Need help from runners who bike... training for XC season

I used to do lengthy rides on stationary bikes. Up to 80 miles at a good clip. I found this really helped on my threshold runs. Keep up your riding. You won't be benefiting like your teammates running but you will be able to maintain some good fitness. Please don't rush back from injury. Once you begin running 6 weeks and you will feel like you were never injured.

Do 200+km/week with lots of hills. I was able to run quite close to some of my fastest times after 3 months with no running and 6 weeks of 200km or more biking.

Where was your stress fracture?

Without knowing more, I would recommend taking it easy on all the cross training. It sounds like you have plenty of talent and basic fitness. Your number one priority should be building bone strength to avoid future injury. Cardio for 45 mins a day/ 5 days a week at moderate intensity through either biking or swimming is plenty. In a lot of ways, it is a plus to let your cardio drop a little during rehab phase.

If you have great cardio fitness and push the running when you come back you will only increase you risk of re-injury. With the input of your PT, be sure to develop smart and safe weight room routine to increase strength/ durability.

If you start running in early august you should be able to race by early October, just in time for champ season. I would take low key approach to the entire season and consider it base for track. I wouldn't train with team until September. Its hard to say what your times will be but if you are healthy you should be able to race hard by late October.

I know its tough to sit on the sidelines but the important thing is making sure you are healthy going forward. If you stay healthy your times will improve. If you re-injure yourself, all the cardio in the world won't help you with running.

Remember, the important thing is staying healthy. Take some calcium, magnesium, and Vitamin D to cover your bone health. Eat plenty of lean meat, including the occasional steak. Be sure to run on grass a couple times a week. Do your form runs. DO NOT RACE IN TRAINING. Let your body adapt. RELAX. Have fun.

Good Luck-

You get the best gains on the bike just as you do in running. You need to mix it up. If you cycled through these workouts each week, you will be stronger running when you come back. it also decreases the boredom factor.

Workout 1:

7 x 3:00 as hard as possible - 1:30 recovery

Workout 2:

4 x 8 x(20 secs all out/10secs recovery) 3 minutes between sets

Workout 3:

2x 20 mins "high easy" no lactic acid allowed but not a cruise either. it should feel just under tempo run pace

Do workout 1 or workout 2 each week and workout 3 each week.

RiceFuelsUs wrote:

Do 200+km/week with lots of hills. I was able to run quite close to some of my fastest times after 3 months with no running and 6 weeks of 200km or more biking.

This is pretty much the right answer. The point is to develop more power, not ride around for a long time. This is what RiceFuelsUs is doing by riding lots of hills.

Do a couple of weeks where you do long rides, then do two weeks with much shorter rides and high intensity. Do not try to combine high volume with high intensity.

Fitness wise, you'll likely be just fine. Suffer up plenty of hills, and keep your cadence high.

My only work of caution is I would be patient at the end of those 6 weeks and SLOWLY start running again, and keep cycling for a few weeks. Maybe on the first week only run 2 days (EASY) and bike 3, and add a day of easy running each week after that.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all of the information.bikerbutt - I don't understand the second workout.

bikerbutt wrote:

You get the best gains on the bike just as you do in running. You need to mix it up. If you cycled through these workouts each week, you will be stronger running when you come back. it also decreases the boredom factor.

Workout 1:

7 x 3:00 as hard as possible - 1:30 recovery

Workout 2:

4 x 8 x(20 secs all out/10secs recovery) 3 minutes between sets

Workout 3:

2x 20 mins "high easy" no lactic acid allowed but not a cruise either. it should feel just under tempo run pace

Do workout 1 or workout 2 each week and workout 3 each week.