Stationary Bike cross training plans

I'd just follow your planned running base training on the stationary bike -- same amount of time planned each day. Keep cadence high (90+) and heart rate or perceived exertion as intended for your planned runs.

Yeah maybe not a 1:1 since you need a longer bike session to mimic a run session. Maybe ~1hr of biking is worth 30:00-40:00 of running. Structure it similarly to a week of run training. Something like 4 days of 1hr easy + 2 workout days + 1 long ride. The workout days can be in that 80:00-90:00 range & you should be doing base building workouts. Resist the temptation to hammer the bike workouts because you're frustrated about running. Figure out your cycling threshold. Heart rate is good to look at but it's likely that your heart rate will be lower flat-out on a bike compared to running.

If you can get an indoor trainer and set up a road bike on it, that would be better than the stationary. Check craigslist. Getting outdoors every now & then would be good too. You can also do some swimming and/or aqua jogging.

The "rule" is 1:3 or 1:2 in distance, not time in terms of kcal and aerobic benefit.

Would there be a negative to really trying to kill myself on the workout days? I’m hoping to get as much possible fitness out of this

The nice thing about cycling is the lack of impact, so it's rare to get injured (especially on a stationary bike). You can definitely go as hard as you want on workout days. Just be sure to stay hydrated because you sweat a ton on an indoor bike.

Something to be careful of is that when you can return to running, your cardiovascular system will still be in great shape, but you'll need to be cautious and take your time building back mileage because your body won't be used to the impact of running. Strength training both now and when you return to running can help prevent injury.

I fractured my 3rd metatarsal from overuse a couple summers ago. I got really gung-ho into bike training during my time off. A few takeaways:

- It is really hard to get the same heart-rate exertion on a bike vs running in general. Hammering workouts sent me to a world of hurt and destroyed my legs. Didn't find that helpful.

- Translating running to biking means spending more time exercising than you did before. If you're prepared for this, OK, but as someone who is used to running 70-80 mpw (75+ mins/day) running, I only sustained high volume on the bike for a 3-4 weeks before I mentally broke. Bite off what you can chew, and if that's less than what's recommended, that's OK. Whatever fitness you build on a bike isn't going to 100% translate to running fitness anyway. Better to do most of your building after you're completely healthy.

- Invest in a road bike--don't do this all on a stationary. Its summer, this is the best time of the year to be outside. When I broke my foot, I went on craigslist, found a 1979 Schwinn Traveller III, paid a dude $100 bucks for it, and rode the heck out of that thing. Wasn't new/fancy/light, but got the job done, and looked mint. A stationary bike will only add the mental strain of this. You don't need some fancy schmancy road bike, but something you can pound miles on and ride semi-fast without worrying about crashing. (learn how to maintain your bike and keep it lubed)

-Be prepared to be out longer than expected. I have a long story about my injury, but I ended up out for 12 weeks or more. Every case is different, and it's possible you might get back right at 8 weeks, but relying on that as a fact is a risk you don't wanna take.

Best of luck mate

Cycling outdoors as much as possible and use a HRM. Variety is key Climb hills, do sprints, seated riding, standing riding. If you are on a trainer indoors you will be bored to tears! Aquajogging is very good as well, and throw some lap swimming in if you can. I've seen a few HS kids (boys and girls) who have come back much stronger after a couple months of crosstraining

Yeah this is kind of what I was getting at -- you wouldn't be running VO2 max running workouts so why would you do that on the bike? Settle into workouts that would give you a similar heart rate to what you would be doing outside.