I\'m competitive marathon runner with a marthon best of 2:20:54 experimenting with using Powercranks as a cross training tool.  I plan on bloging my experiences using the PC over the next 10 weeks.  So lets get on with it and see how it goes.

I heard about Powercranks from a friend of mine who follows biking and running extensively.  He sent me a link to a video about how Powercranks can possibly help your running.  I thought the concept was interesting and did some more reading on it.  My understanding is that PC insures that the rider pulls smoothly around the entire pedal cycle with each leg to get the leg back over the top vs. the leg being helped over by the down cycle of the opposite leg.  PC also develops the coordination of both legs to keep the cycling action smooth.  Similarly, in running, one leg does not help the other leg get back over the top of the running stride and the unison of both legs is equally important to leg turnover.  From what I have read, the PC seems to simulate the running motion quite well.

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Before purchasing PC I tried to take notice of my running form and weak points and what PC would possibly be working on with respect to them.  I noticed that my left leg was weaker than my right (surprise, surprise) and that my turnover at the end of my long runs slowed down (although it could have been due to the heat that day also).

I have been in the middle of ramping my mileage up to maximum scheduled training levels for a fall marathon.  For this next marathon I wanted to really throw everything at it and run up to 110-115 mpw with all my normal speed work sessions worked in. This is a 25% increase in weekly mileage over what I usually have done. The reason to run over 100 mpw is for increased aerobic capacity.  Muscle specificity should be sufficient at even 80 mpw if my long run and speed work is done correctly but I can still get more aerobic capacity.  I’ve had some of my best marathons when running 80mpw.  My goal was to get even just the slightest improvement over what I had done in the past.  Even 1% improvement is big in the marathon because it’s such a long event. 

Well, things don’t always go as planned--I’m having some soreness/tendonitis in my left Patellar tendon.  So I’m going to plateau at my current 95-100mpw of running to keep my tendonitis in check and not risk injury.

This is where the PC comes in.  I figured why not substitute PC workouts for the additional training I had planned instead of settling for 95-100mpw.   Maybe I’ll get  more benefits out of training on PC than I would have just logging in more base mileage.  My view of what the power cranks will do is:  help my turnover or at least turnover endurance, balance my leg strength a bit, and add more aerobic training above what I can handle running with out risk of injury.    

Turnover is very important in running.  There is only so much a long distance runner can do about stride length. Its not like you can go get longer legs and over striding isn’t efficient.  Turnover is the key to going faster and usually more efficient.  One of the main differences I see between the average jogger vs. a more competitive runner is how much faster the competitive running is turning his legs over.

So I purchased a setup of the Lemond Revmaster with Powercranks.  I figured the stationary bike would be a better to setup in a running configuration and share between my wife and I.  I’m very interested in seeing how the Powercrank addition to her workouts will affect her running turnover.

The literature on the web site relating to running indicated that the best way to simulate running was to have the seat all the way forward and the handle bars high.  This would theoretically get you closer to the running position to better simulate running.  With my bike I actually reversed the seat post to get me even more forward.  With this setup it feels very similar to running and I’m sitting almost as upright.

I had heard about how difficult it was get used to the PC.  It is a weird experience to get used to and the first couple times are hard for sure.  Not cycling in many years it may have been hardest on my crotch though.  The first ride I did was only 5 min to make sure the setup was correct and to make adjustments.  My second ride was 15 min.  I’ve been riding at a pretty low resistance level to make sure my RPM was at 90-100 all the time. 

Now at the end of the first week I’ve progressed up to 30 min continuous rides w/o much difficulty at 90-100 rpm and low resistance.   The place I’ve been feeling the workout most is in the core/abs. 

My plan is to ride the PC 30-45 min per day. When I get strong enough to ride the PC for 1.5H I will cut out one of my junk mile days and replace it with the 1.5 hour PC workout.

A typical week for me will look like this: Mon: 8miles or 1.5H PC; Tues: 400 repeats or mile repeats 12 miles total running; Wed: 14-16 miles; Thurs: 12 miles; Fri: more repeats, Variable pace session, or 12-15miles MP; Sat: 20-25 miles long run; Sun: 20-15 long run based on Saturday run (all running mileage in single runs)--and everyday riding 30-45 min on the PC.

Have I noticed anything so far?  Not really that can be nailed down to anything specific to the PC.  Maybe some additional weight loss due to the extra training load.  Its only week 1.

Riding the Lemond Revmaster with PCs at night is a nice change to just logging the miles for a second time in a day.  On to week two.