Ok everybody, this might be a stupid question, but I figured that I would ask it anyway

OK, I had been marathon training for about 8 months until the end of March of this year.  After that, I took some time off to rest some injuries and started to cross train to prepare for my Summer Triathlons.  I've been running biking and swimming about 2 to 3 times a week for the past couple weeks.  I decided to start to try to up my running intensity as I am still an average biker and below average swimmer, figuring that a good run time has helped me in other tri's and du's.  However, I found that my fitness in running is way down.  I can't hit the pace or the distances that I am trying to.  As a runner at heart, this kills me.

I think it is because swimming and biking for me do not improve my overall fitness as much as running does.  They require me to work on skills rather then just pushing as hard as I can.  In swimming I am still working on form and my bike training rarely gets my heart rate pumping as much as running. 

My question is this, should I focus more on running to get my fitness back together first or should I keep spending equal time on all three parts.  I figure that running fitness would help on the bike, and I can still keep working on my swim form to improve that while I increase my run training. 

Please let me know what you guys think?

thanks

Matt

First off.....Fitness is actually very specific.

If your a Tri-Athlete then you need to improve your fitness in all three events. If you want to compete for an AG position then you need to improve all three......that's what your competitiors are doing.

There are some minor cross over benefits...from one discipline to the other but for the most part they are minimal.  The year I trained for Ironman my running improved even though my avg MPW were down. My bike milage was way up...my run benefitted a little.

From what I have read and from my own experience,  running does not help the bike very much...I believe the opposite to be true. Biking can benefit running Like Tri-Kev said.

You didn't mention Tri distances....are you doing sprints, oly's, halfs?  The swim has a much greater impact in an Oly than it does any otherr distance.....a good swim can really make a big difference in an oly.

There's no easy answer....your either a runner, a biker, a swimmer or a triathlete. Nothing wrong with a runner who does tris's or a cyclist who does du's.

If your a Tri-Athlete then work on your weakness.

IMHO, running fitness does not help bike fitness (except for any gain in aerobic fitness), but the reverse is true bike fitness definitely helps running fitness.

I think it's important that we stop saying running doesn't help biking or biking doesn't help running. The degree to which either is helpful is specific to each individual athlete. There is no universal. For example I didn't ride from mid October to mid March but ran all winter. After just 10 weeks I just knocked off my best century ever and rode the last thirty miles solo at a 20 mph pace enjoying every minute of it. This didn't happen from sitting on the couch all winter. It was running. I also believe cycling helps my running. Doing both I can add fitness volume and stay fresher overall. Perhaps if I didn't spit my time I'd be better at either discipline with the same volume of training but doing one or the other helps. I can say, in my case, running takes more investment than biking to get in shape after taking time off.

Muebele, if biking doesn't get your heart rate pumping just go harder, find some hills or try mountain biking. I've done several mountain bike races and find my body is screaming just as hard as it does in a 5 or 10K. My heart rate is through the roof. Try it.

I have to agree w/ Xhristofer, higher mileage running has definitely helped my low,low mileage biking lately.  Individual results may vary.

As far as HR, I can't get mine as high biking as running either.  I'll be totally gassed, and the HRM won't show it. 

From what I've read, most elite or near-elite Triathletes will concentrate on their weakest leg, while still training the other two.  A good runner will swim every day, while running or biking 4-5.

 

Thats because running is a weight bearing activity and is affected by gravity. Biking has a little weight bearing involved and swimming even less. I've read that an equivalent intensity, work effort on the bike will yield about a 10 bpm drop in HR as running. Swimming will be another 5 or so lower then the bike workout.

 You know, that makes alot of sense...