rec.sport.unicycling · Public discussion

muni vs. running as training

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rec.sport.unicycling
Published
8 May 2006
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14 May 2006
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joemarshall
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  1. I was late coming home today, was riding the Schlumpf over my local muni
    hill, and Penny (that's my wife) turned up going for a run. So cos of
    this, we went off on a loop round the trails, with me keeping the
    pace.

    The trails are mainly not very technical, but with enough steep and
    rooty bits to make it worth riding a muni on. It's been wet, so it's a
    bit muddy and all the roots are like ice. And I was riding a slick
    tyre.

    Anyway, enough excuses, basically what we discovered was that it's
    pretty easy to pace a runner on the flat, and downhill, but as soon as
    you hit a technical section or an uphill the runner is off ahead. I
    think it'll be fantastic training for muni riding, because it forces
    you to ride as fast as you can on exactly the sections that you'd
    normally slow down for.

    I guess the fact runners are faster than unicycles may be obvious to
    some, given that in fell races, the runners often get better times than
    bikes over similar routes, but I didn't realise that even in an area
    with only short technical sections, they can be faster.

    Joe

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  2. i uni while my mom runs she find the unicycle paces the runner good

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  3. I used to run the same trails that I now muni on, and I would NEVER go
    back to running! It would be TOTALLY boring now compared to muni, plus
    the impact of your feet constantly hitting the ground set you up for
    more knee, shin and foot injuries/problems than muni. The biggest plus
    to muni vs running IMO is that it's so much more fun, and a much better
    workout than running.😄

    --
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  4. i think both terry and joe have good points...yes the runner is a great
    way to get yourself to keep pace but the muni is probly not only
    better for your legs but more excersise too. the rotating movement is
    alot more effective that the "lift-stomp" motion of running.

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  5. thats exactly what i was going to say, about it being easier on your
    knees and all.

    what i like to do though is have my little brother get on his bike and
    act as a "rabbit" and he will go flying up the hills on his bike and i
    try to keep up with him. I find that it helps me to improve my hill
    times.

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  6. I was talking about a person other than you doing the running, and you
    keeping up with them. That particular runner doesn't ride a unicycle or
    want to.

    It's a bit humbling to realise that on almost any technical terrain, a
    decent runner will beat a similarly fit and skilled munier. It's well
    worth going on muni rides with runners just to see this in action, and
    to give you motivation to ride fast over that kind of terrain.

    As for the running is worse than muni thing that seems to have
    appeared, I do a bit of running and lots of muni-ing, so I'd agree that
    muni is generally more fun, but I would say that once you're on proper
    hard terrain, running is way more fun than you'd expect. I'm not into
    plodding around on wide trails, or running on roads (yawn), but running
    on singletrack has many of the same good things about it that muni has,
    especially up and down hills, and taking purposefully difficult routes
    down things.

    Joe

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  7. I can cover distance cross-country much faster on a muni than I can run.
    The only place I'd be quicker running would be up a very steep or
    technical climb. But I'm a useless runner. There are runners I see
    sometimes on my way home from work (slightly up hill all the way) who I
    can only just keep up with on the muni. I reckon a really good runner
    could beat me outright over that route. It would be interesting to
    race a good runner against a really quick xc muni rider on a 29er or
    something. I reckon the muni would gain on the smoother bits, but the
    runner would come back on the climbs and technical stuff.

    Rob

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  8. muni > running coz you don't damage your knees 😄

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  9. zippy said:

    muni > running coz you don't damage your knees 😄

    <tries to count the number of times a knee has hit a rock; runs out of
    fingers>

    Nope, I'm not buying it!

    Phil

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  10. phil said:

    <tries to count the number of times a knee has hit a rock; runs out of
    fingers>
    Nope, I'm not buying it!

    Plus a lot of running joint damage is supposedly because runners are
    generally idiots and don't think about their technique at all, and tend
    to overtrain and run badly, or push themselves too hard in events, do
    events when they're not ready (like the idiots who do the marathon with
    2 months training), do events despite being injured etc etc.

    Joe

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  11. phil i rekon you just can't unicycle, or you enjoy the punishment a
    little 2 much :p

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  12. joemarshall said:

    (like the idiots who do the marathon with 2 months training)

    <looks at calendar; notices half marathon in two weeks>

    Ah. Erm...

    Phil

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  13. Here's a simple and effectve test: Ride your usual muni route, or ride a
    4-6 mile trail of your choice. Next day RUN the same trail and
    distance. Compare the two and decide which activity gave you the best
    workout, which was more fun, more challenging, which, if either, caused
    any pain/injuries in you knees, shins, feet, etc. Of course, you would
    probably not feel much pain after just ONE short run, but most likely
    would after a more prolonged period. For me, and I'm sure MOST other
    uni-ers, it's no contest; Muni wins hands down!:p By comparison,
    running is *B O R I N G!!!*

    --
    terrybigwheel

    Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

    Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

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  14. Here's a cool online caculator that tells you calories burned per
    activity. Enter your weight and duration of activity. Since they don't
    list unicycling (of the more than 200 activities) you'll have to choose
    something that would be similar in exertion. Based on my weight, and
    using their chart, running a 9 min. mile (which is not especially fast)
    burns 957 calories per hour. And that doesn't seem to take into account
    any rough, hilly terrain. So muni would probably add a significant
    amount to that.

    http://tinyurl.com/4vkhe

    --
    terrybigwheel

    Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

    Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

    You -can- "Tune a fish". You simply adjust their "scales"! 😄
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  15. I don't think muni is that much better on the knees than running.
    Bikeing certainly is, but on a unicycle you are forced to square pedal
    - especially when riding offroad, and that is not that great on the
    knees.

    You burn more calories running and have a higher heart rate simply
    because you are supporting your own weight. However, when I muni I get
    much more tired because it's like doing sprint intervals (going up and
    down hills) vs standard distance running.

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  16. terrybigwheel said:

    For me, and I'm sure MOST other uni-ers, it's no contest; Muni wins
    hands down!:p By comparison, running is *B O R I N G!!!*

    I find the largest disadvantage of running is that any gravity karma
    you gain is wasted; it takes loads of effort to go uphill but once
    you're there it takes a fair bit of effort just to go down again!

    I find it means planning routes differently; when biking or muni-ing
    around Malvern I plan routes around the descents and the best ways to
    the top of them; when running I try to keep the gradients as smooth as
    possible.

    Phil

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  17. Seager said:

    I don't think muni is that much better on the knees than running.
    Bikeing certainly is, but on a unicycle you are forced to square pedal
    - especially when riding offroad, and that is not that great on the
    knees.

    You burn more calories running and have a higher heart rate simply
    because you are supporting your own weight. However, when I muni I get
    much more tired because it's like doing sprint intervals (going up and
    down hills) vs standard distance running.

    Again, for me that is simply not true. I burn far more calories riding
    muni than running the same route; right off the bat you are carrying
    about 15 lbs of gear; uni plus camelback and protective gear. Now
    you're probably going to say that you don't "carry" the uni, but it IS
    extra weight that you are either pushing or pulling that you don't have
    while running; ESPECIALLY UPHILL! And muni is MUCH less overall stress
    on your knees vs running, because there is NO impact! Case in point: I
    used to have recurring knee, shin and ankle pain when I used to run
    (even though my technique was deemed "very good and efficient" by more
    seasoned runners) and now, many years later, in my 50's, I have ZERO of
    those problems. So at least for me, that is my experience.😄

    --
    terrybigwheel

    Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

    Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

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  18. phil said:

    I find the largest disadvantage of running is that any gravity karma you
    gain is wasted; it takes loads of effort to go uphill but once you're
    there it takes a fair bit of effort just to go down again!

    Phil - you need to find steeper hills. Running down steep hills you can
    kind of let yourself fall down them. The back of Mam Tor is a fantastic
    place to do this, just bomb down the grass slope, it's as steep as, but
    soft grass so falling down it wouldn't hurt too much. Some proper fell
    runner type came past us going oh so fast, which looked even more fun,
    they have the falling down hills thing just so sorted.

    It's silly to say you burn more calories doing either running or
    muniing a certain distance, because it obviously depends so much on
    terrain. I've ridden 50 mile muni rides in a day, no way could I run 50
    miles, but there's a short loop of my local trails that would kill me
    if I rode it all because it requires so much hopping on some of the
    uphills, but is easy to run. Obviously on the flat, riding muni
    requires way way less energy assuming you've got okay technique, and on
    steep uphills and technical hoppy stuff way more energy, so it depends
    on what your riding is like and how good you are.

    For me, running is only boring if I run boring routes and aren't having
    to pay attention to what you're going over. It also has the advantage
    that it's much easier to run close enough to hold a conversation with
    someone, rather than muni, where you tend to be more spread out to
    avoid taking out other riders in a crash.

    If you're riding muni and there's no impact on your knees, are you not
    falling off much, riding drops, or riding long hills? I've certainly
    got knee aches after long rides, particularly ones with 3000 feet or
    more descent on them.

    Joe

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  19. Last fall I did the Terry Fox Run on my 24" muni. The bikers and I
    started at the same time, and after the initial uphill, the bikers left
    me behind. A couple minutes after that, the runners started passing
    me. Uni is more fun, but a runner who is in shape is faster 😉

    Semi-related, it was raining today so I decided to try the muni on the
    treadmill. It could work, but it's not as easy as I would think 😉

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