running v cycling ?

lilactime

due to injury , have had to give running a rest . took up cycling and on average do 100 miles a week , and usually go at a pace that gets me knackered . i used to run 30 miles a week , am i keeping the same level of fitness ? ive put no weight on since stopping running 6 months ago , so this is telling me yes . ( cycling has made me lose lots of pounds in the wallet thou )

slojo

You are exerting about the same amount of energy cycling as you were running - 1 mile running = 3 miles cycling - so it's no surprise that your weight is stable.
But fitness is very sport specific.
You are now a much fitter cyclist than you were. But your running will have gone to pot.

sicrow

And as you get older cycling will be more beneficial as you will suffer less impact injuries on your knees, ankles etc, the pain in your wallet will also ease as you get used to it

CrookedCucumber

slojo wrote:

You are exerting about the same amount of energy cycling as you were running - 1 mile running = 3 miles cycling - so it's no surprise that your weight is stable.
But fitness is very sport specific.
You are now a much fitter cyclist than you were. But your running will have gone to pot.

The problem, I think, is that you can cycle gently, but you can't run gently.

What I mean is that I can cycle at such a pace that I won't ever tire, and only need to stop when my saddle area becomes too painful But, with running, there is (for me) no such pace. When you run you have to heave your weight up and down, however slowly you run.

So for me, at least, I wouldn't say that 1 mile running is the same as 3 miles cycling. I would say that at my usual running pace and my usual cycling pace, I am as tired after a 2-mile run as after a 20-mile ride. But partly that's because running pounds the hell out of my joints, which are getting old like the rest of me.

I've started cycling a lot more recently because I can no longer do karate, owing to an injury. The only way I really know how to be sure I'm doing the same `amount' of exercise cycling as I did in karate is by my waist size

slojo

The 1:3 comparison relates to energy expenditure rather than how tired it makes you feel.

Most people can run one mile quicker than they can cycle three.

Thus running is more tiring because you are expending the same amount of energy but at a faster rate.

CrookedCucumber

slojo wrote:

The 1:3 comparison relates to energy expenditure rather than how tired it makes you feel.

Most people can run one mile quicker than they can cycle three.

But energy expenditure depends on pace, does it not? The amount of energy I use cycling to the supermarket on my hack bike must surely be much less than the energy I use heaving myself up and down the Chiltern hills with my nose over the front wheel.

Alibran

The 1:3 comparison is always going to be a generalisation, but if your weight is staying the same, you're expending roughly the same amount of energy. The problem is going to come when you start running again. It will feel a lot harder than it felt when you stopped, even though your overall fitness is still high, and you'll have to take time to build up your mileage/pace again (although probably not as much time as when you first started running). But since you'll be coming back from injury, I can't see the lack of running specific fitness will be that much of an issue, since you'll have to take it very carefully to avoid the injury recurring, and as you do that, you'll be gradually building up your fitness again.

Anonymous

I ran 2.6miles a couple weeks ago, longest and fastest, allthough it was not constant running as I am not fit for running, my legs were offline for days after that, super stiff felt like a rusty old bit of metal, took about 5+ days to fully recover :shock:

cycologist

The number of runners who have had to retire due to injury is of legendary proportions. A lot of people take up cycling as an alternative to running as a number of forummers will testify.

azzerb

My gf used to run marathons. She's been running for about 6 years, and in that time she's had one key hole surgery, and she did something to it about 6months ago, and depending on how the operation to sort the cartridge (i think) goes, and where it is damaged, she'll either be able to run in 6 months time (after not moving her leg between certain points for the 6months) or never be able to do distance running again.

Currently convincing her that cycling IS fun, as she only cycles for commuting and doesn't like it (I blame the bike)