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| I find myself wearing the wrong pair of shoes quite often these days. |
Before reading any further, caveat emptor applies here! I am very much a beginner runner; these are first impressions and lessons learned as I start running. I have a feeling that if I continue to find myself jogging along wintery trails, much of what I write here will change with time. And, as mainly a cyclist, most of what I write will be comparative to cycling, which is after all, what I would rather be doing anyways!
First of all, just as a properly fitted bicycle will be key to your enjoyment as a cyclist, finding the appropriate pair of running shoes will be equally as crucial. I might go even further and say that the difference I felt with running shoes was much more apparent than any change of equipment I've felt as a cyclist. If you plan on becoming a runner in order to be active, going to a local running store and having them examine your stance, foot size, running style and then finding the right shoe for you is simply a must. Now, with that out of the way, my impressions of running as it compares to cycling can be broken down into positives and negatives!
THE GOOD - Running is simpler than cycling. You need less equipment, less setting up and less planning. Running is quicker than cycling. If you have only one hour to be active, you can get much larger fitness gains running than you can on a bike. Running is not as risky as cycling. You are far less exposed to vehicular traffic and tripping at 10km/hr is potentially much less harmful than falling off the bike at 30km/hr. Lastly, you can run on almost any road condition. Cycling on active heavy snowfall, icy or slushy roads can prove to be too much for even the craziest cyclists.
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| You can explore your neighborhood during runs, but the range is quite limited. |
THE BAD: Running is riskier than cycling. The high impact nature of running, coupled with the endurance factor, brings certain health risks to running, specially to joints. Running is harder than cycling. As cycling can start you at a slower, gentler pace, running quickly becomes strenuous and even a run around the block may be difficult for beginners or people just looking to adopt an active lifestyle. Running is quicker than cycling. You don't get nearly the amount of stress release on a long run as you do on a long ride; also, with the limited range of distance available to most runners, there will be many less places to explore. You might have noticed that I considered many of these negatives based on the inability of running to get people hooked into it as an active lifestyle. As I wrote earlier here on VeloDiet, if you wanna stay active, you gotta have fun!
But for me to really understand how cycling and running compare as an activity, I wanted to tap into the psychological aspects a bit deeper and see if I could substitute the high I got from cycling as a runner. To do that, I came up with two tests designed to mimic as a runner, two of the most psychologically rewarding cycling activities: the Hill Sprint and the 100 Mile Century epic ride.
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| DATA: Strava File for the Agrykola Hill Sprint interval. |
The Agrykola Hill Sprint: A hill sprint consists of finding a long steep local hill and trying to get to the top as fast as possible, and in the process kicking all the demons and the stress out of your system - no excuses, no self-pity: just you and the hill. So I headed to Agrykola hill, about half a kilometer long and averaging about 6-7% (don't believe the elevation profile on the graph above, there is no tapering off near the top!) I started with a proper warm up and a generally slow paced run to the bottom of the hill. As I attacked the hill, I adopted the cycling technique of starting at a slightly lower pace than my maximum and potentially raising the speed for the second half of the effort, reaching the top giving it all I had. Tapping into the pain cave and staying there was very similar to cycling, but the red-line comes quicker and much more abruptly than I expected. The other interesting factor is that the effects of such an effort lingered much longer and extended beyond just my legs' muscles and joints. My shoulders started to bother me and it was very hard to establish a proper breathing rhythm for the remainder of the run. My time and result were surprisingly strong, netting the 3rd best time out of 226 runners compiled through Strava, and I definitely felt the high from conquering the hill. But the impact on the body, in particular to the cardiovascular and breathing, seems to limit an all-out "give it everything you have" soul-cleansing effort. I don't think I would ever attack a hill with complete disregard to my physical limits while running again - and yes, that's something that I do quite often on a bike.
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| DATA: Strava File for my first unsanctioned Half Marathon. |
The Half-Marathon Epic Run: I have been running 10kms consistently this year, so I chose the 21.1km distance as it would be pushing my current limits as a beginner runner. It would hurt me much more than a 162km century ride would, but I really wanted to tap into the "epic" feel of a long effort! I must admit that for starters, I have much to learn about longer distance running and have the wrong tools at my disposal. Specifically, I did not have a way to hydrate or drink water during my run and didn't have any tool to keep track of my pace. All my data would be gathered by the I-phone in my pocket. Most of the run would take place doing long laps at a large park uninterrupted, and I gave myself a reachable goal of completing that distance in under two hours. I prepared well, with proper nutrition, stretches and warm-up prior to starting. I set off on my run and got my cardio to a comfortable pace, so I could concentrate on my running form - my main concern was how my joints, tendons and muscles would handle the distance. The beginning did not feel good and I felt like my body was having a bit of an off-day, but I stuck with my original strategy, realizing that my 2-hour goal might be tough to reach. But at just about the 8km mark, I felt better and found my rhythm. As I went further past my usual 10km runs however, my mind started having to do a lot of work to stay focused on keeping a good form, to handle the psychological effects of some joint discomfort, and maintaining a good pace. When I returned home, I had run 1.3kms further than the half marathon and still had more left in the tank in terms of energy and muscles, but not much distance left on the joints. I felt short of my goal, finishing the 21.1km distance at 2:02:49, but running 22.4km (14miles) made me feel I completed something epic. Afterwards, I did feel the positive effects of the stress release, but I can't say that it was a mentally relaxing time. Much to the contrary, the experience was mentally very difficult. Twenty four hours later, I can say that the effects of that effort also linger longer than a similar long ride, and yet again, specifically the joints - my knees feel like they need some WD-40! Looking back, I don't think that I would be doing many more long distance runs, and if I have two hours available to me, I will probably be riding the bike!
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| Cold, Icey and Slushy - Running can still make it a beautiful day! |
I like that - when you look at it this way, it makes sense that with super human feats, you have super human feelings.
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