on your bike!!!

baza1976

Hi, Becasue of the bad weather and because of where I live there isn't any lighting (keeper hill). I've decided to get on the exercise bike. It's better than doing nothing and I do a good 30 -45 min non-stop as in I keep the pedals going and pretty good resistance too. I don't fancy the thread mills.. It feels like I'm skipping. i think they are too easy and that I can go for ever. I'm running in the connemarathon. I was wondering what thoughts people might have about using the bike till the wearther clears and the evenings get a bit brighter...

Thank you

Stark

baza1976 wrote:

i think they are too easy and that I can go for ever.

I'm the opposite. I can barely manage 20 mins on a treadmill before I go mad, whereas outdoors I can go for ages.

T runner

Cycling improves your climbing legs which is good for connemarathon.
An easy cycle is not the same as an easy run though. Ratio of aerobic benefit is 1:3 aparently. If you are going hardish it may be 1:1.5 (compared to an easy run) so 45 min hardish=30 min easy run.
This is a way to judge how long you should cycle for.

Long easy 3-4 hour cycles are great for endurance, they will take the sting out of hills toward the end of connemarathon. Very hard to do indoors though.

A downside of indoor training is as pointed out by Stark, that boredom can be a factor. Also running leg speed maybe reduced. For boredom maybe watch a cycling DVD, eg video of tour de france stage while training if possible.

To offset the leg speed problem make sure the pedalling cadence is very high.
A low cadence is good for leg strenght for climbing but should be used only as frequently as a hill running session.

Keep up most of your running though and if you do quality sessions like tempo run etc. dont drop these.

You can also get a head torch for running on roads, trails, grass etc at night. Not as hazardous as it sounds.

baza1976

thanks T runner and Stark.. At least I know it has some benifit.. Thanks again.

macinalli

Am also training for Connemara but also cycling in and out to work. It's good to hear about it building endurance, but I also find cycling great for getting the tension out of the legs, particularly after the short runs mid-week which tend to be faster. So far I'm finding that the two work well together...

Fernando1

I got one a couple of years ago. I got sick of training on it long ago. They're very handy things to have for after a long run. 10 minutes at a highish cadence in a low gear really lessens the after effects of the long run. You'll notice it in the legs the next day. I'd rather run in a blizzard first thing in the morning than do half an hour on the bike though. Boring as hell and for a fraction of the benefit of a run. Good to have if you're nursing a running injury also.