I just recently found this out. Despite being a fairly good cross country runner and sub five minute miler, I just discovered that running is evil. My epiphany came last night while eating dinner. Just about an hour or so before this realization, I had stepped off the treadmill at the YMCA feeling mostly okay after a fairly hard 30 minutes of running. I went almost 4 miles, didn’t push too hard, and did a bit of incline change. I was there anyway lifing some weights, attempting to forge my soft and weak uppper body into something more fit for long distance biking. After I got done lifting I had another 35 mins to kill before my girlfriend was done with kickboxing, so I figured I should get in some cardio. Sadly, the treadmill seemed like a good idea. I used to run a lot, I figured I could handle a few miles. So I ran. Never pushed too hard, but definitely push it a little. I set the pace for 7:30 miles and took off. The whole thing went fine, until an hour later when, despite stretching, my legs rebelled and started to hurt. It seems there’s all kinds of minor muscles used in running that go dormant if you don’t run. It seems riding a bike doesn’t help at all.
Running is evil, but I should do more of it. It’s a quicker workout, great crosstraining activity, and develops all the tiny extra muscles that help, but aren’t necessary for biking. Reportedly it gives a better workout for the heart, because you can get a higher heart rate and sustain a higher HR by running than you can by cycling. Plus if I ever want to tackle a duathalon, I should remember how to run.
