Forums >Running 101>Treadmill training for marathon
what do you pros think of this article. It’s rare but I’ve heard Of a handful of people claiming they’ve trained for marathons on mostly treadmills. ppl in the military/navy or in colder climates with no access to road doing this.
https://www.shape.com/featured/StriveHowToTrainForARace?sm_r=ErAyzd&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=405862&fbclid=IwAR0Ny2qvNQWw9TBujeF14MnwprAs4nikwiNrEHZ94bqmEVNHB_vCvsuOoI4
(For those who may remember some of my whining posts about only training on a treadmill so far, I’ve finally gotten on the road. Yay. Completely different muscles were triggered. However I do live around a lot of hills...)
One of the best training cycles I ever had was during a brutal winter when I did most of my midweek workouts on a treadmill.
But be careful. Treadmills can be dangerous
https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1115445500277395456?s=19
Runners run
As long as you're not running with a 0% incline, treadmill running isn't bad.
3K: 8:29.12 (2017) 5K: 14:56.59 (2016) 8K: 25:27 (2016) 15K: 53:46 (2022) HM: 75:41 (2022) FM: 2:43:17 (2022)
not bad for mile 25
I don't think the incline setting was the problem in that video.
One of the best training cycles I ever had was during a brutal winter when I did most of my midweek workouts on a treadmill. But be careful. Treadmills can be dangerous https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1115445500277395456?s=19
😂 (of course in California)
👍
Alex Hutchinson recently wrote a pretty good rundown of what the somewhat limited science has to say.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2392683/treadmill-vs-outside-running
The TL;DR seems to be that as long as you are comfortable on a treadmill (and set it to ~1% incline) it shouldn't be radically different. I rarely run on treadmills, so I'm biased and admittedly fairly uninformed. But I think there are pros and cons. Having it during truly bad weather so you can get quality workouts is a definite pro.
Hutchinson also has a great anecdote in his book "Endure" about when Nike brought Kipchoge into their lab to do initial assessments for their Breaking 2 project. He had literally never run on a treadmill before, so he had a tough time with it and had pretty average test results. (they were seriously worried he'd fly off the back, so they had people stand there ready to catch him) They realized they had the best marathoner of our generation there, so they smartly chalked it up to inexperience on treadmills. Anyway, one data point to back up the main point of the article.
Interesting. Thanks for the article. I’ve actually surprised myself when I finally started running outdoors. I thought I’d be a whole lot slower. But my pace is pretty comparable.
Run any way where how you can, I say!
I've found myself mostly on the treadmill this year/spring.
I feel like every treadmill speed setting is different, so 1 may say 5mph but you're really running 6mph.
I run by time, effort, heart rate on the treadmill, the speed setting is really only a reference in my data log...
do feel like outside is probably the best training,
300m- 37 sec.
but I guess time and effort as you said is the biggest thing. I’m so glad to hear all this bc most ppl I talk to look at me funny when I mention that I run but mostly on the treadmill right now.
+1. My home treadmill is 100% different than my work treadmill. I log a ton of treadmill miles because my wife goes to gym in the morning and I have little kids. I still PRd in two marathons last year. One note- do at least some tempo runs outside to force yourself to find the pace instead of just keeping up with the belt.
This is the main reason why I mostly do treadmill (bc of small kids at home). I recently started doing long runs once a week outside. It was a new world at first after 6-7 mos on a belt. I hadn’t run outside in 5-6 yrs.
i like being able to adjust speed at my will on the road but I think the treadmill helps my body tolerate sustained speeds.thanks for the tip.
Trails
I have a friend who lives in Miami and she does 95% of her marathon training on her treadmill. I train for my 50ks on mine probably 80% due to living on a farm and someone has to be home. I have a full gym set up at home so after work I can get a work out in. I do try to get outside when I can especially for long runs but I have done 24 miles on the TM.
Wow! I’m surprised to hear about so many ppl doing this! That’s great!
Slower but happier
I have trained for all the trail races this year so far 2x50K, 1x 50 mile so far, and upcoming 100 mile with a lot of TM. So much so that I had changed my tag to treadmill hound for awhile. TM paradoxically, is really the only efficient way to get elevation where I live. Netflix has really helped. Without that, it would be watching paint dry. Also, there is no excuse for not running because its right there and the weather is always decent. I don't bother with pace /mph though because it is not going to match up with outside, just effort, time, distance.
2020 goal: couch to 5K, currently working on the couch block