Transition from competitive cycling to running

I was a runner, switched to competitive cycling, switching back to running, hopefully.

The biggest thing you need to be aware of is to not push your body too hard too quickly. Running involves a lot of pounding and injuries happen suddenly. One day your leg starts to ache, and you find out it's a stress fracture and you need to take time off. As a cyclist, it's possible that your fitness level is a lot higher than what your body is actually capable of handling at the moment. So I like that you're just doing 3-4 days per week at the moment. Just don't try to rush into it and you'll eventually be able to build up to higher mileages. Think of a year as a reasonable timescale.

+1 on this. your engine is large from cycling but the frame of the car is probably weak.

If you have only bike raced for workouts without weights or other weightbearing exercise, your bone density may not be the best. I'd suggest keeping some cycling and adding in running very slowly. plan to take a year to build up to 50 miles a week or so. once you start running 3x week and can drop down the cycling mileage, add in some weight workouts.

it's SO easy to get injured if you have a big engine with a weak body because running feels pretty easy.

Biggest thing for me was getting used to all the time you had to spend on the bike as compared to running.

That's part of my problem. I know that for me to be competitive in cycling I realistically need to be on the bike 12-15 hours a week. So far I'm running about 45 min a day four days a week. 3 hours a week seems almost irrelevant when you compare it to cycling. I'm trying not to jump into the "training" aspect too soon, but I'm not sure that I would know when I was there anyway. An earlier poster said to build up to 50 miles per week in a year. I know everyone is different but a ballpark idea of time spent running in order to be competitive at least locally helps. Thanks for the replies so far.

I raced professionally and switched to running after I quit (at age 25... not 40's so ymmv). I had a huge aerobic engine, but my legs could barely handle a mile or two at first. Take it really easy transitioning and supplement with some long rides on the weekends to keep your fitness up. The worst thing for me was that my calf muscles and achilles couldn't handle the stress of running... hitting the gym help a lot (weighted calf raises).

Be patient, it'll get better! I think you'll find your engine will impress some runners. My results have been very good, and I'm still improving a lot.

I did the opposite and started cycling at 45 but still did some running. I find that 1 mile of running is the same as 3.5 miles of bike riding. The number of miles you need to run depends on the type of racing you will do. If you want to do 5ks 25 to 30 miles a week is enough, for marathons you will need more depending on you goal, ie just to finish, etc.

I would like to be competitive locally in my age group in 5ks and 10ks

What category did you race?

3s. Raced a lot in the masters races too.

Cycle racing is a nightmare. It is a RIDICULOUS amount of training.

Running is so much better for the person with an outside life.

I raced Cat-3, rode over 14 hours each week, got clobbered in races, and finally threw in the towel. Not to mention every second you're on that road bike, you're risking your life.

If I did cycling over again, it would be 100% mountain biking. Less risk of cougar attack than getting hit by some crazy driver.

Welcome to running! The time efficient sport.

As a physio who has worked on and coached in both sports. I agree with the above advices.Take your time in the transition. Time spent training between the two is completely different. Do other ancillary work to pre hab otherwise try to immunizes yourself against running injuries.

If Jack Foster did it succesfully so can you, though you may not be as succesful as he.

Good luck,

The hardest part is losing your super hero status. The minute you stop dressing like a super hero you become a mere mortal runner

I truly believe running stresses your aerobic engine a good bit more than cycling. I went running today between the tape at a regional XC race and was WINDED. When I went from running to cycling I was fine other than muscularly. But I imagine a switch back to the level I used to be at would be a lot harder than where I've gotten with cycling. And it's ony been a few years since I left the sport.

Has anyone had any shin problems from the transition from cycling to running? Its been 3 months since I switched over fully to running and my shins have been bothering me on almost every run.

What about transitioning to some cycling from running? I'm thinking about investing in a bike to do some longer weekend rides with friends, etc. I don't really have any plans to race bikes. Will my running suffer if I add a few hours of cycling per week?

All of this is nonsense wrote:

I truly believe running stresses your aerobic engine a good bit more than cycling. I went running today between the tape at a regional XC race and was WINDED. When I went from running to cycling I was fine other than muscularly. But I imagine a switch back to the level I used to be at would be a lot harder than where I've gotten with cycling. And it's ony been a few years since I left the sport.

This is a stupid comment because your cycling ability is so low right now that you're probably not even able to become winded on a road bike. When I first started running after a long break to focus on cycling I felt the same way but reversed. I think cycling helps develop a bigger aerobic engine.

One of the differences between running and cycling is the amount and timing of food you eat. As a runner I don't usually eat anything for the couple of hours before the run, and if I start the run a bit hungry I'm usually fine unless it's >90 minutes. As a cyclist I try to eat something before the ride, even if it's a road race (not crits though) because you're burning so many more calories and I usually don't go crazy the first ten minutes of the ride.

You're right. As a professional cyclist my ability on the bike is super low. I'm just commenting on what I've noticed running a bit while on break. Could be different for a lot of people.

Green Eggs and Ham wrote:

What about transitioning to some cycling from running? I'm thinking about investing in a bike to do some longer weekend rides with friends, etc. I don't really have any plans to race bikes. Will my running suffer if I add a few hours of cycling per week?

No it won't. You may see some changes if you start running less and cycling more, but if you are just adding some weekend bike rides to your training then you'll be good.

As far as time commitment to be competitive locally, I think something like this would work:

M - 30-40 min easy (or off)

T - 60 min with a workout included

W - 30-40 min easy

Th - 75 min medium-long run

F - 30-40 min easy

Sa - 60 min with a workout included

Su - 90-100 min run

----

Total time: Approx 5.5 to 7 hrs per week

The "60 min with a workout included" does not mean a 1 hr workout. It could mean that, but I just mean it's an hour of total running with warmup, strides, workout, cooldown combined. So something like this would work:

20 min warmup

10 min drills, strides, etc

25 min tempo

15 min cooldown

So that's an hour of running, but really only 25 minutes hard.