Running. Does it help your swimming or is it an interesting diversion? A lot of people here seem to cross train with running. (Some are obviously triathletes). USS teams now have their swimmers running. But does running really help swimming?
For me, I'm not so sure. I think it helps a bit on the cardio side and may build leg strength. I do it to tighten everything up, because I like being outside and it gives my shoulders a break. But I'm not sure I wouldn't be better off with more pool time if my body could take it.
A few years ago, I decided to train for and run a marathon. I still swam everyday, as well. My coach said that swimming would help my running because of the aerobic benefits, but that running wouldn't necessarily help my swimming. This is just personal experience and not scientific, but I found that to be true. I finished the marathon even though I was really undertrained from a purely running standpoint, and I think that was because of my swimming base. However, the running training didn't seem to affect my swimming -- except as someone mentioned, it helped a bit mentally. When I'd swim the 200 ***, I'd tell myself, "You ran 10 miles last night, so you can certainly stand less than three minutes of pain now!"
Now I run a bit for fun and to do the occasional 5K, but swimming is my focus. It's just that after swimming with my team early in the morning, I sit at a desk all day, and no matter how hard I worked in the morning, it still seems nice to move around when I get home. Running's convenient and can give a good workout in a fairly short amount of time. Anyway, this isn't really anything new from what others have said, but I thought I would share my experience. :agree:
A few years ago, I decided to train for and run a marathon. I still swam everyday, as well. My coach said that swimming would help my running because of the aerobic benefits, but that running wouldn't necessarily help my swimming. This is just personal experience and not scientific, but I found that to be true. I finished the marathon even though I was really undertrained from a purely running standpoint, and I think that was because of my swimming base. However, the running training didn't seem to affect my swimming -- except as someone mentioned, it helped a bit mentally. When I'd swim the 200 ***, I'd tell myself, "You ran 10 miles last night, so you can certainly stand less than three minutes of pain now!"
Now I run a bit for fun and to do the occasional 5K, but swimming is my focus. It's just that after swimming with my team early in the morning, I sit at a desk all day, and no matter how hard I worked in the morning, it still seems nice to move around when I get home. Running's convenient and can give a good workout in a fairly short amount of time. Anyway, this isn't really anything new from what others have said, but I thought I would share my experience. :agree:
