Run-Down Forums

[Angelo Z]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Armstrong

It says there that his VO2 max is 83.8 which is slightly higher than most runners. Now forget that for a moment because XC skier Bjorn came very close to reaching 100 and scientists believe that he has when he peaked. Back to his marathon running, his fastest time is a 2:46. He ran 2:59 when Guerrouj was setting the pace for him.

How can someone so fit like Lance with that endurance, not be able to run the marathon not even close to 2:10? He also said that the marathon was the hardest, physical thing he had ever done.

Cyclists weigh about 165 on average compared to 125 for the usual middle/distance runner.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Dan]

Specificity of training.

Running is an impact sport, cycling is non-impact. Having comparable aerobic ability does not toughen the joints and muscles to the pounding of regular foot strikes, nor does it train the postural and push-off muscles for the manner in which they are required to work.

Put Gebreselassie on a road bike and he'd probably look pretty bad next to the pro's, too.

VO2 max basically tells you your maximum ability, if training and everything is ideal. The number itself does not tell you how good of a runner any given athlete is.

Dan
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[Angelo Z]

I've also been thinking that there is a neuromuscular role too. You said that running toughens the joints and strengthens the muscles. If you just compare Lance's leg muscles with Haile's, they're both powerful and in most cases, the muscles of cyclists are much bigger than that of runners. There's just something that makes them different because even if you compare a powerlifter's legs to that of Haile, they're a lot stronger but they're not used to the impact.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Indeurr]

[Angelo Z]

That would be interesting to see. He already has a much higher VO2 than even the best runners in the world. If it takes years for a runner to develop their aerobic capacity, I wonder how long it will take Lance with an aerobic capacity already built. I'm referring to just making the legs get used to running.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Dan]

[Angelo Z]

Yes, I understand that. I just wanted to dig in a little deeper and find out what scientifically makes the two types different from eachother.
_________________
My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Dan]

[Angelo Z]

Yeah that's true. Perhaps that runners could just have more muscular endurance. Now I kind of realized that if you put Lance and Haile in a 100, there won't be much of a difference but in a longer race, Lance's leg muscles aren't used to generating the power needed for 4:50 mile pace for 26.2 miles.

Maybe that's why my leg muscles get sore. This base training for me has put demands on my muscles. I expected to face shin splints or some other common high mileage problem, but I see that my leg muscles get pretty sore instead. The majority of people for example, have the muscular strength to generate enough force for at least a 4:30 mile. I could definitely run the 100m much faster than 16.875 seconds (4:30 mile pace) way even before I even started to run.

Now I've also asked myself if all of that pedaling develops muscular endurance too and it does, but for different muscles. Back to the soreness thing again, my legs only get sore from the knee on down. The quads and hamstrings are large muscle groups compared to the calves and tibialis. At one point in the motion of running where the foot lands on the ground and then all of the weight is being pushed off by the bending of an ankle, all of the weight is transferred down to the calves and tibialis and those are the muscles that first become exhausted. The only time that my quads and hamstrings get sore is from hills and fast running.

I'm not quite clear on this but I think that for cyclists, the quads and hamstrings take the most damage. I'll do some research on the muscles affected and involved in cycling to find out.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Indeurr]

I do believe, in general and not necessarily in this particular case, that people make a big mistake when they look at brain and body (soma) and forget the most important compnent of an athlete, the nervous system.
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[Angelo Z]

Well the brain is part of the nervous system.
_________________
My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥