I’ve never been a very good runner… 5k in 25 minutes used to be a good time for me. That was without any focused training at all though. Literally I didn’t run or do any real cardio at all before. Just weight lifting.
I’m really getting into cycling and I can tell my fitness has gone way up. I’ve also lost about 18 lbs since I last ran a 5k. I get ~10-12 hours of cycling per week right now. Most of it is Computrainer + TrainerRoad.
On to my question… How much fitness from cycling transfers to running? Doing well on the 5k doesn’t mean enough to me to stop cycling so much, so I’m not going to do much running before the actual 5k race in September. I’m just wondering if I’m indirectly improving my 5k run by doing so much cycling. I would think my heart/lungs would be stronger than before, plus some leg muscles are used to the endurance and removing lactate. Is that right?
The 5k event is just something my extended family gets together for and is always a competition for bragging rights. Last year my brother-in-law beat me by about 100 seconds so I’m hoping to beat him this year.
I’ve never been a very good runner… 5k in 25 minutes used to be a good time for me. That was without any focused training at all though. Literally I didn’t run or do any real cardio at all before. Just weight lifting.
I’m really getting into cycling and I can tell my fitness has gone way up. I’ve also lost about 18 lbs since I last ran a 5k. I get ~10-12 hours of cycling per week right now. Most of it is Computrainer + TrainerRoad.
On to my question… How much fitness from cycling transfers to running? Doing well on the 5k doesn’t mean enough to me to stop cycling so much, so I’m not going to do much running before the actual 5k race in September. I’m just wondering if I’m indirectly improving my 5k run by doing so much cycling. I would think my heart/lungs would be stronger than before, plus some leg muscles are used to the endurance and removing lactate. Is that right?
The 5k event is just something my extended family gets together for and is always a competition for bragging rights. Last year my brother-in-law beat me by about 100 seconds so I’m hoping to beat him this year.
Small amount of transfer but not much. As the other reply said, you will see more transfer in untrained individuals, than fit individuals. Also, more transfer for shorter events, than longer events. You will probably do OK on the 5K. 10K and 1/2 marathon is where it would start breaking down.
I’ve also lost about 18 lbs since I last ran a 5k. I get ~10-12 hours of cycling per week right now. Most of it is Computrainer + TrainerRoad.
I’m not going to do much running before the actual 5k race in September.
Last year my brother-in-law beat me by about 100 seconds so I’m hoping to beat him this year.
If you just spend 2 hours a week running it won’t be close. This is not good advice for the most part but if you just ran 20 minutes after some of the rides - and that would be easy to do - you will probably beat him.
I’ve never been a very good runner… 5k in 25 minutes used to be a good time for me. That was without any focused training at all though. Literally I didn’t run or do any real cardio at all before. Just weight lifting.
I’m really getting into cycling and I can tell my fitness has gone way up. I’ve also lost about 18 lbs since I last ran a 5k. I get ~10-12 hours of cycling per week right now. Most of it is Computrainer + TrainerRoad.
On to my question… How much fitness from cycling transfers to running? Doing well on the 5k doesn’t mean enough to me to stop cycling so much, so I’m not going to do much running before the actual 5k race in September. I’m just wondering if I’m indirectly improving my 5k run by doing so much cycling. I would think my heart/lungs would be stronger than before, plus some leg muscles are used to the endurance and removing lactate. Is that right?
The 5k event is just something my extended family gets together for and is always a competition for bragging rights. Last year my brother-in-law beat me by about 100 seconds so I’m hoping to beat him this year.
How hard are you riding on the 10-12 hours/week cycling? There might be some area to cut out some easy riding and maybe give yourself 1-2 extra hours to run? Losing 18 pounds should help your run out a a bunch though as well.
Thanks for the responses.
Right now my cycling is usually 60-90 minutes per session, 6 sessions/week. This is the TrainerRoad “40k TT, High Volume” plan. Most of the workouts involve intervals of different lengths, and usually 1x per week there’s a tempo ride.
I’d hate to risk overtraining on the bike by adding 2 hours of running since the biking feels like it’s near my limit already. If I was doing easy rides I could get way more hours in on the bike, but this training plan is pretty intense. Plus the 5k doesn’t mean as much to me as the biking does… I was just curious if I was helping my run much by doing so much biking.
I’ve never been a very good runner… 5k in 25 minutes used to be a good time for me. That was without any focused training at all though. Literally I didn’t run or do any real cardio at all before. Just weight lifting.
I’m really getting into cycling and I can tell my fitness has gone way up. I’ve also lost about 18 lbs since I last ran a 5k. I get ~10-12 hours of cycling per week right now. Most of it is Computrainer + TrainerRoad.
On to my question… How much fitness from cycling transfers to running? Doing well on the 5k doesn’t mean enough to me to stop cycling so much, so I’m not going to do much running before the actual 5k race in September. I’m just wondering if I’m indirectly improving my 5k run by doing so much cycling. I would think my heart/lungs would be stronger than before, plus some leg muscles are used to the endurance and removing lactate. Is that right?
The 5k event is just something my extended family gets together for and is always a competition for bragging rights. Last year my brother-in-law beat me by about 100 seconds so I’m hoping to beat him this year.
You will find out in september.
subtract last years time and this years time and you will have your answer.
do a search for hte term “run more”. You get 50,000 hits in Slowtwitch. To get better running you need to run more, not run fast, not bike more, not swim more, not do crossfit. Just run more. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Go out and run 6-7 days a week. Run 15 minutes 3 days, 30 minutes 2 of the days and 45 minutes one day. You can even walk some too if needed. Once that becomes “easy” then add 5 minutes to the base distance. Don’t even pay attention to distance or HR. Just run what feels a relatively easy pace.
You guys are missing the weight loss though. Even if he did nothing different, a 20 pound weight loss would be a 40 or so second speedup per mile for his 5k.
You might be surprised though, i have been bike racing this year and average around 275-300mi per week on the bike and just 10 mpw running, but i just set a 5k pr 18:37 so their is some corssover but you are right the lack of running miles would start to catch up after 10-15k. I think with even 15-20mpw running and a high cycling volume you could post some stellar times and probably have happy knees.
You guys are missing the weight loss though. Even if he did nothing different, a 20 pound weight loss would be a 40 or so second speedup per mile for his 5k.
Testament of one here…
Keep in mind I am an experienced track athlete and runner who usually runs a couple thousand miles each year. Two months ago due to a rolled ankle- not while running, I was forced to stop running. I was on crutches for a week unable to walk on it. Once I was off crutches I began cycling. I put in a solid four weeks of cycling building up to a last chance qualifier on the track(running a 5k). Before the injury my 5k time for the season was 16:07, after I came off the injury and four weeks of cycling I went out and ran a 15:51, with zero running on my legs. Now theres lots of variables here like maybe my body was more rested, maybe I slightly cut down on weight, maybe maybe… but what this leads me to think is that if cycling is your main tool, you should at least be able to maintain where you were at.
You might be surprised though, i have been bike racing this year and average around 275-300mi per week on the bike and just 10 mpw running, but i just set a 5k pr 18:37 so their is some corssover but you are right the lack of running miles would start to catch up after 10-15k. I think with even 15-20mpw running and a high cycling volume you could post some stellar times and probably have happy knees.
This has been my experience. I’m doing about half the run volume I was 8 months ago but I’m ripping my old PRs to shreds. How? By doubling my overall volume of which about 75% is on the bike with a good amount of intensity.
The stock slowtwitch answer in regards to improving running is to “run more” and while I am definitely not disputing the fact that is sound advice, it is not the only way for everyone. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa.
Personally, I have noticed improved running from cycling. Strengthening your quads and core will improve running, at least if you run with good form that doesn’t rely on your calves for everything. That said I don’t rely on cycling to improve in running, I run; especially track workouts, TDIs, and hills.
I wasn’t asking for help on the math part of figuring it out haha