Using running to avoid sluggishness after the cycling

Lately, I have been doing more and more cycling to supplement my running mileage as I head into my fall marathon preparation. I like cycling because it gives me a good 2^nd effort during the day and doesn't add to the pounding on my body.

But cycling has had at least one impact on my running. When I do a 30+ mile ride, I found that the next day my legs really feel sluggish for the first three or four miles of my run. For several weeks I tried extensive stretching after the cycling in hopes that it would help. Then last week, I decided to come back from ride and just do a couple of miles running. I wouldn't do anything hard. I just wanted to get the legs to turn over.

Wow, it was tough. As I headed out for the first mile, I knew my legs were turning over, but I could not really feel them. For the better part of mile and half passed before I could actually feel like I was running. Then, the next day I head out for my run as usual. But this time, I didn't have the sluggish experience. My running felt much smoother and my first few miles were much faster.

I don't know if this fluke or something new that I discovered about my body. It gives me hope and I will be continuing the experiment this week.

This is something you to think consider if you are doing cross training this fall.