Squats and running?

[Kuiken]

I'm currently doing the Angry Birds workout M, W, F with light yoga or swimming on Tu and Th. To warm up, I run for about 15-20mins on the treadmill, starting at a 6km pace and ending around 10. I then do the Birds as a circuit (push ups, squats, back, plank-60 sec rest-repeat) and another 15-20 mins of cardio after (running or cycling-depending on how my legs feel). For the squats, I'm doing front kettlebell squats (see photo below-that's not me, just an example of the exercise ) with a 6kg weight (I know the program calls for overhead squats, but I feel I can control my form better with these squats while still adding weight-thoughts? Is there a major difference between the two?). Right now, I can do a little over 100 in 3 sets, working towards making it in 2 sets.

There's an 8km coming up in August that I'm keen on running in-how should I go about training for it while keeping my Angry Birds weights in? I'm worried that the squats and serious run training will be too much. Should I change to running on Tu/Th (but will that mean less rest days for my legs)? Should I drop back to a 4kg weight and go for higher reps in my squats until after the race?

For the 8km, I'm looking just to have fun and make a decent time-given my previous 5km and 10km races, my goal is around 50mins (but I wasn't weight training when I was training for those races-maybe I'll be faster/slower now?). I'm planning on doing a test 8km run this weekend to see where I am, but it will unfortunately be on the treadmill (better than nothing!).

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I think you'll be fine with both. I read in 4-hour body about an ultra marathoner who programmed with heavy front squats (300+ lb) 3 times a week with interval running 5 times a week as the core of his program.

I personally did heavy squats with 5-10k of running a week and while my lifting weight didn't increase much, my running got better during that time.

[Corbab]

Like CoreyD said, squats (especially bodyweight/kettlebell) probably won't hinder your running progress. Unless you do your 8k training directly before or after your squat sets, you shouldn't even notice it.

As far as the overhead vs. KB squat, the overheads engage your core more, as you have to stabilize the weight further from your body, as opposed to directly at your point of balance. What you're doing is fine to start, but you should try to work in the OHS as soon as you feel comfortable.

[Kuiken]

Thanks for the input. I figured I would stall in my weight training, but that's cool-I'll make gains after trail season is over. And thanks for the feed back on OHS-I'll start practicing a few with just BW in front of the mirror and start working towards them now that I know there's an advantage for my core. My goal is to eventually move over to a proper weight lifting program, but for now the Angry Bird program lets me work out anywhere which is awesome for my current work schedule.

My 8km training program calls for 2 moderate runs and 1 long run a week. Would you suggest moving the Angry Bird weights to Tu/Th and doing my 3 runs M, W, F?

[Frost of the Gloaming]

we do them as part of our Tri training group, so I don't think it would be that big of an issue

[msuroo]

As others have mentioned, running and weight training go fine together. I trained for a half marathon while concurrently doing the Starting Strength program, and saw great gains in both.

There is a point where running is detrimental to strength training (and vice versa), but it's not something that becomes an issue until the more elite levels of either sport. If you get to that point, you'll know it.