Outside vs treadmill (Read 1804 times)

Spent the night in Philly on Sat and ran in the rain / sleet and slush through the city sunday am ... had to run in the street b/c the sidewalks were ice -- not too many cars early -- thinking then that I could run in any weather. Went from 33 degrees to like 12 overnight ... nice 20 MPH gusts ... went to run at 6AM today and roads were a sheet of ice. So, returned home and ran on the treadmill this AM for the first time in a long time ... and I hated every minute of it ... but no injuries ... so I suppose it's a necessary evil. Hope tommorrow won't be more of the same.

My problem is, when I get to running outside, that's the only place I want to run. When I convert to the T.M. for winter, I don't want to run outside. Which one I do the most, is the one I prefer. I guess, T.m. in the winter and outside in the summer.

I'm starting to feel the same way. This is my first winter with my own treadmill in my basement. Before I had to drive to the next town to run indoors, so I went outside unless it was really bad. This year, unless it's really nice and the roads are dry, I can't bring myself to go out in the cold. Today everything is coated with ice so even driving is dangerous (some major roads were closed last night) - thank goodness for my t-mill! I did 11 miles today, and 40 total for the week. That's about what I average throughout the year, but I'm wondering if I'll be able to work up to a "real" long run on the t-mill (18-20 miles) for Spring marathon training...

I've done a lot of training on the TM. Run many 20+ milers on it. I also train with a heart rate monitor. I find there's not much difference at all between outdoors and the TM at the same heart rate, IF the temperatures and humidity are equal, and keeping the incline no higher than 1% (recommended to make up for the "help" the TM gives you). There will be a difference if I am doing a lot of training outside in sub 50ºF , then go inside where it almost 70º. But the same is true for a a 50º and 70º outside. A 70º day suddenly hits, and it's very stressful compared to the 50º one. Another thing about running on the TM at home. The room can get hot quickly as the fan blows your body heat into the room. Ventilation is a must to keep the temp even, or to lower it. I don't see why someone would be slower on the TM if they were truly running at the same effort and in the same temperatures as outside. Especially two minutes slower per mile. You should be able to run (e.g) 5 mph for the same amount of time as outdoors or (e.g.) run 10 miles between 65-70% MHR and end up with pretty much the same pace (on the average--days will vary depending on fatigue, stress, progress, etc.). --Jimmy

FINALLY a post I can agree with. Once you get used to running on the TM, it's a pretty similar effort to outside. There is a transition period on/off the TM. I find, even with a big fan on me, that my HR starts lower for a given pace (than outside) but ends much higher because I overheat. On average it'll be about the same as outside.