Is Running Considered Training for Bicycling?

Despite my lack of posting every intimate detail of my thoughts about my goal of riding my bike across the state, believe it or not, I am still convinced I can do it. The first week that I decided to ride from the TriCities to Seattle and back I spent a lot of time thinking about what route I am going to take. Questions such as, can I legally ride on the shoulder of the freeway? And do I really want to ride across the Cascades with cars speeding by me at 70-80 mph? These questions danced in my mind for days, even weeks, and some I still don’t have answers to; however, I have put those questions aside for now and focused on a more important aspect of this trip, training.

It seems daunting when I think about the shear mileage that I must cover if I am going to succeed, but when I break it down, it seems more reasonable; still insane, but just slightly less so. So you may ask, what have you done to start training? The answer may be a little surprising. It turns out I really am a lazy cyclist because instead of jumping on my bike and beginning to ride, as some of you might think is the logical first step when beginning to train for a bicycle trip (I know that would be my first guess), I began running with my wife Renae.

Running is kind-of like riding a bike, only at a slower pace. They use the same muscle groups, at least I am sore in the same places, and it is really improving my lung capacity, or so I think. At a brisk pace I can still hold a conversation with Renae. Even if there are a few seconds of breathing between each word. We started training for a half marathon and when we are done, we will run a 10K. I know, that is not quite the same distance, but we are taking baby steps. We found a training schedule for beginners wanting to run a half-marathon in Fitness magazine. If you are interested in learning about the training schedule we use you can find it on www.fitnessmagazine.com. It eases you into running by having you walk a few miles, jog a mile, then walk another two. I think this is a great way to start, but it does take quite a bit of time. You run, or do a work out, 5 days a week. After a short break last week due to the occurrence of life, we will be starting to run again this week. And hopefully, in addition to running, I won’t be so lazy about riding my bike. I do ride it for 30 minutes on the cross-training day.