Welcome to the Mojo for Running podcast. I'm the coach, Debbie Boyles, and this is the podcast for middle of the Packers, regular people not afraid to work up a sweat, who embrace the outdoors and that wonderful feeling of endorphins surging through their veins.

My goal is to provide the information you need to achieve your goals.

I am happy you can join me today for episode number 110,

cycling as cross-training for running. This is the third of a series of four podcasts about

cross-training. If you haven't listened to episode number 108, that's an overview of cross-training.

Then the last episode, number 109, was about swimming, and today

we're talking about cycling. Cycling is a great complement to running. I'll explain why,

offer some examples of different workouts to do on a bike and more. For one thing, cycling works

complementary muscles. It trains the body in a movement pattern that reinforces good running form,

and it provides an opportunity for more cardio training while avoiding any pounding. We'll discuss all of that.

Of course, one thing cycling has over swimming is that everybody knows how to do it. Seriously, when I suggest swimming as cross-training,

at least half the people I talk to say they don't know how to swim. But nobody ever says they

don't know how to ride a bike. Writing a bike is easy. You can even coast when you get tired,

which is pretty much like sitting on a moving chair. I can't think of any other exercise

like that. On the whole, people seem comfortable with riding bikes. That doesn't mean it's available

to everybody, though, because some people don't have a bike to ride, and they don't have access to

someone else's. You don't need a fancy, expensive one, but one with adjustable speeds is helpful.

A few words about bikes.

If you've never ridden a really good bike, a lightweight one from a bike shop, I suggest you try it.

Don't get me wrong, any bike is good for an active recovery ride when you're riding mainly

to keep moving and to get

your blood flowing. However, if you want to get serious about riding as a means of cross-training,

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