Meep Meep!

baldwin471

I became a road runner this morning. Not by choice mind you. I had a small accident yesterday (Slipped on a metal grid going round a corner and went into a tree). No injuries to me apart from a slightly battered ego, but the front wheel was completely bent. The rest of the bike performed admirably, including the forks, to my surprise. I couldn't miss out on my morning workout, so i thought i'd try running.

Oh my jesus. My fitness has definitely improved since i started cycling, but today has shown me not that much! Maybe it's a different type of fitness required, but i was puffing and panting after only 2km. I normally do a 20km every morning and then whatever i can in the evening. But i can't believe how much effort it took to run 10% of what i normally cycle with ease.

Any of you lot runners? How much of a difference is there when you do both, day in day out?

I've been thinking of a new wheelset anyway, so i suppose this came at the right time. Any suggestions for just the front wheel for the time being, for maybe £250/£300? Currently have Krysium Equipe.

dirtymonkey1985

I did the bristol half this year and it was by far the hardest thing I've done. Probably because I did zero training using the logic I can cycle 80-100 miles without too much bother. I was wrong.
As for wheels take a look at Swiss side wheels, a friend of mine has just ordered a set and they look incredibly good for the money.

peat

The only thing in common between running and cycling is that you use legs. The muscles are totally different however.

I went for a kick around with some friends in the summer. I''m as fit as a fiddle' i thought. 10 minutes of chugging around a football pitch and i was wheezing. I'll stick to the cycling, much more fun.

andyrr

After doing some regular'ish but non-competitive running about 25 or so years ago I switched to cycling and competed in road races and TTs and hadn't run until around 18 months ago.
Since then I've done a fair bit of regular running , 2 or 3 times a week normally, 4 - 12 or so miles - managed 20 kms on Saturday. It is HARD !
After initially getting knee pain in both legs (pain switched from one to the other) I then got serious achilles pain and didn't run for 4 weeks. After that rest period I've not really had anything stopping me running although the last few kms on Saturday had my knee feeling really tight and I wasn't a pretty sight with me determined to hit the 20km mark.
I think the bike fitness will help but the leg muscles are used differently in the 2 activities so there is a fair bit of time needed to start running regularly and at the same pace as you think you can/should having come from a cycle background.
Usual issue is thinking you're super-fit and hare off down the road like Mo Farah - big leg pain is likely to be the result of that !
If you do want to do some running then from my own experience I'd aim initially to do max 5kms initially and if possible find a surface that is more forgiving than the road such as a trail or towpath etc.
I've also had to recalibrate my sense of distance when running as I'm used to thinking 'it's just round that bend and up that wee hill' : that's ok on a bike, it takes a couple of minutes to cover that distance but on foot it's a heck of a lot longer and 5 minutes later it's like I've barely moved !