I am getting my SUP race training program dialed. I have an extensive endurance sports background. My question is how do I convert an SUP race training workout duration to running, cycling, and swimming. This would be helpful because I want to 1) figure out how much cross training I should do if I miss an SUP race training workout and 2) help me determine how many hours of stand up paddle race training I should be doing each week.

- Anonymous, CA

Great question. There are a few issues that we need to tackle before getting to your answer.

First, to become a better paddler you need to paddle. All the biking in the world won’t make you a fast paddler. That said, and it is clear  you already know this from your question, cross training, especially in the base training periods of the year is important to your overall fitness. Cross training can also be useful if you need to miss SUP race training workouts.

Second, it is extremely difficult to offer general conversions because the conversion rates will be difficult for different people. For example, if you are a world class swimmer, a 30 minute swim workout would be a warmup for you while a 30 minute swim workout would be a major ordeal for someone with no swimming background.

Third, it is even more difficult to convert a hard paddle workout to an easy run. For example, how hard/fast/long do you need to run if you miss a key interval paddle workout? Honestly, I really do not know. Don’t play that game. Your key SUP race training workouts have to be done paddling. Lets limit this SUP paddle conversation to cross training for endurance or base training workouts. Key paddle workouts need to be done in the water.

With that understanding, for athletes with average ability in their sport performing aerobic (e.g level 2 or base training) workouts you can use these SUP workout conversions to other endurance sports as very general guidelines.

1 hour paddle =  45min run

1 hour paddle =  1 hour swim

1 hour paddle =  90 min bike

Roch