Most people can ride 10 km on their bike. However, running 10 km is a lot harder to do. Why?
According to the law of conservation of energy, bicycling should be more intensive because you have to move a higher mass, requiring more kinetic energy to reach a certain speed. But the opposite is true.
So, to fulfill this law, running must generate more heat. Why does it?
Some things I can think of as (partial) answers:
- You use more muscles to run.
- While running, you have more friction with the ground; continuously pouncing it dissipates energy to it.
- While you move your body at a slow speed, you need to move your arms and legs alternately at higher and lower speeds.