Cycling vs Running

My wife has been running for 20 years (is aged 40). loves it, done marathon's etc. she wanted to start doing trialathalons. She's tried both mountain biking and road biking. She does not like mountain biking much (occasional falls). She loves road riding. Now if she has the preference she'll ride rather than run.

It is alot more expensive and 'faffy" though. Even on a road bike, you've got to check tyres, get gps set up... just takes 10 mins - but compares to 2 running. You don't get flats running.. (although flats seem alot rarer than they used to be).

I think alot of people who try cycling, and i'm talking road rather than mountain as it's more accessible, have not had an opportunity to ride a good bike that has been well set up for them. IMHO makes all the difference to the (road) cycling experience.
 
Arwen's Mom said:
I want to thank everyone who contributed something intelligent on this thread, as for Satanpez, you are totally out of line and have some major issues. Grow up.
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Steve is ok...he is out of line, does needs to grow up and he is also a weirdo, but like most of the wierdo's on MTBNJ he is really a nice guy.
 
Running on pavement is very bad for the joints speedwalking much better. I watched some of the long distance running in the Olympics this weekend. Everyone of them looks skeletal and atrophied....no thanks. And BTW when grinding it up a hill the look is intensity not misery. Runners look miserable the moment they start. At least go run in the woods and enjoy the sights and sounds, instead of exhaust.
 
pooriggy said:
You will burn more calories in a 30 min. run then you will in a 30 min. ride.
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I generally average 700 calories per hour on the bike, I doubt I could do that running but maybe some people can. Running works out different muscles and I'll run only if I don't have time to bike or if the weather is crappy
 
Arwen's Mom said:
She thinks I am nuts because I am not into running, I think she is equally nuts because she is not into cycling.
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I thought steve was responding to this point. I don't know, his post made since to me anyway. I took it as "its idiotic to call people idiots for doing what they enjoy doing". I say its luke's fault. 🙂
 
running is good for you. anyone can and should run. if you have pain and injuries from running...90% chance youre doing it wrong. if youre interested at all in running, you should read the book "born to run" you dont have to become a granola eating ultra runner, but there is ALOT that running has to offer that biking doesnt

being an adventure racer, i split my training between biking and running. At first i hated running. i has shin splints and got an IT band injury. but once i figured out that my stride was causing the issues, I changed my shoes and changed my form. now i can ENJOY miles upon miles of road or trail.

whoever said that you NEED music when youre running is quite mislead. I never use music running or biking. it takes away from everything your body is trying to tell you.

Im not trying to say that running>biking in any way..but they both have their place..some days i get out of work and am itching to get on the MTB, others i am itching to go for a run. Theres always a learning hump to get over with running before you really start enjoying it. that hump is alot bigger than the one for biking. it takes work and dedication, but its a huge payoff in the end.
 
also, the impact you get from running, is actually good for your bones in moderation. There was a study ( http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/tipsandtricks/a/ExerciseandBones.htm )
that shows that the impact you get from running is helpful to building bone density and strength, wheras the lack of impact in cycling is actually detrimental to bone density. so people who only cycle are at risk for osteoprerosis and have bones that can break more easily

it really comes down to everything in moderation...but life is short so enjoy it
 
axcxnj said:
At first i hated running. i has shin splints and got an IT band injury. but once i figured out that my stride was causing the issues, I changed my shoes and changed my form. now i can ENJOY miles upon miles of road or trail.
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How did you change your stride to prevent IT band pain? I used to run a few days a week, and I ramped up the mileage too quickly and my knees started to hurt. I self diagnosed it as ITBS, and I could only run a few miles before it started to hurt. I found running to be frustrating, because I could only run for 20-30 minutes, which is barely a workout when you are used to biking for 2-3 hours. I pretty much gave up on it because I figured I would need to start with 1-2 mile runs and very slowly increase the mileage, and I don't really have the patience for that.
 
lets hit up the watergap again after work this week...and this fall (once the wedding is past and AR season is over) we will get a solid trip or two to the gunks and string some pitches together.




JimN said:
How did you change your stride to prevent IT band pain? I used to run a few days a week, and I ramped up the mileage too quickly and my knees started to hurt. I self diagnosed it as ITBS, and I could only run a few miles before it started to hurt. I found running to be frustrating, because I could only run for 20-30 minutes, which is barely a workout when you are used to biking for 2-3 hours. I pretty much gave up on it because I figured I would need to start with 1-2 mile runs and very slowly increase the mileage, and I don't really have the patience for that.
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The biggest change for me was going from a normal running shoe to a minimalist shoe. I jumped in head first and got a pair of 5 fingers. my runs initially went from 5-6 miles to about 2, and i needed alot of time to recover my calf muscles. the minimalist shoes force you to have a mid/forefoot strike that makes your leg motion absorb all the impact of the running. With normal running shoes you are more inclined to heel strike, which sends alot more shock up your leg.

I only put about 170 miles on the 5 fingers before i had to get rid of them because of bad blisters from a poor fit. but now i run in inov-8 shoes and LOVE them i put 345 miles on the F-lite 195 and now have 325 on my current pair of Road-x-lite 155. Also for trail, i train on the Bare-Grip 200.

i really had to re-learn how to run, when i made the change, but now i can go out for as long as my leg muscles allow me to and i dont have pain.
 
IT Band pain

I had some pretty awful IT Band pain with running and the one thing I found that really really really helped me was strength training, specifically, the one exercise that helped the most was side leg lifts with resistance bands. I read some study and the end result was this was key. Within 6 weeks, some 90 percent of runners in the study were back to running to their competitive level. So, scaled back running to not aggravate it further and that exercise. All I know, is it totally worked for me.
 
pooriggy said:
Steve is ok...he is out of line, does needs to grow up and he is also a weirdo, but like most of the wierdo's on MTBNJ he is really a nice guy.
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I will be fully honest with my next statement.

When I was told to grow up, I thought of you Iggy.

Nobody should grow up. When you grow up you die inside. 🙂

-

On Aaron's point with minimalist shoes, if you are looking to get into running it does seem really easy to start off with minimalist shoes. I wear them every day, have a fore-foot run but yet still can't make the switchover and still run in my high support for over-pronating shoes. (Maybe because I over pronate?)

Just walking around in the shoes took a huge amount of adjustment due to muscles I've basically never used getting a workout.
 
dualfisted said:
I had some pretty awful IT Band pain with running and the one thing I found that really really really helped me was strength training, specifically, the one exercise that helped the most was side leg lifts with resistance bands. I read some study and the end result was this was key. Within 6 weeks, some 90 percent of runners in the study were back to running to their competitive level. So, scaled back running to not aggravate it further and that exercise. All I know, is it totally worked for me.
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Sounds like it's worth a shot. I ordered some resistance bands on amazon.
 
axcxnj said:
running is good for you. anyone can and should run. if you have pain and injuries from running...90% chance youre doing it wrong.
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gonna go ahead and disagree with this comment.

not gonna dispute that running is good for you. but not everyone can do it.

I ran at a very high level in high school but chose to quit after my soph year due to several physical issues including: alignment problems with my hips, knees and ankles, tendenitus and Osgood Shlatters. went to a specialist who basically told me to hand up the cleats. the only way I would be able to continue to run would be with the use of orthotics (and even then he made no guarantees)

through my 20s (after I stopped growing) I tried to pick it up but was completely unable to do it without intense knee pain. I could play basketball for HOURS on end without a hint of knee pain. I can ride for HOURS and never experience a hint of knee pain. but if I try to "run" within MINUTES the knee pain is just unbearable.

perhaps if I got the proper orthotics - which took care of these alignment issues - I could run without pain. but just not worth it.

why bother when I can do other physical activities for HOURS without a hint of pain.

so, my point, it's not just a matter of "not doing it right"

running is just not good for some people and not everyone can do it.

not sure my wife has been doing it "wrong" but after 3 decades of running, the decades of POUNDING required her to get micro-fracture surgery.

so, my opinion...running sucks 😉 but wouldnt mind going for an occasional jog in the woods.
 
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Obviously not everyone can run but if you have no serious joint problems and no serious alignment issues then running is a fun and healthy sport. I would never regularly run on pavement. I run on grass and am lucky to have a grass field with an almost 2 mile circumference to run on. I like to trail run too and am just getting into running again this year after not doing it much for a long time. I was a really good runner in HS and college. I run in vibrum 5 fingers or other minimalist shoes and do Chi running (or the Born To Run approach) up on the balls of my feet. I'm a huge believer in this, it works great and takes the stress off of your joints and with practice and patience should make your runs feel somewhat like floating over the ground. BTW, you don't need to run for long, it depends on your goals. A 20 or 30 minute run is a killer if you push the intensity. A mile is a huge distance to run if you break it into sprints at max effort (speed). Try uphill sprints sometime, exactly like short max uphill bike intervals. A couple of minutes worth will be killer. It's not only about long distance slow runs, why limit yourself like that?
Always ask yourself why you're doing it and what your goals are, then with some research you'll know what to do.
 
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