Can we talk about running?

I don't buy this at all. He's comparing apples and pears. If you are a leisure competitor then whatever you are doing will be at a lower intensity, if you are a more serious semi-pro etc., then it will be higher. All other things being equal, nine hours of physical exercise is tougher than three.

Some thoughts on running and calories burned...

I ran to work and home again yesterday, I tried to run at a constant heart rate = 140 bpm.

I ran to work in a 10mph wind and slightly up hill at a pace of 8.04 min/mile. 1 hr 28 min.
I ran home slightly down with a tail wind at 140 bpm again, at a pace of 7:31 min/mile so 1 hr 23 mins.

Interestingly my watch (Garmin 405 cx) reckons I burned 1340 calories ( 15.2 cal/min) going to work and 1323 coming home (15.9 cal/min), probably because my HR was fixed and reflects the constant load over the same distance but for a shorter duration.

To keep my HR up I have to run quicker down hill as opposed to slower up hill.

So although the times were different the energy expenditure was almost exactly the same, if you believe the watch.

Now 1g of carbs = 4 calories. Max calory uptake is 1g/min if a single carb eg glucose, but if two carbs eg glucose+fructose you can do 1.2g min.

Now if I can only get in 4 to 6 cal/min and I am putting out 15-16 I have a deficit of about 10 cal/min. So if my body goes to it's fat stores they produce about 37 cal/g. The body only has around 3000 cal of glycogen but a fat store of 75000 cal of fat.

So to finalise the results of this analysis - my legs hurt.

lolz

sorry but found that sentence funny!

15km today at a steady pace with a fast final km. Cold but sunny and no wind. And no pain. Heaven!

Excellent news! I got back to running last week and no pain, and using roller every day now. It's a God sent. It's so nice to feel 'fit' to take part in activities

*Like*

currently running 60 to 70 miles per week, cycling 100 to 150 and gym 2 to 3 times per week, determined to get top 50 in edale skyline fell race end of march 21 mile, then hopefully gold standard in etupe du dales 110 mile end of may, never mixed the training so much as I have this year but its paying off already with two second places under my belt since Xmas, hopefully I can keep it going until end of may then have a week off resting before my next challenge which I have not decided on yet ? would love to have a go at a duathlon some time.

That's very impressive; in the dim & distant past, I frequently did 70 (ish) miles a week - running. That was without any gym work or cycling, though. I'd have found it very hard to maintain your volume of training, as I'd suffer from injuries more frequently. If I had tried that sort of training, I think that there would have been more 'junk' miles; I'd have found it hard to keep up with the speedwork and quality training.

If you have a partner, they must be very understanding - please tell me your most feasible excuses Presumably, you don't have kids ?

If you could find time for some swimming training , you could find yourself on the way to becoming a very good triathlete.

Good luck with it all !

I have been very lucky with injuries and illness over the last 25 year of training, usually just the odd sprained ankle from to much fell running. I am mainly a runner than a cyclist now but I started off as a cyclist doing 300 to 400 mile per week, I think that is what got me into the big miles, anything else and I don't feel like I have done anything.
Its quite easy if planned well to get all of the aspects of training in during the week and still recover enough to train hard, hill work, speed session long run etc.
I work mostly afternoon shifts and always have so when the wife and kids have gone to work and school it gives me 4 hours to train before I go to work, they don't even know I have been training sometimes which keeps everyone happy. A typical weekend would be up at 6, run 2 hours, then on to bike or gym for 1 and half hours, gob done by 10.30, easy.
It helps that I recover quickly, I have always put this down to a very healthy diet and protein drinks plus mega doses of multi vitamins and minerals.
Most of my running and cycling friends cover a lot more mileage than I do, 2 of them doing 120 per week running plus gym, I tried upping the mileage some years ago but felt bad all season.
Any way off now for a 15 mile run, 10 steady last 5 with intervals then 42 hill on bike but slow spinning, off work all week so making the most of it.

cheers.

An article showing running in shoes makes you faster than barefoot, but adding weight slows you down - in this blog.
http://sweatscience.runnersworld.com/

Conclusion : run in lightweight shoes.

Paper here :
http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/A..._of_Running_Barefoot_versus_Shod__.98716.aspx

Don't run in the lightest shoes you can find, I learnt the hard way. two years ago I was second in my local 5 mile road league with 2 races to go so I bought some ultra light road flats, did a couple of fast training runs in them and then did the race, my feet and knees where so sore I lost over a minuet and dropped to 10th place in the league, I continued to train in the ultra light flats until the next race where I eventually had to drop out after a few mile due to the pain in ankles, after that I went back to my medium weight trainers and never had a problem since.

Got my first 10k race of the year next weekend, and then my first (and probably only) half marathon of the year at the end of April. My training hasn't been the best (for family reasons)... we'll see.

Well, that wasn't so bad... this particular 10k is never one that attracts all the serious local runners, but there was a group of four of us who started with some purpose and stayed a long way ahead for rest of the race. I ended up 3rd in 39.37, and as my target had been a sub-40 minute 10k, I was very pleased. It was also good from a tactical point of view. The group of four soon split into two pairs, so I ended up having a duel with this much younger guy. With about 2.5km to go he seemed to want to try to overtake me, so I just upped the pace on an uphill section and then kept it up for the next 1.5km, knowing that I probably didn't have the finish he would have. This worked and he never got back up with me again...

Upping my distances now in advance of my first half-marathon at the end of the month. Did 23km, mostly cross-country, on Sunday. Felt very nice indeed. I was keeping it easy but my legs didn't even ache and I could even manage a sprint at the end.

I'm pleased that you keep posting about your running experiences . . . but they make me feel so guilty - and remind me that I also need to get out and train.

I see that you did a sub 40 10K recently, I wonder if I'll ever get under 40 minutes again ?

I know I won't. I did the Salford 10km on Good Friday with a PB of 56:24!

I can run a very hilly 8k in about 40 mins. Maybe a 40 min flat 10k is possible? Would be fantastic.

Well, I'm not sure I'll ever do it again either!

Just did a parkrun yesterday in Durham - really good atmosphere
5k in under 26 minutes.
Might do it every Sat morning as it left me with enough energy for a slow 7 miles today (trying to master plodding at 10 minute mile pace for a marathon (not yet entered))
Has anyone tried them?

Love Parkrun, did a few last year and started back in January this year