Has cycling tempted you to start running?
 

Since I started cycling a year ago I have lost 30 lbs and achieved a higher level of fitness. With this new-found fitness level I have begun to try to jog/run. I find that the running is beating myself up. My knees hurt, my back hurts etc... I've got to learn to just stay on the bike! Anyone else ever go through this? I'll be 55 years old this summer, and I am really feeling it.

Oh god, no. Never. Not at all.

Unless it involves chasing a ball.

But running. That's just wrong.

No.

No way

cycling, no... but being fit and wanting to maintain that, yes. I dont like doing a training ride in the dark, so most of the year I run on Tues, Wed, and Thurs before work.

Ha! Looks like I've touched a nerve here. I agree with you guys! Why would anyone in their right mind want to run when you can ride? But, I guess I'm not always in my right mind, or sometimes I don't have time to go for 20 miler on the bike but jogging a 5K is within time restraints. But, then I pay for it with the nagging pain that running brings on. Still I love it when I'm loose and running.

How do you keep the pain away?

I started running a little over a year ago, but it was more out of curiousity to see if I could do it than anything else. Cycling has had nothing to do with it. In fact, the amount of time I prefer to be out riding is interfering with time for running, so you could say I started running in spite of cycling.

I'm really interested in any training techniques, nutrition, stretching etc... of people in the 50+ cycling group who do both; cycle and run. My goal is to keep jogging into my 60's and then if possible even my 70's.

Is this a trick question. No.

Yes, I know what you mean... I also started running because my weight loss rate has plateaued with cycling. Running combined with cycling renders a more efficient way of increasing my metabolism to achieve the weight loss. I've lost 30 through cycling... That came off easy within the first few months. Iwant to lose 25 more but its being very stubborn. I feel like I can reach my goal If I can keep running and cycling but avoid the injurys that running brings on.

Why not 80s 90s or 100s?

I don't really have any training tips other than to say I run at a sustainable pace (for me, that's only about a 10:45 mile) for 2.5-3 miles at a time, with quarter-mile walks before and after, and I do it at least once a week, twice if I can squeeze it in. The only other running I do is about 3 or 4 5Ks a year. How I got to this advanced state of hyper-fitness ( ;) ) was the venerable Couch-to-5k program. Someday I may feel compelled to up the mileage, but it's not a priority at this point in my life, especially when you look at running injury statistics.

No trick... Just trying to bring my level of fitness up, and at my age, its difficult to stay injury free in order to accomplish it. I may be wrong, but I feel cross- training would be very beneficial to my cycling and overall fitness.

Trying to be realistic, but if you have any tips on how one can accomplish this...

10:45 is a pretty good pace! I've been doing the fartlek training method alternating periods of jogging and walking. Usually I count my strides... I'll jog for 200 strides than walk for a hundred strides, usually covering a distance of 3 miles approx. Problem is inevitably the endorphins kick in and I find myself running at a 10min/mile pace and thats when the joint pain comes in.

There is a young and very fit trainer at my gym who only very rarely rides a bike. I can drop her on a bike ride. If we went running together I would be done in 100 yards. I try to tell her running is bad for your knees, but instead, she just went and got her knee operated on and plans to keep on running. I commented, "Let's hope the technology of knee repair keeps getting better as you get older and persist in running and messing up your knees." She said that's what she is planning on.

Don in Austin

Yes, I think it starts with a mindset. If you visualize failure, it most certainly will happen. We cannot control age related degeneration but we can certainly visualize ourselves as healthy and capable for a long time. Realism, has nothing to do with that equation.

Running is not going to improve your cycling per se or vice versa. Energy is a zero sum game to an extent. Running may be good for bone health and is certainly easier to do when traveling. And there is evidence showing that modern running shoes with max cushion are a source of injury due to promoting a heal strike with a locked knee versus a mid sole strike with a bent knee. I used to run but I like cycling a lot more. I have a pair of the new slip over shoes that look like feet that offer no padding. In those, you have to land mid sole and maintain a slightly bent knee.

So running much like cycling is about technique and training to prevent injury. And running for a long time in the future is about taking care of your body and strengthening those muscles that running weakens and stretching those that running shortens.

I love running and cycling. teachme, running does utilize a totally (almost) different set of muscles and you will be sore in different places than when you cycle. One of the biggest causes for running discomfort is inappopriate footwear. If you haven't done so already, you should go to a running shoe store - not big box store, but a specialized runners store - and get fitted for your shoes much like you would be fitted for a bike. It will cost nothing. They will analyze your gait and ask you a lot of questions. Take a pair of shoes that you have used for some time along with you. They could be athletic shoes, but don't need to be. That will help them understand your gait and foot-strike even more.

You will be surprised what the correct shoes will do for your facility to run. Yes, inappropriate shoes do cause knee pain, back pain, foot pain of many varieties that just may go away with the correct shoes. Be prepared to spend a hundred bucks or more on the correct shoes. It will be worth every penny and may very well be the difference in whether you choose to run for the long term or not.

I find cross training to be beneficial to my cycling, and it also serves to keep me interested in staying fit overall. And during the worst of weather, I can always run on a treadmill as well as ride the trainer. BTW, running on a treadmill is far lower impact than running outside, and will result in a bit less soreness overall.

I encourage you to give it a shot.

No. Make that HELL NO! I ride because I don't want to run. Never did like running. Plus it's hard on the knees. I want them around for a long time.

Almost any well thought out cross-training program will kick you metabolism into gear again. Your last sentence hits the nail on the head as to why running isn't part of my cross training.

Yeah, I can see where the pounding of running is going to cost the knees.

I have been tempted since a 5K charity run a few years ago, but so far I've managed to resist the temptation. It wasn't that the run was enjoyable, but because I hadn't run at all for about 30 years my time was so bad that it's hard to just leave it at that.

I have a pair of the lites shoes and I agree that less is more when it comes to running shoes. Haven't tried the slip ons that look like feet, but I'm open to the idea. Some proclaim barefoot running as the best for joints.