, the link on the page to download the spreadsheet doesn't seem to work...

Try the one below.

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Simplify, Train, Live