PUBLISHED 04/08/2007
Last June at the USA track nationals in Indianapolis, Lauren Fleshman won the women's 5000-meter title with a training program typical of world-class runners: long efforts, intervals, hills. But half the time, Fleshman's feet never touched the ground. Instead, they were clipped into her bike.
Fleshman started alternating running and riding when she came down with tendinitis in her right ankle in the fall of 2005. The unexpected upshot was that it proved to be more than a way to stay fit while injured: Riding improved her running. "No doubt, cycling has made me stronger and more explosive," says Fleshman, 25. Today, Fleshman is healthy, but she still hops on her bike two times a week as part of her training program. For Fleshman, fast times on wheels translate to fast times on the track and road, and cycling can do the same for you, as long as you do the right workouts.
Energy Returns
You can get just as fit on your bike as you do in your running shoes. Joe Friel, a pro-cycling coach who works with runners, cites a study in which moderately fit runners ran four days a week, while another group ran twice and did two hard bike workouts. "After five weeks," says Friel, "there was no difference between the two groups in maximal oxygen uptake and running performance."
But did you notice that word--hard? As Fleshman learned when she started riding for serious training, pace matters. A casual spin around the neighborhood may be an excellent recovery workout, but to challenge the cardiovascular system and reach peak fitness, you have to invest a little more energy. As with running, that means quality workouts like tempo rides, intervals, and hills. "Doing intervals at 80 percent of your maximum heart rate on the bike is the same to your heart and lungs as doing them running," says Terrence Mahon, who coached Fleshman to her win at the track nationals. "The muscles and motor skills involved in each sport is what differentiates them."
Moreover, bicycling enhances running because it works the major muscles. "The bike develops power muscles like quads, glutes, and calves," says Mahon. And as a nonimpact sport, cycling gives runners' bodies a break from all the pounding, allowing for faster recovery.
Add up all these benefits and they equal this: Cycling lets you add another high-intensity workout to your week without running's impact, thus reducing stress on the joints, risk of injury, and the cumulative fatigue of high mileage.
