Mileage Vs. Cross Training

In the past Ive used the conversion rate of 4 miles of biking=1 mile running. Although, no conversion rate will truly equal running I suppose that is an adequate way of looking at it. In terms of giving you an edge- I don't really see one other than you might be a little more fresh since you arent running as much. I would reccomend running more maybe ~40-45 mles a week and then doing whatever cross training you feel is neccessary. 40 mpw would allow you to get in a pretty good 10 mile long run, and some tempos/fartleks if you want. Also, with 40-45 mpw you should be able to easily get your mileage in six days and could take that seventh day off or do more cross training.

Running will give you the best result. Not cycling. Running is a very specific sport.

I would shift "gradually" to 40-45 mpw for a start and drop your cycling to about 75 mpw. By shifting I mean about 5-10% more running a week until you hit 40-45.

The simple answer is mileage. To get better at playing the trumpet you don't play the clarinet, you play the trumpet. To get better at running you don't swim/bike/aqua jog/lift/do abs/cross fit/etc., you RUN!

However, not everyone can just run more, for a variety of reasons. As a professional triathlete myself, I'm not going to tell you to drop the swimming and biking completely. Both sports do carry over a bit to running, so time spent biking and swimming are not completely lost.

I suppose how much you should change your training depends on where you are currently at. If you are struggling to break 5:00 for a mile (I am assuming you are male), I think you should cut the cross training down to just a couple days. Otherwise, if you are already decently competitive, I would say you could keep a bit of the cross training in there. Getting up to 40 miles of running would probably be a huge benefit, with maybe an additional 4-8 hours of swimming and/or biking.

If you are at all interested in seriously competing in triathlons at any point in your life, reduce that biking and start swimming more! I have been playing catch up in the swim since I began triathlons a couple of years ago and will likely be chasing the front pack swimmers for the rest of my career simply because I have no swimming background. At this point I think biking once or twice a week is enough as I assume you aren't racing an Ironman or 70.3 any time soon.

If you could get up to 40 miles (6-7x)/8,000 yards(3-4x)/40 miles road cycling (1-2x) in a week I think you could start winning races on pure fitness alone. Of course, you are looking at 10-13 workouts a week and over 10 hours of training. Can your schedule handle that?

Best of luck to you.

-Jason

Jason, I have a hard time accepting your statement that runners do not do abs/lift in order to get better at running. This is rediculous. Please get smarter.

ohhhh really? wrote:

Jason, I have a hard time accepting your statement that runners do not do abs/lift in order to get better at running. This is rediculous. Please get smarter.

I was making a generalization. Of course there is a place for that sort of training for some people. Especially at the top of the sport, when you are looking for that last 1%, you need to look elsewhere and incorporate things like abs and lifting.

However, at the level that I assume the OP is at, he would be better off running more than lifting. As other posters have said, running is very specific. Instead of spending 40 minutes in the gym twice a week, spend that time getting in another 10 miles.