A while ago I read a thread on here from which I got the impression people thought running a marathon was harder than riding a century. My hat is off to those that have and can ride a century. I proved yesterday it is beyond my abilities right now.
I’ve run a marathon and near marathon distances several times, even qualifying for Boston twice. I’ve never ridden a century, but last week I did 50+ miles with little difficulty. I’ve done 80 in the past and was tired, but okay at the end. I decided to give it a shot yesterday. I made 95 miles and had to quit.
I was 9 miles from home and I just couldn’t go another mile. I barely was able to make it to a food mart where I bought the largest drink I could, called my wife, and pretty much passed out while waiting for her to come get me. I have never, ever been that tired in my life.
I now have a new summer goal. I’ll ride a few more 50+ mile rides, maybe throw in an 80 mile one, and then try it again. There is no way I’m going to let this beat me.
I’ve never heard the term “ride a century” before, but I bike 10 miles a day and I think I’d much rather bike for 100 than run for 26.2. Guess it depends on your physiology and training habits.
In my years of running and cycling, i think the aerobic equivalent is about 2.4-2.6 miles biking to 1 mile running(road bike). However, you can go much further on the bike as there are no impact forces to deal with and you can eat/drink more effectively.
I did several metric centuries and found it much easier than running 20 miles.
No marathons but one century ride on my handcycle.
Good attitude, cmosdes. A lot of people would throw in the towel at that point and not even try again. Glad to hear you’re going to do it.
I’ve been doing 30-35 mile rides and feeling really good at the end, like I could go 3 times that far without much trouble. I guess things change when you get up there, though. I definitely want to try it out, but time, a good path, and good riding partners are holding me back for now.
As compared to running, it’s probably a personal/subjective thing. A marathon would kill me (though I’m tentatively planning on doing one in January.) I’ve done fast, hard, hilly 35 mile bike rides and felt better at the end than the beginning. I went through several months back in '08/early '09 where I was riding my mountain bike hard for 2-3 hours a day (not measured for distance), 6 days a week. A 4 mile run kicks my butt and makes me feel like crap for a couple days.
Dude, you just bonked. Hypoglycemia is a very nasty experience. Just eat some cookies or a banana every once in a while and you’re golden.
I always hated running, but wished I had given it a go and tried to run a marathon when I was young and had good knees.
In any case, I’m convinced that a riding a hundred miles is way easier than running a marathon. Hell, I’ve ridden the Davis double century 3 times and I was never in particularly stellar condition. I just had the ability to sit on a bicycle for a very long time.
I think that’s a good point. At a casual enough pace (say, 12-14mph), I think I could ride a bike pretty much indefinitely; at least until I got tired an had to sleep, which could easily be more than 24 hours (over 300 miles.)
With running, no matter how slow I was going, I’d reach a point where I absolutely had to “stop” and walk, at least, if not fully stop.
Of course, cmosdes might’ve felt the exact same way before he attempted his century
Yep, that’s a bonk. Bonking is horrible, and it doesn’t matter one bit how fit (or not) you are: if you don’t take in enough food/drink, you will bonk. But, riding 100 miles is a piece of cake compared to running 26 miles. If you can ride 50 miles you most definitely can ride 100 miles. Just set a decent pace at the start - if you’re a bit worried that you’re going too slow, you’re probably just about right. And make sure you know where you can pick up supplies along the way if needed.
I guess total time might come into play. A good pace for me on a bike is 18mph. I could probably keep that up for quite awhile if the course didn’t have a big net elevation gain, but that’s still, what, 5 and a half hours to go 100 miles? I could run a marathon tomorrow (meaning no training or prep) in under 5 hours for sure.
There is riding 100 miles, and then there is racing 100 miles, and the two could hardly be further apart.
If you do not take care of the nutrition and especially the fluid, you could be bonked out in as little as 40 miles, but usually it sets on in the last 25 miles.
To be able to race 100 miles, yu really need to be riding 120-140 miles a few times a month at a brisk pace, and you definately need to be experienced at racing 50 milers.
I have come across those who can ride a devastatingly fast 50, but they fold up on a 100, seems to me that 50-75 you can handle with minimal support once you are fit, but as you get beyond that distance there very few people have the internal resources to deal with it, and even the pros will require external support to maximise their effort.
Anyhow, well done on keeping it going.
Now if you want a real challenge, which sort of submerges the effort required for a marathon, try a 12 hour race - you need lots of build up and support, and you’ll need to manage your post event activity well too - you tend to feel ok the day after, but you notice the effects on your speed for a couple of weeks afterwards.
You can usually only do two or three 12 hour events per year due to the build up time and post event self management.
I took a biking class in college (easy PE credit), and we rode a (very leisurely) century as our “final exam.” We started out at 8 am, with plenty of stops along the way (we rode around Lake Winnebago in WI), and my friend and I rolled back into town around 4 or 5 pm, if memory serves. Our butts felt like rocks, and we were not only wiped out but sunburned into lobsters, but we finished. Of course, we were much younger then.
I ran a bit in college (2-3 miles a few times a week) and I’ve just started running again this year as part of my weight loss/maintenance plan. I run/walk 5K most days, I’ve run a 5K race, and I’m training for a 10K and a run/walk half marathon in September. It’ll be a while (if ever) before I run a marathon.
My father at age 64 is gunning to ride 100 in a day in the near future. I could never see him completing a marathon. Only one data point, I know, but more than a few of his biking colleagues have done the century in their sixties.
I haven’t tried, but I think I could easily do 100 miles on a bike on the flat, but I couldn’t even run 10 miles. In fact I doubt I could even run five miles nonstop. I hate running and find it incredibly tiring and uncomfortable compared to cycling.
Last weekend I did 70 miles in a day and that included nearly 8000ft of ascent, so 100 miles on the flat ought to be no problem. Edit - although having read the OP again, maybe those last miles would be a killer…
My Wife races full Ironman distance triathlons. She has always said that the run is the hardest part. Of course though the run is after the 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike.
I’ve done both. And even though I prefer running to cycling, a century is far easier than a marathon.
I’ve never been ultra competitive - and so perhaps at high high speeds, a century gets harder. But it’s easier to casually ride a century than casually run 20+ miles and IME, it’s also easier to do so at even non-casual speeds. It takes less training to get to the point where you can do the longer distance on a bike. It takes less out of you and puts less stress on your body while you’re doing a long ride than a long run.
I figured it was bonking, too. It was still frustrating. I tried to prepare for it by eating a little before I left and bringing 3 cliff bars with me on the ride. I ate two of them but there was no way the 3rd one was going down. I knew I was in trouble 20 miles from home when I drained the last of my water and desperately wanted more.
When I did my 50 mile ride I drank maybe 1/3 of 1 bottle and didn’t eat anything and as I said, I was just fine. I thought 3 cliff bars and 2 bottles of water would be sufficient this time.
I had a similar experience running. I ran 14 miles without issue one week and the next week I tried 17 and couldn’t do it. The week after that I ran 19 and finished.
I’m a very slow rider (I averaged 16.7 through most of this ride) so I didn’t really think finishing would be a problem. Hopefully next time things will work out better.
enipla I’m envious of your wife. I’ve tried to train for even a half-iron but my bike and swim times were too horrid to even consider entering. I really wish I could do an ironman but at least for now it is out of my reach. Maybe next year, though. I’m seriously considering hiring a trainer to help me get there. Does your wife have a trainer or does she do it on her own?
Whenever I go on a long bike ride I always take my Camelbak. It holds over 3 litres of water, and you don’t have to fiddle around reaching for bottles, you can just sip as you go.
