09/12/2025
This! Obviously you don't need to do 100 miles a week on the bike but doing bike reps and easy rides alongside running helps massively by improving both thresholds, Vo2 max and strength! It's also good for recovery. A Lot of my training plans I've done include cycling, mine included. Message me for help fitting cycling into your training 😀.
Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Hunter Bell does 70% of her training on a bike—100 miles of cycling per week versus just 30-35 miles of running. And it's keeping her injury-free while helping her win medals at 32.
After stress fractures derailed her early career when coaches doubled her running volume to 60 miles weekly, Hunter Bell quit athletics entirely for an office job. During COVID lockdown, her husband suggested cycling. She fell in love, competed in duathlons, and discovered that bike fitness translated directly to sub-16-minute 5Ks. Her running coach noticed. Now she's an Olympic medalist who credits brutal Zwift sessions like "Grin and Bear It" for improving her finishing kick on the track.
The science backs this up: cycling builds critical power—the maximum output you can sustain without rapidly fatiguing. By operating below your critical power threshold during races, you preserve your energy "tank" for that final 200-meter kick. Low-impact cycling intervals create the same adaptations as running without the pounding.
For recreational runners battling injuries or hitting volume limits, this is liberating: swap 1-2 weekly runs for cycling sessions. Use the bike for easy aerobic base building and brutal intervals, saving your running legs for speed work. Hunter Bell does just 30 miles of running weekly—all quality. Five years injury-free speaks volumes. Cross-training isn't Plan B anymore; it's strategic training.
