Running

The cross over between bike racing and distance running is pretty obvious. Both rely on the legs to propel the athlete forward and a strong aerobic system to fuel those legs with a constant supply of oxygen.
It's also obvious then why a lot of bike racers chose running as part their off season training. It helps maintain a strong endurance base and keeps the legs working while not riding the bike (at least not on a daily basis)...albeit not working exactly the same legs muscles. Even more important than those benefits though, is the longing it instills for the season to come back around so we can stop all this silly walking and running nonsense and get back in the saddle full time. Running is an awful activity. Whoever envisioned it as an enjoyable way to spend an hour or two while doing your body a service was clearly out of their mind. The feeling of running hard is a jarring of your body. You're out of breath because of the effort but you also can't catch a proper breath because you lungs are being shaken up and down so violently. On top of that the leg pain is nothing like the burn of turning over pedals on a bike at a high wattage. Rather it's a joint pounding discomfort. Muscles and ligaments feel tighter than they do fatigued. It's not a pleasant pain but one that feels like you are doing your body more harm than good.
So like I said...try running for a few weeks then see how excited you are about the off season. You'll be begging to get off your feet and on a bike!

Having said all of that, I'll be (bandit) running my first half marathon on Sunday at the Long Beach International Marathon. I'm confident that I could easily complete the full distance but I decided that I would rather put in a fast half marathon than just focus on finishing. I'm shooting for a time under 1 hour and 30 minutes which should be achievable. I did some testing on a track for the first time in a long time last night and I can consistently do sub-5:30 minute miles (not sure I can hold that pace for a whole 13.1 miles though). 6-minute mile pace should put me a hair ovewr 1 hour 20 minutes.

Wish me luck!