Bike commuting + Marathon training?

This is a hypothetical, for now. I'm thinking in Spring semester, I'll want to bike commute to class at least once a week. It's 26 miles each way, which would be a good 1.5hr recovery ride (each way). So it'd be a long day, but an easy day. How would you incorporate this into a marathon plan? I can arrange all my runs however I want (long doesn't have to be on the weekend). Say the commute is day 1.

Ready go!

Umm....


I don't have specific advice except to say that my husband bike commutes 5 miles each way (I know, way less) but when he was marathon training he got away with a lot fewer miles than I did. I know, that is terrible advice but I think you could swap out some of your running for biking and definitely count it as valuable cross training.

I would probably do a GA run or something the next day and at least not do speed work or long run the next day.

That is a great question - If you kept it low intensity, I wouldn't think it would impact your marathon training but a little - bigger question is does taking 3 hours out of your day rule out the opportunities to run doubles (if you were even planning on doing that) or cut into your daylight hours to run? I'd say it would be good for your leg muscles, but you run enough crazy steep hills that you don't need any of that really I'm guessing. Another question that I have is would it be safe for you to do? I flat out won't ride to work because it isn't safe during morning traffic and I have to funnel through a couple of high-traffic areas. Had a buddy get his back broke this winter by a drunken driver while he was coming home from work. Just a thought....

Good points, John. Classes are all afternoon, but I forgot that it gets dark by like 4 up here in the winter, and I may not get out until as late as 8. I wouldn't commute home in the dark. I was planning on doing doubles only twice a week next time around, and those would be on the non-commute days. Hm. This could all be moot if it'll be dark.

Girls wouldn't like you to sit around then, defeating the whole purpose of going to college.

I used to bike about 30 miles every Sunday after my long run Saturday and then ran easy-mod Monday. One of my running friends said that biking after a long run (day after) is great for getting the lactic acid out. Not sure if that is accurate but it was always fun to do day after long run.

Julie wrote:I used to bike about 30 miles every Sunday after my long run Saturday and then ran easy-mod Monday. One of my running friends said that biking after a long run (day after) is great for getting the lactic acid out. Not sure if that is accurate but it was always fun to do day after long run.

I've done this as well and I, too, thought it helped with my recovery, but 52 miles is a bit more than the 20-30 that I would ride, and I was doing it during the day on a flat(ish) bike path. I still often ride 1-2 x per week at a moderate mph for 15-20 miles.

Time-wise, we're looking at about 3 hours, right?

I don't know, that seems like a bit more than a recovery day to me. Without seeing the rest of the week I can't offer much advice, but I doubt you'd be hammering out a long run the following day.

Dave-O wrote:Time-wise, we're looking at about 3 hours, right?

I don't know, that seems like a bit more than a recovery day to me. Without seeing the rest of the week I can't offer much advice, but I doubt you'd be hammering out a long run the following day.

Yeah, about 3 hours of really easy effort level. Could shave it to 2.5 or so if I made one (or both) of the rides a workout. I'm thinking I might have to pass. We'll see.