The treadmills I have access has a max pace of 4:17 minute mile. The max incline on it is 15 %.
How much incline would be needed to get an equivalent 3:30 effort at 4:17 pace?
( I realize that an exact replication of the pace cannot be achieved for several reasons).
Why can’t you run 52”/lap pace outside?
I used the a/b = 1+9s to give you an estimate, where a = speed (m/min) on flat ground, b is the speed on a hill, and s is the slope as a decimal (ie 2% is .02)
This rough estimate gives you a slope of 2.5% that you should set your treadmill to.
As you pointed out, there are a ton of factors that impact how closely this simulates what you want. Not the least of which is how good you personally are at hills. Some people will "beat" the calculator, others will be way behind. Its a reasonably approximation for an average person.
Here is an excessively long thread about this with various suggested formulas:
Thanks for the formula. I think in practice the slope will have to be a bit higher. I did a test and can run 4:17 @ 5.5% incline for the same time period I can run a 3:30 on the ground. This is a non-scientific approach I've taken and the slope is determined simply by matching max efforts.