Week 4 - Effect of Running on Biking

Yesterday I went to one of my favorite mountain biking trails near New York, Six Mile Run in New Jersey. As the name suggests, there is a six mile trail running through it, but thanks to some creative loops and variations, there is a decent 12 - 16 miles or so of mountain biking (and hiking) trails, much of which is really satisfying twisting single-track.

I've been about half a dozen times before this year and although have no real difficulty in completing the 12 mile loop, starting out is usually difficult and pacing becomes important. After 4 weeks of running training though, I found my ride yesterday a lot easier. It's an amazing feeling being able to directly compare my 'normal' stamina to how I feel right now after just 4 weeks of training.

Week 4 upped the tempo again from week 3, and the exercise is as follows: run for 3 minutes, walk 2, then run for 6 minutes and walk 3, then run 4 and walk 2. This gets you running about 2 miles in 20 mins, depending on the cool down at the end and any warmup at the start you include in the distance. While week 3 seemed difficult, despite the apparent easy of the exercise, during week 4 I often felt I could do the entire exercise again (although I didn't!) finishing strongly.

Today's run will be the first of week 5 and I am at the half way point. This has a run of 5 minutes, then walk for 2, run for 7 minted, walk for 2, then run for 5 minutes and walk for 1 before a cool down. I probably need to pick a slightly longer route as I am expecting to hit more than 2 miles before the 27 minutes is up.

One last thing. Running in the evening in Red Hook is so easy because of the beautiful light - keeping this up when it's dark before I get home will be tough.

Amazing light an hour before sunset

Film set views at Red Hook