That, in fact, is what one professional triathlete did. Desirée Ficker, who is 31 and lives in Austin, Tex., said she decided to concentrate on running when she ran the Austin Marathon in 2007 and came in second with a time of 2:40:28. Not only was that her best marathon time ever but it qualified her for the women’s Olympic Trials in Boston last month. The top three women in that race are on the United States Olympic team.
So Ms. Ficker gave up cycling and swimming and just ran, hoping to make the Olympic team.
“Biking hurts your running performance,” she said. “It tires your legs out, and you are using opposing muscle groups. I actually believe you are tearing up your quads to the point where it hurts when you run.”
When she eased up on bicycling, she said, her legs felt fresher and she ran faster.
-"For Peak Performance, 3 is Not Better than 1," 5/8/08, The New York Times.
This article in today's NYT is pretty interesting, dealing with whether cycling takes away from running and vice versa.
I probably will never train that much to see any effect like this. But it is interesting to think about.
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