So I started running this morning. As much as I love cycling, and believe me, I do, I want to expand my horizons and get fit in other ways as well. I’m not looking to be a master at anything, preferring the jack-of-all-trades mentality.
I’ve already started adding some weight training back into the mix. So far so good on that. Starting back into it slow, though, so as not to burn out again.
This morning, on the advice of a friend, I ran for 12 minutes just to see how it went. I’ve only been jogging one other time, truth be told. It was to impress a girl in college. Cute girl named Maya. I ran far harder and longer than I should have, and ended up so sore I had to crawl up the stairs. She ended up pregnant within months with some other guy, and I haven’t run since.
After this morning’s brief revisiting, I can tell you, it ain’t cycling.
For 1.3 miles (according to Google – no running computer… yet), I felt awkward, jolting and like a fish out of water. My lungs and heart felt fine, if a little taxed, but I felt like I was hammering the pavement with my feet. I wasn’t so much as gliding along, as I was careening along like a drunken baboon. My quads felt it first. Then my calves. I’m sore now as I write this, and can feel it in every step in ways I’ve never felt with cycling. It’s not exactly painful, but it’s clear I worked muscles I’ve not worked in some time, or at least harder than I’ve worked them in some time.
I count that as a definite good thing.
What I do like, and what will keep me going, is that in 12 short minutes, I felt I’d gotten quite a workout. I’m definitely going to try to keep it up. If I’m still gung-ho after a week, I’ll head to a running shop and get some decent shoes.
You don’t have to feel like a traitor… I think I’d like running too, but I don’t think my knees could take it. I do, however, like to jump rope. I burn the same number of calories per minute of jumping rope as I do riding 12 – 13.9 MPH. I take the rope with me on trips so I can jump in the room and not go stir crazy.
The speed at which you exhaust yourself is the main reason I prefer running to other forms of aerobic exercise.
I suppose crossing over to the dark side isn’t exactly traitorous…. but my goodness, that can’t be fun.
No, I’m not a traitor. I will still cycle far more, and fully expect to continue with cycling as my primary recreational exercise activity, but I can also see continuing the running. Getting the same workout is much faster, and if my muscle soreness is any indication, it’s really working out areas I’ve been neglecting.