FOUR

ENDURANCE
CROSS-TRAINING

I USE THE TERM endurance cross-training when I’m talking about nonimpact forms of cardiovascular exercise such as pool running and bicycling. There are a few different ways that runners can incorporate those and other types of endurance cross-training into their programs. What’s best for you depends on your needs, goals, experience, and preferences—just as with any other kind of training.

I believe that endurance cross-training has at least seven distinct purposes.

1. You can use it to prevent injuries by reducing impact and/or correcting muscular imbalances.

2. It helps you maintain fitness while rehabilitating injuries that restrict your running.

3. You can improve your running fitness by increasing your strength, power, and/or economy via activities chosen specifically for such purposes.

4. You can use it for active recovery from a race or a hard workout.

5. It helps you maintain or even enhance your motivation by adding variety to your training experience.

6. You can dabble in other endurance sports—such as triathlon or adventure racing—and still maintain your running-specific fitness.

7. In the off-season, you can cross-train your way to a rejuvenated body and mind.

From that group of benefits and a universe of possible ways to achieve them, I think we can identify three general approaches to endurance cross-training that together encompass the needs of all runners.

First is the MINIMALIST approach. This is for those who have little interest in endurance activities other than running or who are completely focused on racing and have no special physical needs that require them to do more than the minimum amount of cross-training. My recommendation for these runners is that they typically perform one endurance cross-training workout per week for active recovery. When injured or especially sore, they can replace individual runs with endurance cross-training workouts as necessary.

Second is the SPECIAL NEEDS approach for runners who are especially injury-prone or have other weaknesses that the minimalist approach can’t help. These runners may find themselves doing an endurance cross-training workout for every run. If you fall into this category, you’ll most likely try a variety of activities and ratios before you figure out what works best. Take, for example, a very lithe runner who has two problems: recurring shin splints and lack of muscular strength. For her, the perfect weekly cross-training schedule might include three or four running workouts and two or three bicycle rides. Cycling deals with both of her problems: It builds leg strength and lets her avoid the repetitive impact that causes shin splints in the first place.

Finally, there’s the MAXIMALIST approach, which satisfies the needs of runners who simply enjoy participating in other endurance activities and may also compete in other endurance sports. The runners in this group can do more or less whatever they please—that’s the point— as long as they avoid three possible problems.

1. Doing more total training than they can handle

2. Running so little that their running performance slips

3. Training inappropriately for their alternative endurance sport or sports (overtraining, undertraining, creating muscular imbalances, et cetera)

HOW TO CHOOSE?

The choice of the perfect endurance cross-training system isn’t always obvious. Sure, if you’re a serious runner and casual triathlete, it’s pretty straightforward—you add swimming and cycling to your schedule. But what if you’re a cross-training minimalist who’s never done anything besides run? You want to do active-recovery workouts in an appropriate discipline that won’t bore you to death, but you may have no idea where to begin.

The rest of this chapter provides the information you need to choose the best activities and use them effectively. This is by no means a complete list—not one word about skipping rope!—but I think the six endurance activities I describe are the most beneficial, practical, and interesting for runners. I list them in the order I’d recommend them to a cross-training minimalist who’s primarily interested in using them for active recovery.

I go into the most detail on bicycling and swimming because triathlon, in my experience, is a sport many runners are interested in pursuing.

SUMMARY OF ENDURANCE CROSS-TRAINING MODALITIES
MODALITY	ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
Pool Running	Highly running-specific	Boring to some
	Totally non-weight-bearing	Requires pool access
	Minimal muscle tissue stress	Lessens shock-absorption capacity of legs
Elliptical Training	Running-specific	Requires elliptical trainer
	Builds strength	Boring to some
	Can increase stride rate
Bicycling	Complements muscular development of running	Less running-specific
	Builds leg strength
	Can increase stride rate
Inline Skating	Complements muscular development of running	Requires smooth surface
	Builds leg strength
Swimming	Essential for triathlons	Not running-specific
	Spares the legs	Requires pool access
		Very technique-intensive
Cross-Country Skiing	More intense than running	Requires snow
	Fun

POOL RUNNING

ADVANTAGES: Also called deep-water running, this is the most running-specific form of endurance cross-training, involving more or less the same action as land running but with greater resistance and virtually no impact. That puts it at the top of the list for injured runners. Runners who’ve used pool running for extended periods of rehabilitation when unable to run on land tell me that making the adjustment back to land running is surprisingly easy. You do lose some timing, which returns quickly, and you do have to readjust to the impact involved in conventional running. But you don’t lose fitness. And pool running can be performed by runners with a wider variety of injuries than any other activity except swimming.

Even when you aren’t injured, pool running is ideal for active-recovery workouts. It’s unlikely to hinder muscle-tissue repair, and it might even accelerate muscle recovery—all this while actually increasing your running-specific fitness because water provides a form of resistance that strengthens your running stride. You’d probably run better after a month of pool running than after a month of bicycling or inline skating. In fact, in 1982, Mary Decker broke the 2000m world record after running in a pool for several weeks while rehabilitating a stress fracture.

DISADVANTAGES: Pool running isn’t the absolute best endurance cross-training choice for every runner. For those runners who may need to substantially increase leg strength or improve muscle balance, bicycling may be a better option. And injured runners facing a long rehabilitation may lose some lower-body bone density if they train exclusively in the pool, since bones grow stronger with high-impact activities and weaker without it. A loss of bone mass means your body has less natural shock absorption, and that could lead to stress fractures or other impact-related injuries when you return to dry land. So if you’re faced with a long rehabilitation, it’s best to mix in a weight-bearing form of endurance cross-training, such as elliptical training, and return to full-impact running slowly and carefully—initially running only on sand and grass, for example.

Perhaps the greatest drawback of pool running is that it is, in the opinion of most runners who’ve done it, rather boring. This is less of an issue when you’re doing only 30-minute active-recovery workouts than when you’re injured and trying to simulate interval workouts and long runs in the pool.

Another restriction of pool running is, of course, the pool. Unless you happen to live a block from the YMCA or in a house or apartment complex with a heated or indoor lap pool, pool running will probably be less convenient (and perhaps more expensive) than some other forms of cross-training.

EQUIPMENT: Besides a pool, you’ll also need a flotation belt made specifically for water running. The belt allows you to float immersed at shoulder level and to maintain a proper, upright posture while running. Without a belt, you’ll have to devote more energy to keeping your head above water than to moving forward, and you’ll end up running in a crouched position. Thus, wearing the belt results in a workout that better simulates land running.

The most popular brand is the Aqua Jogger. Many larger running specialty stores carry pool-running belts, and you can also buy them online. Expect to pay about $45.

TECHNIQUE: The first time you try pool running, concentrate on your form rather than on the intensity or duration of your workout. Most athletes will have a natural tendency to perform an action that’s more like treading water than running. Your goal is to emulate your land-running stride as closely as possible or to use a slightly idealized version of that form. In other words, use a stride that looks more like sprinting than like jogging.

The most common error is running in place instead of moving forward. You’ll automatically improve your form when you try to make forward progress. Concentrate on not just lifting your thighs but also reaching out with the forward foot, pushing off, and extending the pushoff leg fully behind you. Couple this action with a strong but more or less natural arm swing. (Your shoulders may quickly become fatigued in your first few pool runs because of the greater resistance of the liquid medium.) Other common form flaws to avoid are hunching the shoulders and leaning forward at the waist.

WORKOUTS: When doing recovery workouts, simply immerse yourself in water that is deeper than shoulder height, and run either in circles or back and forth for 20 to 60 minutes, starting slowly and then maintaining a steady low-to-moderate level of effort. When you’re injured, perform pool workouts that imitate as closely as possible the duration, intensity, and structure of the land-running workouts you would be performing if you were healthy. For example, if you were scheduled to perform a dozen quarter-mile repeats on the track at 90 seconds per quarter, perform 12 hard 90-second intervals in the pool, separated by rest intervals that also match what you normally do on the track. Be sure to warm up and cool down as you normally would.

Intensity is the tricky part. In the pool, you can’t use pace to gauge intensity, and it’s equally hard to go by feel. Most elite runners use heart rate monitors or take manual pulse readings when doing pool workouts. Of course, you first have to know what your heart rate is at various intensities on land. In the example given above, you would need to know what your heart rate tends to be at the end of a quarter-mile interval. Then you’d need to subtract 10 to 15 beats from that number, since it’s impossible to get your heart rate as high in the pool as on land. So if your heart rate is typically about 177 at the end of a quarter-mile interval, it should be around 162 to 167 at the end of your 90-second interval in the pool.

In general, expect to have to run more intensively in the water to achieve a workout that’s equivalent to what you would achieve on land. In studies involving untrained subjects, those who ran on land got in shape much faster than those who did an equivalent amount of running in the pool, because the latter subjects did not train as intensely, on average. These results don’t mean you can’t get a great running workout in the pool; they just mean you have to concentrate on it.

ELLIPTICAL TRAINING

EQUIPMENT/ADVANTAGES: The elliptical trainer was invented in the 1990s by Precor, a fitness-equipment maker already well-known for its treadmills. The idea was to simulate the action of running without the impact—something the machines did so successfully that they quickly became standard equipment in gyms. Now manufactured by a number of companies, elliptical trainers may also be purchased for home use, but they’re quite expensive. An entry-level machine will set you back at least $1,000; a club-quality machine will cost $2,500 or more.

An elliptical trainer looks somewhat similar to a stairclimbing machine, and its action feels like a mix of stairclimbing and cross-country skiing. The only cardiovascular activity that’s more similar to running is pool running. The key difference: While elliptical training involves no impact, it is a weight-bearing activity. Thus, pool running is a better choice for runners who have injuries that make it impossible or inadvisable to perform any weight-bearing exercise, but elliptical training is better for helping you maintain your body’s impact-absorbing capacity.

Because the elliptical-training action is not exactly like running, it’s a good way to round out your running fitness. Specifically, by recruiting and conditioning muscle fibers that running misses, it can strengthen your legs, your core muscles, and the muscles involved in the arm swing.

Some machines come with arm levers; some don’t. If you want to use elliptical training for increased core and upper-body strength, you need to use one with levers.

DISADVANTAGES: On the psychological level, many runners find elliptical training to be slightly less tedious than pool running—you can listen to music or watch television while doing it. Still, there’s no getting around the fact that for most runners, elliptical training is pretty darned boring.

WORKOUTS: Recovery workouts should entail 20 to 60 minutes of movement at a low-to-moderate level of intensity. When you’re injured, perform elliptical workouts that as closely as possible match the duration, intensity, and structure of the land-running workouts you would be performing if healthy. For example, if your training schedule calls for a 20-minute threshold run on a given day, do 20 minutes of elliptical training at a comfortably hard intensity level, preceded by an easy warmup and followed by an easy cooldown.

The best way to control intensity on an elliptical trainer is to monitor your heart rate. Many machines have built-in pulse monitors, but you can always use your own monitor if you have one. (Yours is probably more accurate.)

If you’re interested in using elliptical training to round out your running fitness, I suggest you perform two weekly recovery workouts on the machine rather than just one. You need to stimulate those muscle-recruitment patterns at least every 3 days in order to accumulate gains in neuromuscular efficiency and muscle-fiber conditioning. Most elliptical trainers allow you to vary resistance, and some allow you to adjust the incline to simulate hills. Increasing either the resistance or the incline increases the strength-building effect. Just be sure that you stay within your desired intensity range.

I believe that elliptical trainers also have the potential to increase your natural stride rate. By keeping the resistance (and incline) low, you can fairly easily maintain a stride rate as high as 180 strides per minute, the cadence most elite runners use. Over time, your neuromotor system will gain efficiency at this stride rate, and in theory you should get some transfer back to running.

BICYCLING

ADVANTAGES: Back in the day, bicycling (outdoors and indoors) was more or less the only form of endurance cross-training runners used. It was, for example, Frank Shorter’s cross-training activity of choice. In recent years, alternatives like pool running and elliptical training have eroded its monopoly, but cycling remains popular among runners. As a repetitive-motion activity in which the legs do the work, it develops a form of fitness that’s highly transferable to running. Many elite road cyclists can run an excellent 10-K on the basis of their bike training alone. But unlike running, cycling is a nonimpact activity, so it can serve runners well as a recovery or rehabilitation workout. The same guidelines that apply to other endurance cross-training modalities apply to cycling.

DISADVANTAGES: The main disadvantage of outdoor cycling, besides the cost of buying a bike, is that in many climates it’s difficult if not impossible to train year-round. An important limitation of indoor cycling is that it requires no balance and therefore does not emulate this neuromuscular aspect of running as well as outdoor cycling and other endurance cross-training options do.

EQUIPMENT: In order to do any amount of riding, you need a bike, of course. The best kind for you depends on how you want to use it. If you want a bike that is light enough and has enough gears to get you up and over hills but you also want some comfort and don’t plan to race, your best choice will be a comfort bike or a hybrid. If you plan to do some rough off-road riding, you’ll need a mountain bike. (Comfort bikes and hybrids can handle light off-road use.) If you intend to ride exclusively on pavement and you want something fast, use either a road or time-trial bike. The latter is designed to be ridden in the so-called aero position, in which your torso is nearly parallel to the ground and your forearms rest close together on a time-trial handlebar. As its name suggests, this position is extremely aerodynamic, making time-trial bikes the fastest bikes on flat terrain. However, standard road bikes are more versatile, and you can achieve a pretty good aero position on a road bike by installing a clip-on aerobar and moving the seat forward slightly. This is the better way to go for most runner-cyclists and runner-triathletes.

Comfort and hybrid bikes are generally the least expensive; you can get a new one from a reputable manufacturer for about $350. Mountain bikes are a little more expensive, starting in the $600 range. Road bikes are more expensive still ($1,000 at entry level), while time-trial bikes (also called triathlon bikes) are the most expensive at $1,200 and up.

If you plan to do hard training (and possibly even some racing) on a road, mountain, or time-trial bike, it’s essential that you get the fit right, and unless you know a lot about bikes, you’ll need some professional help. (If you’re buying a bike for just cruising around, you can afford to be less fanatical about fit.) The best bike shops have honest, knowledgeable salespeople who make a genuine effort to match you with the best bike for your needs. These shops are in the minority, so be sure to do a little research before you decide where to buy. You could very easily purchase an ill-fitting or poorly adjusted bike if your salesperson isn’t well-trained or just doesn’t care.

A helmet is mandatory for outdoor cycling. Sports sunglasses are virtually a must-have as well. If you ride a high-performance road bike with a lightweight seat, you’ll almost certainly want to wear padded bike shorts to make the riding experience infinitely more comfortable. And if you’re at all serious about your riding, it’s best to use cycling shoes that clip on to the pedals and allow you to generate force more evenly throughout the pedal stroke. A basic pair of cycling shoes and set of clip-on pedals will cost you about $200.

I strongly recommend that you learn how to use a tire repair kit ($10 to $15) and carry one on every ride—you never know when you’ll need to fix or replace a punctured inner tube. (Almost any bike-shop mechanic will gladly show you how to fix a flat.) One last, extremely handy item is a bike computer that records distance traveled, speed, and so forth. You can get a basic one for less than $50.

From a physiological perspective, it doesn’t matter whether you ride outdoors or in. The main advantage of riding outdoors is that in the right environment, it’s a total blast. For those who don’t own an indoor cycle machine, a bike is also more convenient because you can zoom right out your garage door instead of having to drive to the nearest fitness club. On the other hand, indoor riding is safer (no cars, dogs, or hairpin turns), and some find it more comfortable. You can wear whatever you want, since you’re always at room temperature, and you don’t have to worry about wind, rain, sleet, or snow.

If you own a road, mountain, or time-trial bike, you can convert it to indoor use by mounting it on rollers or a fluid trainer, available for $90 and up at most shops that sell racing bikes. This gives you the option of riding outside or in. A more expensive alternative is to buy a club-style indoor cycling machine. The decent ones begin at $900.

TECHNIQUE: To ride safely and proficiently, you’ll need to learn a few important skills: positioning (there are several hand positions you can use on a road bike), pedaling mechanics, gear selection, braking, cornering, climbing, and descending.

The more miles you put on the bike, the better you’ll develop these skills. However, you can accelerate the learning process by riding with a more experienced cyclist, taking lessons from a coach, or reading cycling magazines and books and visiting specialized Web sites (such as www.bicycling.com).

WORKOUTS: Recovery workouts on the bike should entail 20 to 60 minutes at a steady low-to-moderate level of intensity. When you’re injured, perform bike workouts that as closely as possible match the duration, intensity, and structure of the running workouts you would be performing if healthy.

Bob Kennedy, America’s great 5000-meter runner, used the bike in this way. When he was injured, he’d perform sets of 2-minute bursts on his bike instead of 800-meter repeats on the track. If you choose to use a heart rate monitor to control intensity on the bike, be aware that at any given effort level, your heart rate will be about 10 beats per minute slower than during running.

There is a possible exception to the matching-workouts rule. Because cycling is impact-free and less intense than running, you may decide to go out on rides that are significantly longer than any run workout you’d ever perform. Rides of 3 to 5 hours will enhance your general endurance without taking any more out of you than a 2-hour run.

As a triathlete, I’ve found that my long rides provide a tremendous boost to my running endurance. Note that long-term rehabilitative cycling is likely to result in less degradation of the legs’ shock-absorption capacity than pool running, but more than elliptical training.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that cyclists tend to have more muscular legs than runners have. This is because cycling uses less total muscle mass to overcome greater average resistance. Muscles that are made to work harder tend to grow more. Cycling, therefore, is a terrific way for runners to develop better leg strength and power.

There’s also a neuromotor benefit of cross-training on the bike. In a University of Colorado study, on three separate occasions a group of triathletes completed a 30-minute bike workout followed by a 2-mile maximum-effort run. In the first trial, the triathletes pedaled at normal cadence. In the second, they pedaled 20 percent faster than normal, and in the third, 20 percent slower than normal. As a group, the subjects ran the fastest times and had higher stride rates following high-cadence cycling.

At race intensity, elite runners take about 180 strides (90 steps per foot) per minute; nearly all other runners take fewer strides. On the bike, it’s easy to pedal 90 revolutions per minute as long as you ride on flat or downhill terrain and use an appropriate gear (or resistance level if you’re on a stationary bike). I believe runners can accomplish over the long term what the triathletes in the experiment did in the short term; that is, through a neuromotor crossover effect, you can increase your efficiency at higher stride rates and become a faster runner.

A runner who’s interested in using cycling to increase his or her strength, power, and efficiency should ride at least twice a week most weeks. Cross-training minimalists should perform at least one bike-recovery workout per week (assuming that cycling is their endurance cross-training activity of choice), plus additional workouts when they are especially sore or feel that they’re on the verge of an overuse injury.

DUATHLON/TRIATHLON: Many runners get the urge to try a multisport race. This can be a fairly easy transition as long as you don’t make the mistake I made the first time I tried it. I jumped into an Olympic-distance triathlon (1.5-K swim, 40-K bike, 10-K run) on a lark, confident that my run training would carry me through. Never in my life have I suffered more in a race, nor finished so close to dead last. Needless to say, I balanced my training in all three disciplines before my next triathlon.

The principles and methods of bike training are quite similar to those of running, so it’s easy to get into the swing of it (though gaining strength on the bike takes time). When you’re training for a triathlon or duathlon, most of your rides should be performed at a steady moderate intensity. Once a week or so, you should do a long ride that tests your cycling endurance. And a small amount of your training should be at higher intensities in an interval format, just as you’d do for running. (In chapter 7, I’ll present a detailed training program for runners preparing for a first triathlon.)

ROLE MODEL

BILL RODGERS

Believe it or not, the original “modern” distance runners of the late 19th and early 20th centuries trained primarily by walking. It worked pretty well, because walking is more like running than it may seem to those of us who tend to disdain it. It’s hard to achieve the same level of intensity in walking as in running, so I don’t recommend walking as a substitute for high-intensity workouts during periods of injury rehabilitation. However, I do highly recommend that runners perform some walking during extended layoffs from running (when possible). It’s a low-impact rather than a nonimpact modality, so it keeps the bones and joints of the lower extremities in a better state of readiness for the pounding of running than, say, elliptical training does.

This is precisely how the great Bill Rodgers used walking while rehabilitating, at age 55, from a stress fracture, his first major injury in 38 years of running. Indeed, Rodgers’s resiliency is a big part of what made him the most accomplished American marathoner of all time. In the 1970s and 1980s, he won the New York City Marathon and the Boston Marathon each four times. He ran 2 marathons under 2:10, 4 under 2:11, and 28 under 2:15. And he once won 7 marathons in a row.

But his aura of invincibility crumbled when his right tibia suddenly snapped as he was completing a routine 8-miler. He was forced to spend 3 months in a rigid cast and 3 weeks in a walking cast. As soon as he could begin walking again, he did. He proceeded cautiously but aggressively, increasing the duration of his walks as quickly as safety allowed. He also rode a stationary bike to drive his cardiorespiratory system back into shape. When he was able to begin running again, he followed the same gentle but steady progression.

He suffered his injury in August 2003. In February 2004, he completed his first comeback race, a 5-K. You can’t keep “Boston Billy” down for long!

INLINE SKATING

ADVANTAGES: Inline skating, like running, is all about the legs. But the lower-body muscles that do the most work during inline skating are those that do the least while running. Inline skating works mainly the buttocks, hip abductors (outer hip muscles), quadriceps, and shins; running, as we’ve discussed, focuses on the gluteals, hamstrings, and calves.

The fact that inline skating is a kind of muscular mirror image of running makes it a great cross-training choice for a runner who’s interested in rounding out the muscular development of the lower body and in preventing or correcting the muscular imbalances that so often contribute to overuse injuries. Inline skating entails greater average resistance than running, so it’s also a good overall leg strengthener.

The other great thing about inline skating is that it’s fun. It has many of the same virtues as running, yet it’s faster, and there’s something ineffably satisfying about the feeling of gliding.

DISADVANTAGES: The main disadvantage of skating is that it’s no fun at all unless you’re on a very smooth surface, so you’re much more limited in terms of where you can go on skates than you are on foot. Inclement weather is also more likely to foil skating than running. However, you can get around this problem by purchasing a slide board that allows you to skate in place, in your stocking feet, indoors.

EQUIPMENT: Skating requires skates, of course. There are many varieties; you want the kind called fitness skates. Racing skates, featuring a longer wheelbase with five wheels instead of four, are best avoided by beginner and even intermediate skaters. Expect to pay between $110 and $170 for a high-quality pair of new fitness skates. The best place to buy them is at a specialty store from a salesperson who skates, rather than at one of those sporting-goods mega-stores. Tell the salesperson where and how you intend to use the skates, ask for recommendations, and try on at least three models. The fit should be quite snug but not constricting.

Wheel types and sizes vary even more than the skates themselves. Larger and harder wheels tend to be faster, while smaller and softer wheels tend to offer more control. Wheels wear more quickly on the outside edge, so you’ll need to rotate them when they begin to look worn on that side and replace them once they’re worn on both sides. (This is very easy.) Buy a helmet (about $40) at the same time you buy your skates, and wear it for every skating workout. Hand pads are recommended for all skaters as well, and beginners will also want to wear knee and elbow pads. Complete pad sets can be purchased for $40 or so.

TECHNIQUE: If you are a beginner, before you begin doing actual workouts on inline skates, you need to devote a couple of sessions to practicing three basic skills: striding, stopping, and falling. The stride comes quickly. Find a flat, smooth surface and begin by getting your stance right: Bend your knees a little and shift most of your weight onto your heels. If you can’t lift your toes to the top of the boot, your center of gravity is too far forward. Form a V with your skates and begin walking forward, maintaining the V. Use your arms for balance.

Once you get comfortable walking in skates, try to glide a bit. Begin with both skates in full contact with the ground, in the V shape, and push off with the left skate to make the right skate glide diagonally forward. Touch down with the left skate and then push off with the right to glide on the left. Keep trying to glide farther and farther, seeing how far you can go on one skate. Once you’re able to glide with steady balance, try skating with one hand grasping the opposite wrist behind your back, as doing so is more energy efficient than anything else you might do with your arms.

There are various braking systems on inline skates, but they’re all more or less versions of a rubber pad and plastic arm attached to the heel of your skate. (On most good models, the brake arm may be attached to either skate; put it on your dominant side.) To use the brake, position your feet side by side, slide the braking skate forward, and then dip your heel toward the ground until the rubber pad makes contact and begins to drag. This asymmetrical drag and deceleration will challenge your balance at first, so start slowly. Some beginners find it helpful to practice balancing on one skate before they practice braking. There are fancier ways to brake, such as V stops and hockey stops, but you should master the basic technique before you try any others.

Falling is all but inevitable for beginners. Unless you practice correct falling technique, you will experience more pain than necessary. Falling backward is the worst-case scenario, because you’ll almost certainly hit rear end first and really jar your tailbone. From there, you could very well fall back and whack your head. So when you begin to fall backward, twist around to one side as you go, and try to absorb the impact on the knee and elbow pads on that side. Splitting the impact 50/50 in this manner will greatly reduce your chance of injury. Find a grassy spot and practice turning a backward fall into a side fall.

If you fall forward, don’t throw your arms out to take the impact on your hands, as most skaters instinctively do. Instead, throw your knees down and land first on your kneepads, then throw your arms out and slide forward on your hands and knees, keeping your torso off the pavement.

A final note: Due to the slightly forward leaning posture it requires, skating places stress on the lower back that can lead to muscle strains. To avoid these injuries, be sure to consistently perform strengthening exercises for all of the core muscles (lower back, obliques, and abdominals).

WORKOUTS: The appropriate format for active-recovery workouts involving inline skating is 20 to 60 minutes at a steady low-to-moderate level of intensity. Granted, Olympian Steve Plasencia used to perform 90-minute high-intensity “active-recovery” workouts on skates. Far be it from me to call him crazy. The fact is that all of the endurance cross-training guidelines I offer are just guidelines. Of course it’s possible for runners to benefit from long- and/or high-intensity endurance cross-training, but in general, I do think it’s best to keep these workouts relatively short and easy. At least start there to see how it goes.

One weekly active-recovery skate is enough for most runners, but you may do more if you wish. In cases of injury, perform skate workouts that are similar in format to the run workouts you would be doing if you were healthy. If you use a heart rate monitor to control intensity, note that your heart rate will be roughly 10 beats per minute slower at any given effort level on skates than on foot.

SWIMMING

ADVANTAGES: In swimming, the arms produce far more force than the legs. For this reason, swimming has less crossover fitness benefit for runners than do the other endurance activities discussed in this chapter, all of which are more similar to running in their reliance on the legs. Because swimming does give the cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine systems a proper workout without stressing the tissues of the legs, it is a perfectly good way for runners to get an active-recovery or rehabilitative workout. I recommend swimming to runners who enjoy it more than other endurance cross-training activities, who have serious injuries that make it inadvisable or impossible to perform leg-reliant activities, or who would like to try a triathlon. Other runners would do best to choose a different activity for endurance cross-training workouts.

DISADVANTAGES: In situations of prolonged rehabilitation, swimming has the same disadvantage as pool running in that it is completely non-weight-bearing and therefore results in steady degradation of the lower extremities’ shock-absorption capacity.

The other great disadvantage of swimming, for those who lack extensive swimming experience, is that it is an extremely technique-intensive sport. Mastering freestyle swimming technique is not easy. There are three strategies you can use to progress along the technique learning curve as rapidly as possible. The most effective strategy is to have another person watch, critique, and correct your stroke. The person could be an experienced swimmer who uses the same facility you use, a coach with a masters swim program, a private coach, or someone else who knows the difference between correct and incorrect freestyle technique. Watching others swim is a nice complement to having others watch you. I own an instructional swim video that features lots of underwater footage of good swimmers. I watch it frequently and feel it has helped me quite a bit.

Another effective strategy is to regularly perform drills designed to improve technique in various elements of the freestyle stroke. A third way to develop your swim technique is, instead of doing slower, uninterrupted swims, to perform relatively short, fast intervals in which you really concentrate on form. Technique tends to improve with speed, while taking frequent breaks prevents the fatigue that tends to impair form.

TECHNIQUE: There are five components of the freestyle swim stroke: body position, body roll, arm stroke, kick, and breathing. The most important components of the stroke, it may surprise you to hear, are the first two. This is because, in swimming, eliminating drag does a lot more to increase speed than generating force does, and proper body positioning and good body roll are the most effective ways to eliminate drag. When you are positioned correctly, your chest is the most deeply submerged part of your body, your head is tilted just slightly forward, and your legs are floating high in the water. This position maximizes buoyancy and thereby minimizes drag. With each stroke, as your leading arm achieves full forward extension, you need to rotate your entire body as much as 60 degrees toward the opposite side in order to achieve a narrow, torpedo-like profile.

Perform the arm cycle as follows. Put your hand in the water 12 to 18 inches in front of your shoulder. Reach as far forward as possible, with your hand about a foot or so beneath the surface, and rotate your body to the opposite side the way you do when trying to grab something off a high shelf. Thrust your shoulder forward, toward your ear, while rotating your hand and forearm 90 degrees so that your fingers point straight toward the bottom of the pool. You should feel water resistance against your entire forearm and hand. Next, with an accelerating movement, draw your hand straight underneath your body, keeping your elbow high and bent 90 degrees until your hand passes your ribcage, at which point you extend your arm and continue pushing until your hand exits the water right next to your upper thigh. Lastly, carry your arm forward to prepare for the next hand entry. Keep your elbow high, and let your forearm and hand dangle toward the water. Your arms should always be at opposite points in the arm cycle. When one arm is just reaching full extension in front of you, the other hand should be just exiting the water at your upper thigh, and so forth.

The kick serves a minor role in propulsion (except during sprints and brief surges) and a greater role in maintaining stroke rhythm and proper body position. The form of kicking used in freestyle swimming is called the flutter kick. It is a small, up-and-down scissor motion in which the two legs are always moving in opposite directions, as the arms are in running. A good kick is small in amplitude, very steady, and initiated from the hips and buttocks rather than at the knee. Keep your toes pointed, and flex the knee only slightly at the top of the kick. The proper rhythm for flutter kicking is two kicks per foot per arm stroke.

It is important that you do not allow your stroke to interfere with your breathing, nor your breathing to interfere with your stroke. Exhale via forceful blowing through the mouth, underwater, as you stroke. When exhalation is complete, inhale by turning your head just slightly at the top of your body rotation and sucking in all the air you can get during the brief moment when your face comes out of the water. This extra movement of the head should be as subtle as possible.

Less experienced swimmers tend to always breathe on the same side every two or four strokes. Better swimmers practice bilateral breathing, constantly alternating the side on which they inhale, every three to five strokes. The main advantage of being able to breathe on both sides is that it promotes symmetrical swim mechanics. You should definitely make it a point to learn bilateral breathing by practicing it for a few lengths at a time until it becomes second nature.

I will talk about workouts for performance in swimming in chapter 7, where I present a triathlon training program for runners. Here, I wish only to describe a set of drills you should perform each time you swim, until you’ve really mastered the freestyle stroke. Do a few lengths (a length is one trip across the pool, usually 25 yards or meters) of each drill in the order presented, resting as often as necessary between lengths.

• Chest press. Swim with your arms at your sides and propel yourself by kicking only. Exhale into the water and turn your head to the side to inhale. Concentrate on keeping your chest deep and your hips and legs high, toward the surface. This drill improves body position and kicking technique.

• Side kicking. Swim on one side with your lower arm extended straight forward and your upper arm resting on your upper side. Rest your head against your shoulder and look down so that your head is three-quarters submerged. Propel yourself by kicking only. Exhale into the water and rotate your head slightly upward to inhale. Concentrate on keeping your hips and legs high. Swim one length and then switch sides. This drill promotes proper technique at maximum rotation.

• Layout freestyle. Start by kicking on your side in the manner just described. After 3 to 5 seconds, rotate onto your belly, and catch up to your forward arm with the other arm so that both arms are extended in front of you. Immediately perform a complete pull with the original leading arm and simultaneously rotate onto your other side. Kick for 3 to 5 seconds, and then catch up and rotate once more. After swimming two to four lengths in this way, reduce the amount of time you spend on each side to just 2 seconds. This drill improves body position and rotation.

• Catch-up freestyle. Begin by kicking facedown with both arms extended in front of you. After 3 or 4 seconds, perform a complete pull with one arm and rotate fully to that side. Immediately rotate back onto your belly, and catch up to the forward arm with the arm that just pulled. Kick for 3 or 4 seconds, and then pull with the other arm and rotate. Swim two to four lengths in this manner, and then reduce the amount of time you kick on your belly to just 1 second between pulls. Swim two to four lengths more, and then pull twice with each arm before switching sides. This drill promotes better rotation and arm-stroke mechanics.

WORKOUTS: As with the other disciplines discussed in this chapter, in swimming, the appropriate format for active-recovery workouts is 20 to 60 minutes at a steady pace and a low-to-moderate level of intensity. Most of this swimming should be performed freestyle, but some should take the form of the technique drills I’ve described. A single active-recovery swim per week will suffice for most runners, but there’s no harm in swimming more often. When you’re injured, again, perform swim workouts that mimic the format of the run workouts you would be doing if you were healthy. Monitoring intensity is best done by feel, as there’s no practical way to monitor your heart rate while you swim— you can do it only during breaks between swim intervals.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

ADVANTAGES: Cross-country skiing is just about the only sport that is more physiologically intense than running. At any given effort level, skiing involves more muscle and therefore requires more oxygen than running. So runners who cross-country ski can potentially increase their aerobic capacity and improve their running. Cross-country skiing is also a great way to enhance strength in the hips, quadriceps, abdomen, and shoulders, thereby improving running economy and stride power as well as reducing susceptibility to some overuse injuries.

DISADVANTAGE: There is an obvious difference between cross-country skiing and the other forms of endurance cross-training I’ve discussed: It’s strictly seasonal. For this reason, I think cross-training is best used the way Libbie Hickman used it in her professional running career (and the way I used it during my high school days in New Hampshire): as a fun way to stay in shape during the winter off-season, when you’re not in formal training for an upcoming event.

EQUIPMENT: The good news for novice cross-country skiers is that the technology of boots and bindings has made great advances in the past several years, becoming much more stable and hence beginner-friendly. You can rent the very latest and greatest skis and boots at most resorts, where competent professionals can match you with the most appropriate gear and then teach you how to use it. I recommend that you test equipment in this way before buying it. Standard weekend rental fees are in the range of $50 at most resorts. You can purchase a good entry-level package of skis, boots, and poles for around $300.

Proper dress for cross-country skiing includes a moisture-wicking base layer (top and bottom) and socks, a fleece vest, wind pants, a windbreaker, and a polypropylene hat and gloves. You can always remove layers as you heat up.

TECHNIQUE: There are two distinct styles of cross-country skiing: classic and skating. The classic style, also known as kick and glide, involves straight-ahead gliding, as though your skis were on rails. The skating motion is similar to ice-skating or inline skating. Both require balance and coordination, but not so much that the average person cannot master the techniques after two or three lessons. As a beginner, it’s best to practice on a smooth, flat surface, such as a snowed-over soccer field. As you advance, you can attack more varied terrain and even go “back country”—that is, create your own trails.

WORKOUTS: There’s little need to perform structured workouts on skis, since it’s mainly an off-season activity. The best thing about cross-country skiing is that it’s a truly exhilarating way to enjoy the outdoors. Concentrate on approaching it as such, and the conditioning aspect will take care of itself. You can do all-day adventures like Libbie Hickman or quick, 45-minute jaunts as I did back when I lived where I could reliably expect to find a base of snow right outside my door during certain months of the year. You can do no running and all skiing for a while, or just ski here and there while continuing to run regularly. You can wear a heart rate monitor to control your intensity or go by feel. In any case, when the snow melts, you’ll be in great shape.

There are, of course, cross-country ski machines that can give you the same benefits even after the snow melts. Indoor skiing is as effective as any other activity for active recovery, rehabilitation, and rounding out running fitness. The only reason I choose not to place it higher on the list of recommended endurance cross-training activities for runners is that few fitness clubs have ski simulators, and purchasing one for the home will set you back $600 or more.