Originally posted by msparks
I have been riding my road bike for the last 2-3 months,
I have been trying to decide of you get as much or more out of riding than running.
After a 1 hr fast pace(17mph+) ride I don't feel as tire or worn out as I do if I would have ran for say 30-40 minutes(about 4 miles.)
A few things that I like about biking is that you don't seem to be as winded, so you can go harder and longer. Also I don't get all of that saliva in my mouth when riding. I get to drink when riding. I feel cooler when I'm moving. My knees don't hurt. My legs feel stronger(more musclular(sp?).
I know when I come to a stop light(I hate that) that I notice I am breathing pretty hard, and my heart rate is reletivlely higher. But I just don't feel as bad as I do when I'm running.
So my question is: Do I get more out of Running than Biking?
What are your thoughts?
Well in your case, you are getting more out of cycling. You say your heart rate is higher cycling then when you run, so you are getting a more intense workout cycling. Also you are getting a longer workout cycling (1 hour vs 40 min). And you are not having the pain that you get from running.
In my experience, I can get the same intensity running or cycling - that is I can go over my anaerobic threshold either way. I find it easier to push the envelop running then cycling. But I can do a fast cruise (just off of anaerobic) for about 1 hour cycling without any difficulty and I because of the impact from running, my running times are much more limited than cycling (from the high impact that running has).