Run-Bike or Bike-Run ?

"you need to train Bike-Run for sure"


Why do you say that?

personally i think if you are worried about joint injury i would not do either.....

I don't want to read you wrong - what exactly are you saying?

two things really,

one you asked about one being worse for the joints over the other (i'm assuming for your training?).
If you are worried, i would avoid both.

2nd, you said its needed to train bike to run as thats what the race is, i would argue that it is not needed (with a few exceptions) to do well.

(if you are looking for thoughts/reasons for/against them, i'll respond as i am sure many more will, if you were simply looking for the safest way to go about it, i would highly recommend doing neither until you are sure you wont get hurt,

I feel that we must not be connecting on the same wavelength, as I see you are a coach. I'm not asking you to endorse my personal training safety/efficacy nor am I saying I fear hurting myself. I subscribe to the idea that one can train in a manner to minimize the chance of injury, and I'm gathering you do too, so would like to clarify that's where I was heading in my post.

I am, in particular, referring to published studies addressing the added risk to Bike-Run vs Run-Bike training. I certainly recognize that academic papers are not alway (or even sometimes) the same as good advice from an experienced coach, such as yourself. I'd be interested in your comments against Run-Bike or Bike-Run training. I'm sure I can learn something!

By suggesting that Bike-Run training is part of the training process, I'm simply recognizing that practicing the transition can be useful. I'm no expert, and would be willing to believe that one can train with success and never doing a Swim-Bike or a Bike-Run outside a race, aside from breif transition practice.

I'm all ears!

Edited by MaverickNH 2010-02-20 7:02 PM

got it.

on that two of those (bike run vs run bike), i've seen many many talks/coaches/hearsay that goes both ways.

one camp says biking after running is the better option so you are not running on strained/tired legs,
the other says running after biking can be better as your legs are already warmed up and ready to run.

Out of those two, i'm not really sure which i would buy into more, and i can see merits for both.

As for doing either vs no bike run workouts, personally i think/have seen through my training coaching/the small bit of research out, that it is largely useless in making you a faster runner off the bike, and that quality bike and run workouts will do MUCH more for you.

I do think they can be useful for those looking to get the last bit of speed out of short course racing where the opening mile is very important, and for testing nutrition/pacing on longer race distances, but next to useless in making you run faster off the bike.

This winter, I've been doing more biking after running, as I've switched to bricking short work outs into one-hour time slots, and the running has to come first, as I don't want to venture out into the icy winds already covered in sweat. My legs don't love the first few minutes on the bike after a 3 - 4 mile run, but I've noticed an increase in speed at the same HR on the trainer. I have no scientific study to offer, but I think spinning on run-tired legs has definitely improved my cycling, and I can't wait to get out on the roads.