PLAYING THE FIELD
By Richard A. Lovett
Photo: Kim Loeffler
In 1980, Alberto Salazar got a sore knee. He’d Cross-training is also useful for those who
been training for the 10,000m Olympic trials, can’t put in elite-level mileage. Pete Pfitzinger
and developed an iliotibial band problem advocates it in Advanced Marathoning, noting
that just wouldn’t go away. So, he did what that those who can’t consistently reach the level
many runners are taught to do when injured. He of weekly running mileage they’d like should
jumped in the pool. For t wo months, swimming consider incorporating some form of aerobic
was his primary activity, combined with a bit of cross-training into their training programs.
cycling. He swam so much that he nearly gave Elite coach Brad Hudson (whose trainees
himself an overuse injury from that. include 2008 Olympic marathoner Dathan
When the knee finally improved, he had less Ritzenhein) agrees. “I’m a strong believer that
than a month before the trials. Nevertheless, he you’ve got to run to be a good runner,” he says.
came out of the water to snag a third-place finish “But not everybody can put in elite mileage. It
and a spot on the team. Due to the Soviet inva- comes down to what you can absorb.” Aerobic
sion of Afghanistan, the team never went to the cross-training can therefore be used on recov-
games, held that year in Moscow, but Salazar’s ery days, he says, to add volume to your program
training had worked. “It was obvious that the without the pounding that comes with addi-
cross-training, all of that swimming, had really tional running. “More training is good, for
retained a high level of fitness,” he said. the most part.” In other words, if it’s a choice
Salazar’s is the type of story that has long sent bet ween: (a) running too much and risking
wounded runners into the pool or onto exercise injury; (b) taking the day off; or (c) impact-free
bikes or stair climbers. Not only does active aerobic cross-training, the best choice for most
rehab preserve fitness but, doctors increasingly serious runners is “c.”
say, it appears to speed healing. Cross-training is also of benefit for masters
Yet, most runners, having healed the injury, runners, and the higher up the age ladder you go,
return to a single-minded love affair with run- the more important it becomes. That’s because
ning. While monogamy is generally regarded as age diminishes the shock-absorbing characteris-
a good thing in marriage, there are growing indi- tics of your muscles, says South African exercise
cations it may not be as beneficial in sports. physiologist Timothy Noakes. Age also slows
There are at least three major benefits to muscular recovery after hard training, requir-
cross-training, even when you’re not injured. ing even the most competitive runners to add
Kelly Liljeblad is a Colorado-based athlete and extra recovery days to their schedule.
online coach ( ontrackhealth.net) who sports a But a lot of runners resist it. In one of the more
2:32: 27 marathon PR and was third in last year’s personal sections of his classic, Lore of Running,
USATF 10-mile championship. Running is her Noakes talks of coming to grips with the need
primary sport, but a few years ago, she took up to temper his running with cross-training as his
cross-training to combat a string of injuries and body aged — his own battle with what he calls
subsequently became a professional triathlete. the “committed runners’ prejudice against any
Like many top runners, she doesn’t believe activity other than running.”
that biking and swimming can truly replace With time he came to enjoy other sports for
running training. But they can help you get more their own sake, especially bicycling. One of that
bang from your run-training buck. “Biking or sport’s great advantages, he found, is that it
swimming can make you stronger and balance increases the range of terrain you can explore.
your body out,” she says, “so you [can] handle a Cross-training can be taken like medicine, or
higher workload with less injury risk. You stay in the spirit of adventure. Here are several ways
healthier, so you probably can handle more mile- in which you can experiment with it, some more
age and intensity in your running.” gentle and impact-free than others.
