Hi everyone. Due to busy life circumstances requiring more of my time (and me falling out of love with cycling a fair bit) I’m looking to scale back my cycling and add in some running.
At present I ride 4 days a week (3 TrainerRoad rides on the trainer and 1 outdoor gravel ride) and I strength train twice a week.
Things have become very busy in my life and I’m wanting to remove two rides a week and add in running. After a bad crash and a couple of surgeries two years ago, I’m still struggling to enjoy my riding. Unfortunately the anxiety of crashing and the consequences for my family still play on my mind when I’m out, and this saps some enjoyment. Nevertheless, I am going to keep two indoor sessions as I still really enjoy training on the turbo and genuinely love TR sessions in the mornings before work!
So I want to ride twice a week, run twice a week, and lift weights twice a week, and due to factors these need to be on separate days.
Can anyone recommend a good starting point in terms of scheduling, programming ride and run intensity, etc? I’m a decent runner and can comfortably run 5k without getting injured, but I am mindful of building up mileage very carefully so not to hurt myself. Thanks in advance for all advice/insight!
I’m not sure I understand your question. You want to do 3 types of exercise twice a week but don’t want to ever do 2-a-days, correct? If so, isn’t it simply 6 on/1 off?
Yes exactly that! Apologies for not being clearer. I’m thinking it will be a case of bike/run/lift/repeat with a day of rest, so like you say 6-on-1-off. I’m wondering if anyone can help with scheduling, with respect to intensity days etc. I’m not sure how best to train on each of the running and cycling days. I was thinking one intense day and one endurance day for each?
In terms of goals, these are purely fitness based. I would like to maintain most of my cycling fitness (appreciate that’s unlikely by cutting volume in half!) and make some gains in my running ideally.
I would say you have it right. Bike/run/lift repeat. That way any fatigue garnered from strength training in the legs can be cautiously worked though on the bike before running the following day.
In terms of intensity that will take some testing and adjusting for how you go personally. I would think you could back to back intensity on bike then run but might see some fatigue in the lifting the following day.
My recommendation would be to periodise each sport as to when you want to introduce intensity. So if you’re doing intensity on the bike don’t do any in the run or lift and visa versa.
If I was training how you intend that’s how I would do it. Especially if I’m lifestyle training as opposed for a specific event.
Sounds like you have the right idea here based on suggestions from other athletes.
It may be worth thinking about which sessions will be your hardest each week so you can line things up accordingly. It could be a good idea to maintain some flexibility with those 6 days “on” – meaning that sessions don’t necessarily have to be in the same order every week. You can swap sports around based on which will be the most demanding so you can get the most out of those workouts.
I’m so sorry to hear that you and your family went through this . It sounds like your mind needs a break from feeling like it needs to protect you from a similar thing happening again. I think it’s great that you are listening to that .
This is great! If the desire to ride outside returns, you’ll be ready .
Have you considered following a Low Volume Triathlon Training Plan and simply skipping the swim workouts? This will allow you to leave it to us to manage a gradual progression for both your bike and run Workouts.
The Low Volume Sprint Distance Triathlon Plan typically includes 2 bike workouts and 2 run workouts (with the occasional additional brick workout). Following a Low Volume Sprint Distance Triathlon Training Plan could help you structure your training and benefit from a periodised Training Plan.
We plan on introducing 2 and 4 day Cycling Training Plans in the future. I don’t have an ETA for that yet. At the moment, if the Triathlon Plan doesn’t appeal to you, you could follow a Low Volume Training Plan and skip one workout a week (and let Adaptive Training adapt your Plan accordingly). Alternatively, you could use TrainNow to pick your Workouts on an ad hoc basis.
As @ZackeryWeimer mentions, being flexible will go a long way while your body is getting used to juggling the three types of training. Personally, I find it more manageable to do high intensity bike Workouts after high intensity run workouts but harder to do high intensity run Workouts after high intensity bike Workouts. This may vary depending on your experience in both sports.
Likewise, the optimal load and volume for Strength training will depend on your prior experience with Strength Training. I suggest that you start at a load and volume that you are used to while your body becomes familiar with managing the three disciplines.
I hope this helps! Let us know if you have any further questions about any of this!
Hey buddy. I went down a similar path to you.
You might find your proposed schedule a little onerous. Whilst I could handle 15hr weeks on the bike, once I started mixing in strength and running, I had to treat each sport with more respect, needing to feel rested and energised in order to learn and improve.
It’s been such a fun journey going from a single sport to multiple activities and all have benefited each other beautifully.
I must have gone through a hundred schedules trying to find that ‘perfect’ one. I’m still not there but am a darn sight closer. I won’t prescribe mine to you as we’re all different.
Enjoy the process, it’s so rewarding and I feel great these days.
Thank you Sarah for the considerate response, that’s really helpful. I’ve had a look at the low volume sprint and olympic triathlon plans and they look great. I could likely sub in strength training for the swim workout days, which makes things nice and easy. I’ll give one of those plans a go and try different ways of ordering the workouts to see what suits me best. Thanks!
Hey @grawp this is really promising to hear. Glad to see you’re enjoying the journey, I’m looking forward to seeing what works best for me! Appreciate what you’re saying re your own structure, but if you could let me know what’s currently working for you that would be interesting to see.
Sounds like a solid plan! As of yesterday, we just added the ability to assign Working Sets to your Strrength Training sessions from Calendar. You can learn more here [click]. Let us know if you have any questions .
Hey Dewi.
Currently my focus is slightly on robustness for a big, mountain running 50miler in October, so I’m trying to do 3 strength workouts a week in the gym. I really enjoy these and am using a MAPS plan to hold me accountable. I aim to do these Wed, Fri and Sun.
Running is: track training with my club on Monday nights. Love doing speedwork on the track and am able to do a sub 5min mile at the age of 50. I’ll usually go out for an easy bimble midweek for an hour and then do a longer trail run/adventure on Saturday. No structure to this, just do what I fancy.
Try to fit a bike in once a week. Sometimes it’s a cx training session, other times a few hours easy sonewhere nice.
Overall this keeps me fit and strong enough to handle just about anything at a moments notice.
A few weeks before an important race I might switch emphasis. This spring for example, I dropped everything and ran every day for two weeks. Just 10km at an easy pace, then took 5 days complete rest before smashing out a podium 50 miler. Followed this with a week of pure strength training and lots of rest, then slotted back into my mixed routine.
I’ve been training my whole life so have a very relaxed approach to it all. I aim to keep fit, healthy and strong. I never run through a niggle and am not afraid of rest days. I may string 2,3 or 4 together if I feel I need to. Motivation is my guide. If I want to train, I do. If I don’t, I don’t. Serves me well.
You’ve already got the main thing - you know how much runners talk about their injuries
To add to the advice from the others; similar with lifting steady as she goes, and check your progression across all sports - increasing everything as though you were a single sport athlete x3 would be a mistake.
I’d do the first month as maintenance level lifting, and easy (nose breathing) runs, get all your intensity on the TR workouts. Then diverge based on how that felt and what goals you have in mind.
. It sounds like your mind needs a break from feeling like it needs to protect you from a similar thing happening again. I think it’s great that you are listening to that 
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