Training & Nutrition - How long do I have to bike

To get myself fit faster I took up running this spring. Going from fairly out of shape I got myself up to about 2 1/2 miles of what I'll call jog/run. Definately getting good arobic benefit from the the program as I've gradually increased the distance and the intensity of the workout. Here's the problem. I've developed a pain in my lower left leg above the anke. Near as I can tell it's a shin splint. Hurts when I run. So now I've stopped running and it's on to the bike for the morning workout. Question: How long do I have to bike at a moderate pace to equal two miles of jog/run combo?

It's typically a 4 to 1 ratio on flat terrain. However, while climbing or mountain biking, it could be as high as a 1:1 ratio.

It's possible to run on shin splints, you just have to stretch after a warmup and the workout then ice, ice, ice.

The 4 to 1 is a calorie's ratio. The amount of calories burnt in 4 units of distance cycled is approximately the same as the amount of calories burnt in 1 unit of distance ran. I don't think there's such thing about 1:1, okay probably you are right, but it could really vary a lot.

Running on shin splints is not such a good idea until you've ruled out a stress fracture. Shin splints are a catch-all term that could mean one of several things: stress fractures, tendinitis, etc. My wife ran through shin splints and then spent a few months in a cast due to the severity of the stress fracture. I ran through a bad case of shin splints once, and then developed tendinitis so bad that I could feel the tendon grind when I flexed my ankle.

Best to get on the bike and take a rest from running until you know what is going on. 8-10 miles on the bike should give you a good workout similar to the 2.5 mile run. If the shin splints are not serious, they should go away on their own after a week or two of not running.

Best of luck!

It depends. Bicycling is different then running. Running tends to be more intense and you can get a good workout in a pretty short distance. Running, as you know, often beats up the body so there is an upper limit to what can be done.

Cycling is kind of weird. You see often I don't even feel "warmed up" until I have done oh about 10 miles. Now calorically, that is already a good running workout and I haven't even started to "bear down".

The thing is that cyclists can routinely go out and put in far more hours on a bike then runners could ever really do running. It is a result of cycling being a very low impact activity. On the minus side, you can loaf on a bike pretty easily. That is ride at such an easy pace that you are not really doing your conditioning much good (you are burning some calories). It is much harder to loaf whilst running (it seems much more noticeable).

So the sports are pretty different. Each has its strong points.