Running with Dog/Impact on Training

My main sport is mtb, and I’m following the TrainerRoad plans. I have an awesome dog, but she can only go with me if I’m a.) on a mtb and be.) going for less than 15 miles. When she can’t come, I try to get her out on a walk, hike or run. She has lots of energy so I prefer to take her on a run, but I was once told that running every day with her would give me dead legs. I take it real easy, and it’s just a way to make sure she gets what she needs and I figure a few extra miles at an endurance pace running can’t hurt that much.

What do you all think?

When my dog was a bit younger and I didn’t have the time or energy to take her on runs or out training I bought a beach cruiser for 50 bucks off craigslist. I used that for a few years to take her out and keep her fit.

Gotta take care of the doggo.

My dog is a mountain biker as well. I take her on recovery days and spin high gears to keep the fatigue low. I run with her as well but that makes me way more tired than an easy spin. Do you have a close fire road for days you can’t do a real ride with your dog? That’s what we do. The thing that makes it hard for us is rattlesnake season. We are almost all fire road during that time of the year. Singletrack in the winter, Fire Road in the summer. She is crazy fast by the way…

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What a beaut.

I would tread lightly with running if cycling racing performance is important to you.

My typical run is/was five miles at 7:15 min/mile pace. I would always feel it the next day with fatigue on the whole body (far more so on pavement which unfortunately is more typical than not). As an every other day affair with biking, I noticed my race finishes were rather poor a couple of times I happened to run the day before a local 60 minute race. The last straw was when I got suddenly and authoritatively dropped from a local fast group ride on a non-consequential hill 15 miles in. When called to really perform, the legs were screaming like I’ve never felt before and I just had to stop. Cycling performance has greatly improved by taking running out of the rotation.

My four-year running experiment is now over, but I do think it helped me develop an aerobic engine at the expense of a lot of running related injuries (knee pain, plantar fasciitis, rolled ankle, and inability to sit in an office chair/car seat for extended time periods). XC skiing has been far more complementary as an off-season activity. Well, that’s my story.

Running at a slower pace and only off-road? Maybe you’ll have a different experience.

My dog does not really take it easy on trails. He’s 7 now so I mostly just run with him in my neighborhood unless I can get out on the trails in the winter time. Otherwise, it’s just too hot for me and no way to bail out. Funny thing about trail running though is even though the impact is lower, you’ll be stressing your lower legs in ways that you may not be used to, unless you’re already hiking a lot. All that uneven terrain makes my legs quite sore if it’s been a while, and then if there’s more elevation my quads get hit. This is even with keeping HR really low, but also during winter so helped by a bit of cooler temps.