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Run Cadence vs. Cycling Cadence
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This past weekend I did a Sprint Tri and faired pretty well thanks to a solid bike leg. On the run I struggled but I managed to maintain my position. However one thing I noticed during the race in comparison to others is that my cycling cadence was relatively quicker than others while my run cadence to me appears slower than the other competitors. I felt like I was almost plodding along. This season I am focusing on Tri's again but my strength is the bike as I have done a lot of road riding the last few seasons. My cycling cadence is comfortably around 95rpm while my run cadence is on avg. around 145spm. I am 6'2" and 178lbs so a bit on the larger side if that counts for anything.
Anyone have recommendations for how I can approach improving my run cadence and does my cycling cadence have any relation to my running cadence? ie. Should I slow down the cycling RPM's to speed up the legs on the run or do fast legs on the bike transfer to fast legs on the run.?
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Re: Run Cadence vs. Cycling Cadence [TriSolo] [ In reply to ]
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I don't think there is a correlation.

It's a good rule of thumb to run @ 180 rpm, i think that's just so you don't overstride and heel strike. As for cycling - i ride with a quick cadence. I'll always spin up hills at 100 - 105 rpm for instance. I think it's just what you settle on as what feels natural to you.
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Re: Run Cadence vs. Cycling Cadence [TriSolo] [ In reply to ]
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my friend, you're opening a can full of worms... this is what happened last time I've asked something similar.
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Re: Run Cadence vs. Cycling Cadence [lemos] [ In reply to ]
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lemos wrote:
my friend, you're opening a can full of worms... this is what happened last time I've asked something similar.

Surprised I missed that thread as I did a quick search before posting. Emphasis on quick.:)

I read somewhere previously (don't remember where exactly) that quick cadence primes the legs for a quick cadence on the run. Whether this is factual or not I have no idea. The opposite is what I noticed on the race course however. I saw a fair bit of slow bike legs and quick run legs as opposed to me. Considering that I struggled a bit with the run got me wondering if I needed to consider it.
Either way i would like to improve my run without feeling like an elephant.
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Re: Run Cadence vs. Cycling Cadence [TriSolo] [ In reply to ]
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TriSolo wrote:
This past weekend I did a Sprint Tri and faired pretty well thanks to a solid bike leg. On the run I struggled but I managed to maintain my position. However one thing I noticed during the race in comparison to others is that my cycling cadence was relatively quicker than others while my run cadence to me appears slower than the other competitors. I felt like I was almost plodding along. This season I am focusing on Tri's again but my strength is the bike as I have done a lot of road riding the last few seasons. My cycling cadence is comfortably around 95rpm while my run cadence is on avg. around 145spm. I am 6'2" and 178lbs so a bit on the larger side if that counts for anything.
Anyone have recommendations for how I can approach improving my run cadence and does my cycling cadence have any relation to my running cadence? ie. Should I slow down the cycling RPM's to speed up the legs on the run or do fast legs on the bike transfer to fast legs on the run.?

Without wading into the bike vs. run cadence thing...

I changed my run cadence by downloading a metronome app to my phone and setting it SLIGHTLY above my current cadence. The goal was to run that cadence a few minutes a few times during each run. Eventually my stride was adjusted.

I started this with a few treadmill runs because it was easier and I don't run with my phone to begin with.

I now have a 935 that buzzes at my assigned cadence. Every now and then in each run, I'll run that cadence.

My warning that is not a warning...I found it simultaneously hard and easy to change my run cadence. When I tried to do it without the metronome and just count steps while shortening my stride, it was a total failure. When I used the metronome, I tried for a few runs with seemingly no improvement and then all of the sudden it clicked.

My last piece of advice is to bite off small chunks. Don't try to go from 145 to 180. That's a 25% increase and will feel really different, especially if you've been running at 145 your whole life. Go from 145 to 150. That's still a 3% increase. When you get there, bump it up a bit more if that's your goal. It took me about 6 months to feel natural at and comfortably go from 165 to 170.
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Re: Run Cadence vs. Cycling Cadence [TriSolo] [ In reply to ]
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I can't remember where I read it, but I read that 180 cadence for running is a misnomer. In reality, the larger (taller) the athlete, the lower their cadence will be. 180 should be a rough guide, not an end all be all.
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Re: Run Cadence vs. Cycling Cadence [TriSolo] [ In reply to ]
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How fast are you running? If you are running 5 min mile pace with 145/min then yeah something is probably wrong, otherwise you shouldn’t care about run cadence. The body is amazing at finding it’s own natural cadence which is dependent on your speed. My cadence varies between ~160-190 depending on pace. Nothing inherently better about running with a high cadence.

Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon
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Re: Run Cadence vs. Cycling Cadence [oscaro] [ In reply to ]
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oscaro wrote:
How fast are you running? If you are running 5 min mile pace with 145/min then yeah something is probably wrong, otherwise you shouldn’t care about run cadence. The body is amazing at finding it’s own natural cadence which is dependent on your speed. My cadence varies between ~160-190 depending on pace. Nothing inherently better about running with a high cadence.

Yep, and same applies to the bike, so two less things for you to worry about! :)

-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
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Re: Run Cadence vs. Cycling Cadence [oscaro] [ In reply to ]
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oscaro wrote:
If you are running 5 min mile pace with 145/min then yeah something is probably wrong, otherwise you shouldn’t care about run cadence.

My pace is around 4:30 min/km which I guess is around 7+ min/mile
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