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speed difference, treadmill vs outside (Read 2906 times)


sincerely silly

    I used to only run on the treadmill (it just fit into my schedule better...I could head over to the work gym whenever I needed a break). I used to be pleasantly surprised after running 5k road races and such that I'd run so much faster and thought that it was mostly due to the race adrenaline and environment.

     

    But now I've been running outside more, returning the treadmill just seems so damn hard!  I tend to have to run at least a minute slower pace (ha, I'm a slow beginner so I guess it's not that much =P) on the treadmill to run continuously for more than ten minutes without feeling dead.  Is it just because of how boring it is?  On the treadmill I have a TV in front of me and I also listen to music or podcasts while when I run outside I don't listen to anything so I thought the boring factor would be offset. 

     

    I wonder if such a pace difference might also mean that my phone + Handy Runner are not accurate. :-( I know that at least one block in my neighborhood it makes a weird jump to another block and I always have to subtract a few tenths of a mile.  Orrrr the inability to randomly slow down and speed up are lost and that's what's rough.  Orrrrr the feeling of running but not getting anywhere is just so much more depressing and draining than I thought. :-)

     

    As there's no real question or solution (bottom line will just be to keep running? =P) I was just wondering if anyone else feels the same big difference or has a theory!  Maybe it's just a beginner thing. 

    shin splints are my nemesis

      I can't run on treadmills.  Well, I can.  For about five minutes.  It's not nearly as engaging for me--and I hate it.  It sucks all the joy out for me.

       

      On the flipside, I know people who love treadmills for tempo runs and the like.

       

      I don't know about the music thing--I generally go even slower than normal (and I'm relatively slow/new to running regularly) when I listen to music.  I tend to get bored more if listening to music than if listening to my environment, footsteps, and breathing. 

       

      For HandyRunner + phone, I suppose it would depend on the GPS lock you get.  I've "checked" mine against my Garmin and against track laps.  It was *usually* accurate for me, but there were times when the first 1-2 miles (I guess I didn't give it long enough to lock on?) was a trip.

      "When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem." 
      Emil Zatopek

      WhoDatRunner


      Will Crew for Beer

        I'm pretty much a beginner myself and I hate running on the treadmill. I also find that I have to run much slower at the same level of effort as I would running outside. I feel like I'm constantly having to adjust where I am on the belt to keep from flying off and looking like a complete idiot. It's also mind numbingly boring. I can't take it for much more than 30 minutes at a time. Being from the south and living in Indiana, I hate running when it's cold and snowy outside, but I'd rather the cold and snow than trying to do a long run on the treadmill.

        Rule number one of a gunfight, bring a gun. Rule number two of a gunfight, bring friends with guns.

          For me the TM is always easier than running outside, despite using a 2% incline as the base.  I don't find it boring, and actually enjoy it.  Many times I don't just set it at one pace and/or incline and leave it. I start slow, increase the speed as I feel better, and even mess with the incline at various time points. The variations makes the time and distance go by quicker. Plus having a TV I can hear is helpful -- but one time I did 17 miles w/out a TV or any music. After a while I just get in a zone and feel like Forest Gump :-)

            After a while I just get in a zone and feel like Forest Gump :-)

             

             That's an awesome feeling!  I'd rather feel like Forest Gump than trying to pass time through TV / iPod entertainment.

            Life Goals:

            #1: Do what I can do

            #2: Enjoy life

             

             

            DoppleBock


              Depends on calibration of TM

               

              1)  Some TM has built in incline of 1% to help equalize to running outside

              2)  Every TM can be a lot of out calibration - When I used to run at the YMCA a lot - There were 2 TM next to each other - One was really slow the other fast.  You could set one at 7.0 MPH and the other at 8.0 MPH and jump on and off of each and they were going the same speed.

              3)  I would put the TM @ 1% incline and run by feel - not pace.  Easy - Feels Easy

               

              I can run many hours straight on a TM - Its how you condition your mind - If you think it is going to suck it will.

               

              I like to listen to music - TV optional - I have run as much as 56 mile run on TM

              Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

               

               

                For me the treadmill calibration is a big issue.  I am pretty locked into my pacing so when I clocked a "14:46" time for a "5k" on a treadmill while I was in Korea on business it really surprised me (I'm not even close to being that fast...I would be psyched about a race time 3.5 minutes slower than that).  After a few days of playing with speeds and checking my heartrate outside and on the treadmill I discovered that what the treadmill called 1000 meters was actually about 780 meters.

                 

                It's probably pretty rare that a tredmill is off by that much but it only takes a tiny error in how tight the belt is or how far apart the rollers are to make a difference in distance if you're running long.

                 

                Besides that I was on a treadmill in Taiwan one time that was not electrically grounded so I built up a static charge that shocked me when it discharged to the frame.

                 

                That said, if you like treadmills then enjoy them but for me it's back to the road.

                 

                (to actually get back to the original topic, I think you're probably onto it with the inability to adjust pace up and down to match your body's demands as rapidly on the treadmill as you can on the road)

                  This is a  question and topic of discussion about this time of the year almost every fall and winter as we enter the 'cold' months and many of us move at least some of our runs indoors.

                   

                  Speaking for myself, from Mid March to Mid November, I will only run on a TM a hand full of times.   But as the weather gets dark, really cold, icy and a little more dangerous, I usually end up running on the TM about 50% of the time .... don't really like it but its better than putting on tons of clothes and running on the ICE or in a really dark area and the such...    My TM times are always 30 seconds to a minute slower than on the road.      I have a treadmill in my basement and calibrate it every couple of weeks in the winter time just so I know its accurate and still my times are always slower.  Almost very runner I know says their times on a TM are slower.

                   

                  I DON'T understand the concept of setting a TM at a 1% grade to simulate running out of doors.   It simply seems to me like I am running on a Treadmill at a 1% grade....I just don't get it.......Confused   --- I've never found a place where I have to run a 1% grade for an indefinite period of time...at some point I have to run down hill too.........  I just don't understand that concept...

                   

                  I have learned over the past couple of years to only compare TM workouts to other TM workouts, and compare out of doors runs to other out of doors runs.....and don't compare a TM run to an out of doors run (cause it feels to me like a similar but different type of a run).

                  Champions are made when no one is watching

                    I'll run in the snow rather than run on a treadmill, but do draw the line at ice and freezing rain. 

                     

                    To me running on a treadmill feels harder, given the same pace, even though I'm sure the base on mine allows me to do the same stride length that I would outside.

                     

                    I don't think the workouts are the same.  I've fallen into the trap of being used to an indoor climate then doing a race out in the sun, and overheating, and I've also been hit with a windy race where I hadn't run through any resistance in my training.  Unless you train on a completely flat course, I don't see how you could compare a treadmill to running outside.

                     

                    Treadmills are invaluable when you're doing intervals.  I don't want to be doing math while I'm doing an interval, I dumb it down by taking a piece of paper with me that tells me how many minutes and for how long, how much recovery, etc, and it keeps my pace honest as opposed to my mind wandering 'ooh look a squirrel', if I were out on the street.

                     

                    I think the most I've ever done on a treadmill is 3 hours, back-to-back HGTV episodes get me through.  Then when I'm finished I'm inspired to paint and remodel a bathroom.

                    DoppleBock


                      On most TM I am faster 5-10 seconds @ 1% incline than I am outside.  I love speed work on a TM, but I will do at least 4 weeks of speed work (If possible) outside before I actually run a goal race.

                       

                      My new TM at home has its calibration fairly off - At 7.0 MPH, I am really running @ 7.5 MPH - I really do not care and I just run by feel.  So, I end up running further to get the TM to say the mileage I am shooting for - Ohhhhh Nooooo, I ran more mileage ...

                       

                      I am also the guy that does not wear a HR monitor or own a gramin - I have courses with approximate distances - Like old school before all the technology crap that freaks all your noggins out.  When I am on the road - I just run - If I am in ok shape and I am running easy - I figure 8 minute miles.  Speed work is so many minutes at a perceived pace and so many minutes easy.

                       

                      I would never think too much about how fast I run a distance on a TM - It is races that count.

                      Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

                       

                       

                        This whole calibration thing has me a bit confused. I have a Sole treadmill and all the reading I've done, the calibration procedure isn't much more than starting up the TM in a "debug mode" and making sure the roller size is set right, along with a few other properties. After that, it says it self-calibrates -- speeds up to 12 MPH, and I presume is monitoring the distance the belt is traveling (at least I hope).  If my machine is not calibrated, I don't know how I would know. 

                        jEfFgObLuE


                        I've got a fever...

                           

                          I am also the guy that does not wear a HR monitor or own a gramin - I have courses with approximate distances - Like old school before all the technology crap that freaks all your noggins out.  When I am on the road - I just run - If I am in ok shape and I am running easy - I figure 8 minute miles.  Speed work is so many minutes at a perceived pace and so many minutes easy.

                           

                          I would never think too much about how fast I run a distance on a TM - It is races that count.

                          +1.  This is awesome.

                          On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

                            For me the treadmill calibration is a big issue.  I am pretty locked into my pacing so when I clocked a "14:46" time for a "5k" on a treadmill while I was in Korea on business it really surprised me (I'm not even close to being that fast...I would be psyched about a race time 3.5 minutes slower than that).  After a few days of playing with speeds and checking my heartrate outside and on the treadmill I discovered that what the treadmill called 1000 meters was actually about 780 meters.

                             

                            It's probably pretty rare that a tredmill is off by that much but it only takes a tiny error in how tight the belt is or how far apart the rollers are to make a difference in distance if you're running long.

                             

                            Besides that I was on a treadmill in Taiwan one time that was not electrically grounded so I built up a static charge that shocked me when it discharged to the frame.

                             

                            That said, if you like treadmills then enjoy them but for me it's back to the road.

                             

                            (to actually get back to the original topic, I think you're probably onto it with the inability to adjust pace up and down to match your body's demands as rapidly on the treadmill as you can on the road)

                             

                            Dang, you have some fast easy runs. 

                            They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that. "If I am still standing at the end of the race, hit me with a Board and knock me down, because that means I didn't run hard enough" If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death. "Don't fear moving slowly forward...fear standing still."

                            DoppleBock


                              You lost me after starting up the TM -

                               

                              This whole calibration thing has me a bit confused. I have a Sole treadmill and all the reading I've done, the calibration procedure isn't much more than starting up the TM in a "debug mode" and making sure the roller size is set right, along with a few other properties. After that, it says it self-calibrates -- speeds up to 12 MPH, and I presume is monitoring the distance the belt is traveling (at least I hope).  If my machine is not calibrated, I don't know how I would know. 

                              Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

                               

                               


                              sincerely silly

                                This is a  question and topic of discussion about this time of the year almost every fall and winter as we enter the 'cold' months and many of us move at least some of our runs indoors.

                                 

                                ---

                                 

                                I have learned over the past couple of years to only compare TM workouts to other TM workouts, and compare out of doors runs to other out of doors runs.....and don't compare a TM run to an out of doors run (cause it feels to me like a similar but different type of a run).

                                 

                                For me it's just a matter of how busy I am at work and feeling okay with going home for the day for a run.  (Mornings...are not my thing.  I'm trying though!) I tried searching for other threads but the keywords were so random. :-)

                                 

                                I guess you're right about the TM vs TM runs thing.  I should try and remember that!  It's hard since it's all one type of entry here.  Right now I have "treadmill" as a route but maybe I can put treadmill as a type of run instead.

                                 

                                I guess having gone from almost exclusively treadmill (had weird paranoia about running outside and getting stuck or just looking dumb, haha) to forcing myself to go outside, and then back...I was just surprised at how little I felt I improved. 

                                shin splints are my nemesis

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