ButchA

Yesterday morning around 9:00am, I decided to go running instead of a nice bicycle ride. Man, even the next day, I feel whipped.... It was only 4 miles that I ran in under a 10 min/mile pace! I know I shouldn't whine and complain, but I think I read somewhere about how much better bicycle riding is compared to jogging:

(1) Bicycle ride from home all the way down to the James River along Riverside Drive and back: 14-something miles at an avg 15 mph on my Fuji road bike === 843 calories burned.
(2) Jogging 4 miles in under a 10 min/mile pace === 819 calories burned.
.
Wow... A little over triple the distance, obviously way faster (almost double the speed), and the amount of calories burned is pretty close to each other. One is scenic and not really that tiring. The other is a harder, tougher, workout, but more harder on the body. What was I thinking? Anyone else go running?

P.S... As I wrote on Facebook yesterday when I got back home:

Mountain Mitch

wphamilton

I'd take the calorie estimates with a grain of salt. 60 calories per mile cycling @15mph sounds way too high to me, maybe about double. But to be honest, just burning calories is not why we ride is it?

Running to keep in shape, adding some load-bearing exercise.

MRT2

ButchA

I know what you mean... I just went by what those phone apps always say, once I got them all setup (MapMyRide, MapMyRun, etc...)
57 yrs old, 6' 0", and 210 lbs (yeah I know, I'm a bit of a Clydesdale and fighting tooth and nail to lose those ten pounds!)

Over the last few years, I always do the annual "Monument Ave 10K" here in town (6.2 miles). The first time I did it, I about died and sat down in the grass at Monroe Park just past the finish line. It tears you up, bashes your knees and hips, and you are literally no good for the next day or two afterwards! Ouch...

But yet, I can ride 39 miles (my longest yet) in 2 hrs & 45 min (avg of 14 mph) and have a wonderful time! My knees and quads were a little tender afterwards, but certainly not like running a 10K!!!

Cycling is the best!!!

CliffordK

I believe periodically doing some moderate impact exercise is good for the body. Don't go overboard, but adding a little into one's routine likely is more benefit than harm.

I keep meaning to add some running into my routine, but I am a big time bike commuter, and running doesn't take me anywhere useful.

Strava did have a 1 mile challenge the last couple of years which I did... WHEW, even a mile or two was tough going. Although, I can still do those 50 yard jogs around a hay field.

caloso

I'm sorry, but I think your cycling caloric estimate is way too high. Here is the data from a recent one hour threshold workout:

1:00:01(1:00:07)
Distance 22.2 mi
TSS102
Work 959 kJ
IF 1.01
NP 273 W
VI 1.03

Assuming a 25% efficiency, you can use KJ as a proxy for KCal. 959 / 22.2 = 43.2
Average speed on that ride was 22.2 mph.

vinfix

The people that run think bicycling is too hard and we're crazy. Except for the ones who do both, they are really crazy.

I've tried to like jogging. I'll do it in the winter when the roads are bad and the days are short and nights are dark. And I'll run when I don't have the time to ride. I've worked up to doing 5ks. But I never got into it enough that my conditioning made it "easy". That is, like the OP said, it's a much harder effort, relatively.

mrv 

muscle efficiency.
Cycling specific does not translate to running efficient muscles. And visa versa. And same goes for adding swimming.
I used to run and cycle and enjoy both. I quit running because terrible bio-mechanics were leading to injuries. When I tried swimming, I was unable to get half a lap without a 5 min break. Just not efficient.

Cycling is the best. There is no way I can comfortably take a coffee break in the middle of a run. Tried it once and just didn't work. Cycling though!! I can work in many donut & coffee breaks!

deacon mark

I do both and have done both for a long time. I started as a runner who did a bike ride every so often. Then as I go older past 45 I started riding more because I enjoy it and it is different. I burn about 110 calories a mile running and speed is not so important because you are moving the same weight the same distance. The faster you go you just cover more territory in same time.
On a bike is it hard to make anything quite the same. Generally moving at 16-17 MPH on flat surface maybe burning up 25-30 calories a mile. Now start climbing or bring the speed up then the calories go up.

If I ride really hard I feel about 4 miles cycling is 1 mile running, but it is still different. If I do easy on the bike then more like 5 miles. If I run hard for an hour about 6 miles for me these days that would take more out of me than cycling for 2 hours. Running tires me out different that cycling and I think because it does not take the time that cycling does. I rode 54 miles today in 3 hours. That makes be tired but not the same way a hard 5-6 mile run does. For some reason I can recover from running quicker unless I am only riding for 20 or so miles.
bei
My real issue is that over the years my training pace in running has really gone down fast. If I do both running and cycling I cannot run faster than 10-11 minute miles. That seems pretty poor but at one time I was a 39 minute 10k runner. I fully believe that cycling a lot will destroy your running form and speed but running has injury issues and I use cycling to keep active. It is pretty easy to get injured running and cycling generally allows more room for injury, except for of course crashing and serious stuff that can happen on a bike.

I look at this way. In my best days I could run 10 miles training in 75-80 minutes and there is nothing quite like a good hard run when you feel good and fresh. However the thrill of descending at maybe 40 mph will never happen running and climb cat 1-2 climb and you will be gasping for air unlike running.

phtomita

I don't run much myself.
There is the bone density issue that affect cyclists - if you sole ride bikes as exercise.

Once I watched a NHK tv show talking about various parts of the body and the bones were the theme at that time.
They talked about some promising american cyclist (don't remember his name) that fell on some neighborhood errand on rainy/wet evening and broke some hip bone.
Tests revealed his bones were very hollow with super low density.
Studies seem pointing/have found that to get stronger and bones with density it requires putting them under impact, like when running. So, it looks like the body learns that your bones don't need density if you solo ride bikes as your exercise.
Also, the tv show talked that bones are also used as kind of network in our body and with low density that feature get lost/reduced and can accelerate all the elderly deceases.

Machka 

I started running for the first time in years and years last December, and then ran a 10K event in mid-January.

I actually enjoyed it! I get more of a "high" when I run than when I cycle.

But then I switched my focus back to cycling again.


When Rowan had his accident, I started running again because I found it good stress relief, and signed up for a 5K. Unfortunately the 5K was postponed until the end of September because a massive storm washed away a lot of the route.

Right about that time, I started experiencing more arthritis pain than usual in my feet, so I'm seeing a podiatrist now, and hoping to be able to start running again in time to do the 5K at the end of September.

ButchA

Lots of excellent points from everyone... Thank you!

Confession: The main reason I still run and mainly bicycle ride, ever since I retired from the Coast Guard back in the late 90's is due to the fact that my dad passed away in 2002 from congestive heart failure. Now, now, now, I don't want to get all weird or say anything extremely improper, but, you'd have to understand my dad... WWII Army/Air Corps vet, big barrel chested man, 6'3" 250 lbs, senior electronics engineer from IBM. He retired from IBM in 1977 after 30 years. Anyway, when he retired, that was it. He just....retired.... He didn't go out and play golf, didn't bicycle ride, didn't run or jog, didn't do anything. Absolutely zero physical activity for the next 20+ years. He just stayed in his workshop piddling around with electronic circuit boards, capacitors, transistors, etc... and fixed TV's and radios for people. When he died, I was absolutely devastated as you can imagine... I am the "baby" of the family at 57 and the only boy with 4 older sisters. He was all I had to look up to as a kid aside from two older vietnam vet brothers-in-law.

Anyway, I don't want to end up like my dad, so I do whatever I have to do in order to keep my cardio-vascular system in shape. I run, bicycle ride, play golf, swim, etc... and am involved in countless other activities. But getting back on point, I truly enjoy riding my classic '85 Fuji road bike a lot more than running 4 or 5 miles!

Stormsedge

Greenhil

Patriot1

OldTryGuy

I can't address jogging or running calories burned because bone on bone knees from 68 years with bowed legs only allow walking. My speed walking at a 10mpm pace does indeed create a heart rate equivalent to aggressive bicycle riding and as such the calorie expenditure is similar according to my Garmin920XT. Stride cadence varies from 180spm to 220spm and with arm motion it is a great workout.

BTW, Walt Disney World's Marathon Weekend registration opens today for Pass Holders so I'm in for my 8th marathon, such a deal at $188.00.

jon c. 

I haven't run in 40 years. When I pass joggers on my bike, it really doesn't look like fun.

Patriot1

wphamilton

Except that the hard-core runners are always out there, even in weather that I might see one other cyclist, and even I wouldn't be out if it weren't a commute. So there must be something they enjoy about it.

I don't think it's much "fun" to run 4-8 miles, but over time it feels like it's rebuilding different, specific parts, and that feels pretty good.

John E

I do a fair amout of bicycling and fast walking, plus weightlifting for the upper body and trunk. I used to jog up to 5-6 mi./day as part of my commute, but both of my Achilles tendons protest these days, so I stick with fast walking, instead.

I have heard too many horror stories of 50-year-old bicyclists with 20-year-old cardiosystems and 80-year-old skeletons.

downhillmaster

AlmostTrick

I like to run occasionally just to maintain the ability. The added benefits (increased bone density, working different muscles, etc.) is important for the body, I figure.

Plus, you never know when you may need to literally “run for your life”. If you never run, you won’t be able to if/when the time comes.

I run a local 5k once a year. Usually start "training" 2 weeks before hand. A mile and a half run 3-4 times a week, then go all out on race day. I’m still able to maintain an 8 or so minute mile, and have even placed a few times.

Classtime 

phtomita

Great encouragements all - since I have my sore buttock from biking a long range the past weekend, I will do my baby steps on running (more like walking ) and see how is my cardio.