what are some good treadmill workouts??

Try an hour run - start off at a slow pace, and increase the speed each minute - you will have to do some math so you don't end up running too fast too soon, but you can work it so you are cooking at the end of your run. This helps break up the monotony of treadmill running.

1) Turn it on.

2) Run on it until it stops.

thanks for the help, you guys really are full of good advice

Try a 'progression run'. Start at say 8.6 MPH (6:58 pace), then run the next mile at 8.7 MPH, the next at 8.8 MPH, etc.For the last mile of an 8 miler you'd be running at 9.3 MPH (6:27 pace).Or, bump it up .2 MPH every mile, that would put you at 10 MPH (6:00 pace)for the 8th mile.

The good thing about progression runs is that you're increasing the pace so gradually that your body has plenty of time to adapt.You feel just as easy at the end of the run as you did at the beginning.

Another good one is mile repeats with 1/4 mile recovery between each one.

Good one, made me laugh.

That's 15 minutes at my gym. Is that why everybody is so fat?

ONe of the greatest places to do hill repeats -- all up hill and no need to come down. Try 20X30 sec or 10X60 sec on a killer grade (I've found 20% and 6MPH is good for OK runners, but you can go to 7MPH or even faster at 20%grade). Start too easy and next session can be harder if the first wasn't hard enough. Oh yeah -- take 30 sec rests with the 30sec runs and 60sec rests with the 60sec runs. Don't slow down the TM during the rests, just learn to hop on and off while it keeps going. For treadmilll doubters I have mentioned before that when I was coaching Ken Martin about 15-20 years ago he did weekly 20milers on the TM in Santa Fe altitude at 6:00 pace, came down to run under 2:10 at NY City marathon -- his PB. It's a matter of what your options are and how much work you want to do. Sort of interesting that we hear that all you need to do is get out there and run, but sometimes the same person says forget the TM, it's not reality. It sure can be work if that's what you want

I ran 74 miles the last 5 days on a treadmill. No way I could have done that outside. As for workouts, you can do almost anything on a mill you can do outside except run down steep hills, run against the wind, or slip on ice.

djc wrote:

I ran 74 miles the last 5 days on a treadmill. No way I could have done that outside. As for workouts, you can do almost anything on a mill you can do outside except run down steep hills, run against the wind, or slip on ice.

or go under 6 minute pace

Thanks. That sucks doesn't it? Does any treadmill manufacturer make one that goes faster? I think even Rod Dehaven's maxed at 6 minute pace.

As for my 74 miles, I only saw 6:00 one mile during a progressive run.

the treadmill where I attend college goes up to 16 mph! has -3 to 15 percent grade! it is a precor c966 I believe

mcch wrote:

you will have to do some math so you don't end up running too fast too soon

duh, math?

Treadmills at the rec.center here go up to 12 MPH (5:00 pace). It only costs $ 10 a month to work out there. That's like a sore dick, you can't beat it.

You can get a TM made to your specifications (that's what we do but it's for research rather than personal use) and of course the cost is very high. I've been on treadmills that go 25MPH, there are treadmills that are 8 feet wide (for testing skiers on roller skiis), treadmills that they run horses on, etc. The ones that can go up and down hill (what we had built at SMI in Palo Alto -- to +30% and -10% are a bit much (cost more for the downhill characteristic). Cheaper (if you want to practice downhill running) to just put the back of the TM on a big wooden block and then figure what + grade corresponds with level and go from there. If you have a good deal, but your TM will only go 10MPH, just figure about every 5% is the same as increasing pace by about a minute a mile. Speed won't be 5:00 pace , but the work will be. Try 20% at 6MPH -- 1min on 1min off 10 repeats )don't slow the TM down, just hop off and on when time to do so). If that's too easy go to 7MPH, or to 8. Once had a girl do that 3 times a week for the entire winter and she ran 9:20 in her first outdoor 3k, followed by 9:00 two weeks later and then 2:01 800 and 4:08 1500 that spring -- that slow stuff didn't seem to hurt her speed at all.

another progressive workout is to raise the speed by .1 mph per minute for 5-10 minutes and then lower it the same way. its a good boredom fighter and makes for a fun speed/tempo mix of effort

you can do pyramids too. raise the grade 1% per minute for nice 3, 5, or 7 min. hills.

Brian Sell comments in today's interview at www.mensracing.com that getting a treadmill was the key to his 1:02:++ half marathon. He did his tempo runs on the treadmill and his having to hang on even when it was tough going helped him breakthrough. So for those who doubt the power of treadmill training, check it out.