Maybe this is a stupid question but......

Belle8312

So I used to run, have always hated it, but used to do it. I have been injured off and on for the past few years so I have to do low impact cardio (bike, elliptical, walking, etc). I have NO problem doing 90-120 minutes on the elliptical, the bike or walking. I am allowed to start running again, so my question is
Why can I do these low impact cardio machines for hours (at a difficult level, I might add), but when I get to running, I cannot do it past 10 minutes without stopping? I usually start at a 4.8-5.0 run and have to stop....wouldn't my endurance level be up to par since I can do other cardio activities for such a long time?

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

DopeItUp

The only thing that trains you for running, is running. Doing other cardio exercises will improve your cardio fitness and health but it's not going to train you to run faster/longer. Not to mention running is way higher impact than a bike, elliptical, walking, etc... Impossible to compare the exercises, really, they are totally different.

cedder1

Street running is completely different from treadmill, elliptical etc. You must take into account for surface, incline, impact...all of those. It's like riding a bike on a trainer then taking it out on the road.....speeds are always less on the road. Just give yourself some time, don't expect too much right away. I know of someone who trained for a race just on a treadmill expecting that would be appropriate and she found out it wasn't.

scottb81

Cardiovascular fitness is specific to the muscles being used. Without actually running you will not get the cardiovascular adaptations needed to run.

dougii

I was doing an hour or more on the elliptical at a high resistance level thinking that I would be able to go out a just run without a problem - wrong thinking. Moving your body through time and space is completely different than using a machine that is in essense going no where. I now run 6 to 7 miles every other day and love it but it took a lot of road work to get to this distance level.

StrawBerries14

Maybe if you start slower and work your way up this might help and put on some music that gets you moving?

dogsdogs

I always found that once I got past the first l0 minutes, everything got easier. Just try to push through that first few minutes.