10K under 50 minutes... Please help (Read 324 times)

What if you can actually set your treadmill to have a decliine?  Mine will go down to -3%, it sure feels like I'm running downhill then.

As far as wind resistance, what if I run 2 fans on me to keep me cool while running on the treadmill?  Both blowing from the front?  I'll have to get something to wear on my head to measure how fast it is blowing on me.

I actually do somewhat track the wind on my outside runs.  I whine about it in my notes if I run out into a fairly strong wind and then it dies down as the sun goes down and I'm running back to the house.

I think my treadmill has a calibration issue, but I think I've over compensated for it.  I do all of my runs on the treadmill at 2% incline and that used to seem like an equivalent effort to outside, but lately it seems like it takes a little more effort for the same speed.  Can I change to running at a 1.5% incline instead of 2% or would that not count as running anymore?

I just checked and my % of treadmill running went from 17.3% of my total miles last year to 31% this year.  Does this mean that I'm not a runner anymore or as long as I'm under 50% of my miles on the treadmill I'm okay?

You need to re-think the physics on this.  DaBurger has this correct.

 

If the belt is helping your foot back, you are not applying forward effort to maintain your body's position on the machine (or your vertical displacement) and you will be carried off the back (and your center of gravity sink).  Your foot is not brought backward by the belt as you move at say 8mph at constant speed relative to the belt any more than it is by the ground pulling it back at 8mph at constant speed relative to the ground when you are running on the ground.

 

As for the whole issue of incline to make it like running outside due to air resistance:

1)  Studies have shown that the contribution of air resistance is only significant at higher speeds (I forget the number, but it was something like 10mph) which may be significant for some of us but not for most people (who never run that fast).  So you could argue that you need to add 1-2% as speed increases to make up for this.  However this ignores related variables, like the fact that air movement provides a cooling effect that most treadmills lack....I've rarely encountered a treadmill where overheating was not much more of an issue than outdoors....so the net effect is neutral or perhaps even in favor of running outside inside. <--MTA

2)  Do you track the wind direction on all your runs so you can somehow compensate in your log for how much time you spend running with vs into the wind?  Do you calculate the affecting component when the wind hits you at an angle and wear an anemometer on your head?

3)  The variability in the accuracy of treadmill calibration is likely contributing more to any perceived or actual difference in running effort on a treadmill versus outside.  I've owned 3 treadmills and run on dozens more, and calibration is a huge issue.  Effort-wise my current machine is very, very close compared to effort to run a certain pace outside.  My first two machines gave somewhat inflated paces (that with one machine became very significant over 11mph, the error was not consistent across speeds).

Ok, I'll rethink it; I guess I was pretty much assuming, but not thinking. Now that I've thought a little about it, I'm willing to accept that my thinking was wrong, but I'm going to jump on a treadmill and apply some practical use with thought...but for now I can see how "calibrating" your foot turnover rate (i.e. your speed) can totally cancel out the movement of the belt.

BTW, I never knew that the elevation of the treadmill was to compensate for air resistance; another example of me assuming the belt was a big factor in bringing back the foot. You'll won this one

P.S. In my defense I don't have much time on treadmills

 

Do the rest of you get a kick like I do out of stepping off a good treadmill run, and feeling like the world now whisks by you with each step you take?

Try running on a treadmill while watching motor sports on a big TV when the video is shot from inside the vehicle.

Back to Physics 101 for you too, pedaling fool and Nemo. Sigh.

 

I really hesitate to raise this here, but here is an actual head-scratcher about treadmills.

 

A plane is standing on a large treadmill. The plane moves in one direction, while the treadmill belt moves in the opposite direction. This treadmill has a control system that tracks the plane speed and tunes the speed of the belt to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction). Can the plane take off?

Okay, I will say no.

The plane's engines work off air, not by pushing off the ground. So yeah, it can take off. The treadmill belt is irrelevant.

Wait. That doesn't really work. FECK my head hurts.

Okay, so if the moving belt caused enough air flow to create lift over the planes wings, maybe. Or, if the wheels of the plane were completely frictionless. Actually the latter seems more likely--I mean if you can invent a treadmill as big as an airport runway then surely you can invent frictionless wheels.

So I'm going with maybe.

FECKING BHEARN.

Yeah, somehow you need lift, right? So far the plane is only moving relative to the treadmill belt. And gravity is acting as a force. I guess I just don't really know how planes take off!