| vvhjv |
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I've been injured a lot and I have to max out at 50 a week or I get injured, most recently a stress fracture. So I was thinking about running 45-50 a week and biking around 10-15 a day to compensate for the low mileage. They'd be done at an easy pace, around 3:45 a mile. What do you guys think about this? I run D1. |
| Running on Empathy |
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Instead of biking in easy mileage, bike for time and effort. Get those quads a'burnin'. And get in the pool for an hour 3 times a week. |
| vvhjv |
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That sounds good. Do you think biking at a faster pace will help me more as an easy workout or be a steady or tempo effort? |
| Running on Empathy |
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If your tendency for stress fractures are related to too many hard footstrikes during your hard running sessions, then being able to do a hard workout sans footstrikes will do more to keep you healthy than just putting in junk mileage on the bike or in the pool. An easy run the day after a hard bike or pool workout should give you the active recovery you need without aggivating things. Try it and see if this helps. Long runs may be out of the question for the time being, at least until you've been able to build up some strength in those areas. Granted, you will eventually have to do the hard work on the track, but this way you can space out the hard running sessions with interspersed non-running hard sessions and easy runs inbetween. |
| Bell Lapper |
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I usually dont have too many problems with injuries but I have been doing more work on a stationary bike due to being over trained with muscle soreness. It's a lot safer than biking on a road and you can get a great workout from it, especially if you monitor effort with a heart rate monitor. Read "Run Less, Run Faster" and "Run Faster" both of which recommend biking as well as other cross training techniques. Most rec. centers or gyms have a stationary bike such as the Schwinn Airdyne so if you have a membership, you're in. You dont have to spend the big bucks for your own bike, fight the weather and traffic and its a lot more convenient. |
| jcyclist |
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coming from a cyclist i can assure you that cycling will not help your running directly. you would get a lot more out of walking and working on floating over the ground with great posture. almost without a doubt you are getting injured because you aren't smooth enough and walking is a perfect slow-motion form of running where you can work on your form with almost zero impact. |
| metrododger |
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agreed. |
| Running on Empathy |
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Walking has zero benefit for runners. Walking can actually aggrivate lower leg and foot injuries because you're still having to support and push off the entire weight of the body. And walking gives no aerobic training effect unless you've been a couch slug all your life. The whole point of working through injuries via alternate training regimes is to use something OTHER THAN the feet/legs to support most of the body weight while still working the core muscle groups used in running. |
| llort_vbo |
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It's very difficult to equate running and cycling. You'll definitely benefit from the aerobic activity, but cycling works very different muscles. Speed is not the best judge of effort as well. 16 mph on flat ground is one thing, but on a really hilly course it could be quite challenging. As with all things, you need to find what works for you, but I think you have the right idea. Cycling is not going to hurt your fitness (unless you crash). |
| runn |
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Instead of biking try orthotics. I know a lot of people here talk them down but a lot of elites have them and they've worked wonders for me. I've been running for over 40 yrs. The first 7 or 8 were marred by injury, finally I quit for about 18 months. I love running, I started again, got injured again, a friend recommended I see a podiatrist, he gave me orthotics in 1984, I haven't had those typical overuse injuries since. Now, I run in Foot Levelers (they have a facebook page). I can wear any shoe I want- racing flats on hard days, lightweight trainers, etc. Try it, you've got nothing to lose. |
| training thru |
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I am perpetually injured as well (sore knees, tight calves). Last few months I started playing other sports (soccer, basketball) besides running that require different sorts of movement besides just straight ahead. Also doing some cycling. My body feels better overall. I think becoming an "athlete" instead of just a "runner" can be helpful to those of us that struggle with overuse injuries from just running. Doing one sort of movement tends to break the body down. |
| Vbvb |
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Ever try alter-g? Sounds perfect for you |
| vvhjv |
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Thanks for a the responses guys! My school cannot afford an alter-g unfortunately. I doubled in high school and got up to around 55 a week and I was never really injured until senior year (but I blame that on running in Nike Frees on my easy days and lunaracers and spikes most other days). So maybe doubling could help? Say four to six miles three or four times a week? |
| Half tights |
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Elliptical is the best way to x train if you dont have access to an underwater treadmill or an alter g If you cant do elliptical then aqua jogging, biking will give you aerobic conditioning but it trains different muscle groups and the transition to running is poor |
| Bconvey |
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Elliptical is better than biking for cross training. Play with resistance and slope. Also spinning is better than biking, particularly if you get out of the saddle a lot. Straight biking 10-15 miles at the pace you mention has about zero training effect. About all it does is burn calories |
| vvhjv |
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I've used the elliptical once before at school and it didn't seem to do anything. How fast/far do I need to go for it to have an effect? |