I ran a 5:52 mile on the treadmill

CJ2223 wrote:

Yes. There simply is no disputing that fact. Do you have evidence against this?

Yes:

1. Set treadmill to 5:39 per mile pace

2. Wait for treadmill to get up to speed

3. Jump on said treadmill

4. Run for 5 minutes and 39 seconds

5. Stop

6. Pat self on back for running 5:39 mile

You didn't run a 5:52 mile, you were going 5.52 mph. Big difference.

Try to qualify for London Olympic Games

Update: Okay. First off, thanks to all of you who provided SERIOUS suggestions. I just returned from my neighborhood gymnasium and, having tried your admittedly good ideas, I'm still as befuddled as before. I initially tried to set the speed to 5:39 pace while standing to the left side of the machine but it appeared to be going too fast for me to safely hop on mid-race. (Turns out 5:39 is VERY fast.) Beginning to get frustrated, I tried to mimic yesterday's success by just starting from rest and holding down the "increase speed" button so as to move the machine up to 5:39 / mile. Unfortunately, this particular treadmill has a built in safety precaution where the "increase speed" function requires a 4.5 second pause at the 4.0, 8.0, 10.0 mph intervals. Although I eventually managed to up the pace to 5:30 pace (just to be safe, right?), the delay was too much to overcome. With 200 meters left, I really dug in and tried to move my legs faster than I had been, but to my dismay I finished at -- you guessed it -- 5:52. This time is becoming my nemesis! Does anyone else have an idea that could help me solve this conundrum? I'm at my wits end.

-Dusty

It's already been said. Just work on your leg speed velocity. Everything else will take care of itself.

Dude.

whaaat the fxck?

once ur ballz drop, u'll be solid.

y dont u just keep running n start the "mile" a 1/4 of a mile in2 it?

do u know whut will happen? u'r pussay will evapurate.

voiceofreason wrote:

They have treadmills that go over 10mph, no?

The ones at my school do 14.

As for running a 5:39...it's quite possible. Contrary to popular belief it's actually possible to set the belt a little faster at the start to make up for the slowness of belt starting time.

Tread mills are for chicks and old people. Measure a mile outside (4 laps around a track) and run as fast as you want to.

Running on a treadmill isn't horrible and isn't a waste of time as some would suggest on here. However, you should set the incline to 2% to "simulate" the level of exertion required when running outside. (One research article suggested 1.5% but I would do 2%.)

Also, it doesn't matter how hard you run for the last 200m because the treadmill has a set speed and calculates your time from that set speed. Therefore, you can't run a 5:39 if the treadmill does not have the corresponding speed to run the 5:39 - unless you attempted to mess around, which from what you have stated, does not seem to work.

Despite the unnecessary tone of some of the posters on here, the best idea really is to run outside and determine your time.

What you're missing here is that they physics of the treadmill is not the same as running on solid ground. In particular when your foot is planted on the ground while running you're working to push your self forward. However, on a treadmill your foot is being pulled back by the motor (so it's less work). However, this is offset by the "leaping effect" where on a treadmill after your foot leaves the belt you're having to leap forward to stay on the treadmill. By changing the length of your stride on the treadmill you can adjust to spending more time in the leaping phase and effectively do more work.

You can use this to your advantage. I've calculated that if you set your treadmill to 6:04 pace and then use maximal leaping while you run (that is make sure each stride carries you from the very end of the belt to the front) your actual workload will be exactly equal to the that of running 5:39 pace on solid ground. This calculation even takes into account the spin up time of the belt that has been vexing you thus far.

WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT..!?!?!?!? this makes no fckin sense you fck-chop. GO EAT MEAT.

MM wrote:

Update: Okay. First off, thanks to all of you who provided SERIOUS suggestions. I just returned from my neighborhood gymnasium and, having tried your admittedly good ideas, I'm still as befuddled as before. I initially tried to set the speed to 5:39 pace while standing to the left side of the machine but it appeared to be going too fast for me to safely hop on mid-race. (Turns out 5:39 is VERY fast.)

You don't just hop on, you hold onto the handrails of the treadmill and lower your weight onto the moving treadmill over a period of 2-3 seconds to get yourself adjusted to the pace and then let go. I've started running at sub-5 pace many times in this fashion.

this is going to be like an OK Go video gone terribly wrong.

one suggestion you may not like but i believe is effective is to get away from the stupid treadmill and trying to pr every frickin day...just isn't gonna happen. go find a nice place to run on a soft surface that's significantly better for your legs than the treadmill and alternate slower easy days with days that are a bit faster and measure you progress every 2-3 weeks instead of every day

Leg speed velocity...trust me