I think you will find that your aerobic engine will carry over and give you a boost. However, I also think that you will find that the weight bearing aspect of running will take some time to get adjusted to.

Haha! that’s awesome 👏 😂

Certainly the aerobic component will crossover to running.

IMO the main drawback that a cyclist has is body position. Cyclists stay in a position where the hip flexors remain shortened.

Running involves a much more erect body position, which is hard to maintain if the hip flexors are tight.

Pretty much both of theses replies.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I had a similar journey coming from a good running background in my twenties and then switching over and doing bike racing for many years as a category two. I have found now later in life when I try to return to running that the tight hips and lack of mobility lead me to get injured.

you may not be in the same boat and perhaps you've taken better care of yourself over the years. I think for someone like you for every hour you spend running you should probably dedicate a similar amount of time to strength and mobility work that directly supports running. maybe establish a relationship with a physical therapist and find some good resources online for exercises to do before and after you run.

I would personally be disinclined from running a marathon right away. It's sort of like when you have an older car and you try to tow a trailer over a mountain, all the little stuff quickly blows up when you are doing 20 mile runs. Maybe just focus on running fast for shorter distances until you stop improving. Plus marathons suck and the training sucks more.

Not as well as running translates to cycling, especially if you are a large cyclist. There is a big difference with the bike supporting your weight versus landing and then pushing off. The range of motion while running is also greater.

Take it easy when starting and would recommend running on soft surfaces.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

for how long have you ran?

If you just started running recently, one year may or may not be enough for a transition.

it took a friend of mine 1.5-two years to get to the stage to be able to absorb the pounding from fifty+ miles of running per week, and he had "priors" as a very good XC runner in high school. He did just ran a blazing time (right before everything shut down), but it took some long time commitment to running only to do this. Would you be okay with dropping most of cycling in order to accomplish this?

There's also the fact that you might not be bio-mechanically efficient, which means your superior aerobic capabilities will not fully translate

But by the virtue of your aerobic capabilities, you have a much better chance than most to do well in a marathon, but it's no guarantee that things will fully translate

eta: I contemplated this (started as a runner, became a road racer) a few years ago, when I was no longer interested in mass start racing. I got IT-band flare ups all the damn time (even when running slow) and I just pulled the plug. There's also the fact that I needed to make significant changes to my diet, as there's no way I could burn as many calories while doing 10-min miles for 2-3 miles. It got demoralizing, and I just went back to cycling. The diet thing is definitely something to watch out for, as you are coming from a place where burning 1000 kCal/day is nothing, whereas you'd be lucky to burn a third of that per day when you begin running

Hello,

I’ve just started running last week. I’ve run 3x times per week @ 7:15 per mile around 12 miles a week. I’ve definitely notice a little pain in my hip flexors but within a day it’s gone. After seeing the response from you guys that’s probably to fast for a beginner. I think my aerobic engine could lead to an injury because at that pace feels really easy. I’m 5ft 8in140lbs

I really appreciate all the advice whether good or bad :)

Try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiLsE4PCpOU

Tight hip flexors would prevent you from getting your torso erect. If you do this stretch about 3x/week, you will see dramatic changes.

I think the good news is that by all indications, you appear to have the bio-mechanical efficiency needed to make the transition with at least relative ease, no doubt helped by your low mass.
By no means do you need to do 10-min mile pace, but something a bit slower than 7:15 is probably a good start (how slow, I'll defer to the running experts here). Lots of auxiliary muscles to be built up during the process. So exercises suggested above and dynamic stretches go a long way. If you haven't done so, probably good to get a gait analysis performed as well. When I ran seriously, I didn't know i was a pronator until 6 months in.

Best of wishes, and I hope you achieve your goal

As an aside, if you want to know what lack of bio-mechanical efficiency might look like, my own foray may be illustrative. I was probably at 4.7 w/kg at 174cm and 68 kg, which turned into ~4.2 w/kg at 70 kg when i started walk/jog a few weeks after peak cycling condition. The efforts at 9:30-mile or slower felt easy-ish, but they were still at my high-end Z3 cycling HR (i understand that running HR should be higher than cycling HR). Anything slower, I felt my form would start deviate too much from running form. Once or twice I ran faster than ~8:30-min pace, and it would literally bring on the hurt for two days to my left leg. In other words, I lacked the natural bio-mechanical efficiency and the discipline needed to transition smoothly.

Man that hurts! Definitely targets the hip flexors.

Thank you 🙏

Agree.

I transitioned to running full time from a cycling background similar to yours. Give your musculoskeletal system adequate time to catch up to your aerobic capacity. This means months and years to fully adapt. For instance, if you want to compete, you might choose shorter events for a while (5K, 10K) and gauge how your body responds to regular disciplined run training. If this goes well, with relatively few injuries, you might consider attempting a half marathon. Remember, being competitive at the longer race distances require much higher training volume, and this can take a toll on the body. So, IMO, ease into running and distances, and monitor yourself closely before committing to a goal (marathon) before you're really ready. Doing so will prepare both mind and body for the challenges the marathon presents.

I would add a standing desk to this guy's equation if he does a non weight bearing sitting job. If you add 4-6 hrs per day of standing and also add in 30 min of walking per day, it will help big time for the weight bearing elements of the body to catch up.

 

As a former runner turned cyclist, who still runs a little bit....


The aerobic fitness somewhat translates. But the adjusting to the impact/pounding and bio-mechanical efficiency take time to develop.

Agreed. I run to optimize aerobic fitness when schedule doesn't allow a cycling stimulus that I want. I don't expect my bike fitness to mean I can run 7min miles or better whatsoever.

My bike engine when running says I could break 20min for a 5k (yeah, yeah, hit it). My legs say "aww hell no".

Do you do any leg exercises/weight training? Things like lunges, squats, one legged exercises can be really helpful for building running muscles without actually running.

Thank you 🙏

Yes, I’m still in good shape but definitely starting to feel my age. I’m 13 points away from my Cat1 upgrade. I was very confident about accumulating the needed upgrade points but cancellation on the racing schedule:(

This is what led me to try something different. It’s definitely going to be a challenge, I am not use to sucking at something. I’m going to continue to follow all of the great advice I’ve been giving so far on ST. You guys rock

What gets me is the inside of my knees with too much road miles too quickly. Some fibers feel as if they tear slightly. Maybe it is typical runners knee.

The new carbon plated Nike shoes have helped minimize the heavy impact for me though. I’m not injured from running right now or anything which is nice.

But yeah my cardio engine and quads can power on when I run and really it’s just the little fibers and tendons that are my Achilles heel if I over train.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Have you seen the “Barry P” running program? Do a search on the forum and enjoy hours and hours of reading. Basically you need to start with very short and easy runs. Your goal is to get to high frequency (get up to 6 days per week) with keeping your runs short and slowly build your long run.

The key for you will be to have the discipline to run easy and not push your runs too long before your body is ready. This is way harder to do than you think having a good cycling engine to draw from. If you run too hard or too long (or both!) you will get injured - pretty much guaranteed. Getting to the point where you can do high mileage and intensity will take a long time and should be respected.

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After a number failed attempts to transition to running from cycling (similar weight and height to you, and probably fairly similar level) I was repeatedly getting injured even though I felt like I was running easy. Unfortunately, because of the decent engine through cycling you are able to supply far more oxygen to the muscles than your connective tissue can bare! Based on my experience 7:15 min/mile is way too fast and 12 miles a week is way too far to be starting from.

When I finally made the successful transition it was through a long, slow, boring build. I started with 3 x 2 mile runs a week and slowly built. Very slowly. All my running was at around 8-8:30 min/mile pace. My weekly build went something as follows:

3x2mile
1x3, 2x2 mile repeated following week
2x3 1x2 mile repeated following week
3x3 mile
1x4, 2x3 mile
2x4, 1x3 mile
4x3 mile

I now continued to run 4 times per week, adding 1 mile per week over the next 8 weeks until I was running 4x5 miles, aiming to only run on successive days once per week

I then went to adding 2 miles each week and spreading my runs over 6 days, as per the Barry P plan mentioned elsewhere on this thread. Read it. All the way through. And then read it again. It wasn't until I had been at 30 miles per week for a number of weeks that I added any speedwork. We're probably a good 6 months into the running by now.

I needed to be rigorous with my stretching after every run, and constant rolling of calves, but sticking to that slow schedule finally allowed me to become a fairly competitive triathlon runner. In my run focus (probably 2 years in) I ended up with 16 straight weeks of 50 mile weeks without injury.

Hope that gives you some ideas!

I’m definitely going to slow it down to 8:30-9:00 pace for now and back off on weekly mileage. Also I’m going to keep cycling for now because will go crazy only working out for two hours a week. I’ll continue to build slowly and following your routine. My main goal is to avoid injury.

I appreciate your advice everyone’s been so helpful. Thank you 🙏