Tempo runs on the treadmill

My brother and I used a treadmill for 20, 40 and 60 minute steady efforts. My brother ran his first half-marathon in 1:08.27 off of 10 weeks of hundred miles a week, alternating with 20 minute and 40 to 60 minute efforts every other week. I ran a 45 second p.b. in a 8 km. road race off the same training.

We found that it made us very efficient for long races, but it also beat up our quads a lot more than running outside. This is probably due to the repetitive nature of running on a static surface at an unchanging pace.

Ingrid Kristiansen ran all winter on a treadmill before breaking the world record in the 1985 London marathon, in 2:21.06.

Christine Clark of Alaska was the only women to qualify for the 2000 Olympic marathon for the U.S.A., after training on a treadmill due to the snowy conditions.

So even though it feels different it is still very effective training. Still, I recommend keeping treadmill workouts to once a week for longer efforts and twice a week for shorter runs, to prevent staleness.

Forget what the treadmill says and go by effort. The times you run in workouts mean nothing. If the temp is just a couple degrees warmer one day than another, it can make a huge difference when you have no wind resistence to help cool you down.

I don't train by heartrate but I do monitor it every 10-15 minutes on treadmill runs to make sure I keep the effort where I want it. If it is warm, my heartrate can easily shoot up 10 beats higher than usual at a certain pace.

I just ran a 3 mile hard effort today on a hilly route and would really prefer that as it forces you to go into debt a little on the uphills and get it back together on the downhills. It makes the flat races feel so much easier.

Lots more runners use a treadmill than you would think. As long it is roughly calibrated correctly, its extremely efficient

- Controlled environment

- steady pace

- convenient

- efficient in terms of work/time management.

If it works for you...it works. So stick with it.

There is no wind resistance, which i think is a major contributor to making treadmill running slightly faster than say a bike path. Your legs are still moving just as fast, but dropping the pace by a few seconds (per mile) would probably even it out. I also suggest setting the incline to 1% instead of flat.

Use the LR search function if you haven't already. Seems like Jack Daniels has weighed in on treadmill running before. I don't run on a TM a lot but have done some tempo runs on them in nasty weather.

If I remember correctly, Jack said that for most people, the PERCEIVED effort on a treadmill is higher than when running outside. Meaning, you think you are running just as hard or even harder than outside but you are not. So, your heartrate may not be getting to where you want it. This has been my experience.

I also never feel the same sense of accomplishment on a treadmill as running outside. It could be the above reason or merely the fact that you didn't go anywhere. Staring at the same spot on the wall or watching TV for an hour just doesn't cut it. Not sure but it seems to be mix of mental and physical reasons for me.

I've had a similar history to yours on a treadmill, though I can't go past 7 or 8 miles on it (MAX!) due to boredom, and I can only go that far when I'm mixing it up (intervals or progressive tempos). That said, I don't think you're "cheating", even know I've had he same feelings as you, I try to go a little faster on the tread to compensate for a more controlled envirnoment, I've found that I have been able to reach my modest goals using the tread in tandem with the great outdoors, so I'd say if you're hitting the race times you're shooting for, and training at while using the tread, then it's effective for you and you should be confident as I am...

oldxcdude wrote:

I do most of my running on the road or on trails.

I tend to like to do faster-paced stuff like my tempos (and sometimes even 5k-pace intervals) on the treadmill.

The terrain where i live is not flat. I just find it easier and simpler to maintain pace on a treadmill. Plus, if i am doing a longer tempo like 12 miles with 7 miles at HM pace then i can have some water without stopping.

Am i getting the same benefit? I just feel as if i am cheating. Also, i don't feel as confident when i complete a nice tempo on the treadmill compared to the wonderful feeling after a real tempo effort on the road.

Thoughts?

I occasionally use a treadmill for a tempo run, just to see where I'm at. Most of the variables are controlled. However, I don't think it produces any better training effect than running a hard tempo on trails. The body is working hard either way, even if the pace on the trail is slower.

What I really hate is starting a tempo run on a treadmill and trying not to constantly look down at the stupid clock. "Wow, only 35 more minutes"..."Wow, only 32 more minutes". When I'm out on the trail the run just seems to go by quicker and I get lost in my thoughts for longer chunks of time.

I love doing tempos on the treadmill. I had one of my best seasons of racing ever after a winter in which the primary difference in training was regular tempos on the treadmill.

Thanks for all the responses.

I do train with heart monitor and

I agree with one poster that it is not as easy to get to the correct heart rate for tempo as it is on the road. I guess this does prove that the treadmill is easier (and I don't like to set the incline to 1%).

To not set the incline to 1-1.5% on a treadmill is like running downhill. When you run, your foot lands in front of your COG. You then have to overcome this in the support phase. That just happens. When you are on a treadmill at 0% grade your foot is pulled too quickly under you. This does not mimic true running in the least. You need that pause, as minute as it is, upon landing before it goes under your COG.

You can really feel this if you run on an incline for awhile and then take it to zero. It literally feels like you are running down hill.

DickGregory wrote:

To not set the incline to 1-1.5% on a treadmill is like running downhill. .

I'm not sure i buy this. Yes, i have read this a number of times in various places but i don't think it is true.

It's definitely NOT true at my easy pace -- where in fact i find the treadmill set at a speed which is equal to my road easy pace and at 0% incline is HARDER than on the road. This is for sure true for me.

Faster paces - tempo and 5k - sometimes feel easier to me on the treadmill. Perhaps that feeling is because the treadmill forces me to keep pace whereas on the road it is so easy to back off from pace.

Try running on a 1% incline for 20 minutes and then going to 0. It definitely feels like you're running downhill. I'd never run on a treadmill on a 0% incline as it just doesn't feel right. With a small incline though I think it's a great way to get fit.

At slower paces you're probably "stabbing" the ground and having to overcome you center of gravity being out in front of you. As you speed up and your turnover has to increase you may be getting your foot down to the treadmill quicker and it is more under your COG, hence making it a little easier.

runer wrote:

DickGregory wrote:

To not set the incline to 1-1.5% on a treadmill is like running downhill. .

I'm not sure i buy this. Yes, i have read this a number of times in various places but i don't think it is true.

It's definitely NOT true at my easy pace -- where in fact i find the treadmill set at a speed which is equal to my road easy pace and at 0% incline is HARDER than on the road. This is for sure true for me.

Faster paces - tempo and 5k - sometimes feel easier to me on the treadmill. Perhaps that feeling is because the treadmill forces me to keep pace whereas on the road it is so easy to back off from pace.

i think the treadmill is a great tool for tempos if you don't have a training partner. it allows you to hit the pace you want without thinking about it too much, and often gives me that little bit of extra motivation - to slow down on the treadmill you have to consciously push the button, whereas on the road or trail you can do it unconsciously if you're getting tired. add in a 1% incline to overcome any lack of wind resistance and put a bit of extra stress on the quads and you've got a solid workout.

i don't know if it's better or worse than running outside, but it's definitely an effective tool to change it up once in a while.

Bump

Running on a TM is not cheating! Wear a HR monitor and you'll figure it out. Here in the northern sticks, I run exclusively on a TM from mid or late Nov through at least mid-March. Tempos, long runs, progressions, long intervals (short 200 meter pace stuff out of the question).No loss at all in conditioning. If anything, my fitness gets jacked up a notch. Thing is though, it gets OLD running day after day on a TM. When you feel like you need a break from it, cross-train or bundle up and get on the roads if at all possible. Mix it up and you'll be fine.

I find running that running any pace from very slow to easy to "tempo" (call it HMP pace to 10k pace) is MUCH harder on the treadmill. On the other hand, 5k pace and above seems more manageable on the treadmill than outside.

For the former, it may have to do with the repetitive, non-varying nature of the belt at a given pace as well as heat management (gym) without airflow.

I ran 3 x 2 mi in the 6:20s today on the treadmill and was drenched in sweat, and struggling a little bit. It felt like torture. Yet I can split some of these miles into my long runs without even breathing too hard, just "working". Outside I've done 3 x 10' @ 5:56 as tempo intervals. Doing that on the treadmill would be very hard. And a moderate easy run @ 7:30 outside would feel reinvigorating, while inside it would feel like a tempo.

And on the flip side, running intervals at close to 5:00 min/mi is perfectly doable inside (though with large amounts of sweat) while outside I feel like maxing out top end speed at 5:20-5:30.

Why is that? Many says treadmill is not as hard due to the belt etc...but I find it much harder, except as stated for short intervals.

There have been a bunch of threads on this, but that's ok, I like talking about it since I've started doing tempos on the treadmill recently.

To answer your questions:

1. It's harder for me to breathe on a treadmill, as you said

2. The treadmills in my gym are set to a positive slope by default. When they read "0 degrees" they're actually set to 1 degree (or 1.2 degrees according to an app on my phone). I was so sure that I was running uphill that I asked the gym manager to test it, and the bubble level verified it (but those things don't have the slope marked in degrees so I used my phone later). So that makes it harder for me to run fast at my gym.

Thanks! I appreciate it.

On 1. that's definitely the case (lack of airflow) especially when not used to it I suppose (I use the treadmill on days like today..Nor'easter in NY, otherwise 95%+ of my running it outside). Perhaps, like everything, one gets better at it with more experience.

On 2. I've never heard of that and it's interesting. I set the incline to 1% (I know it's not exact science and a rather rough old adage). I like the woodway treadmill bests, when available. The newer Technogym ones (with a large) displays aren't bad either. FWIW though, I am pretty sure they are all wrong in all kind of directions! HR on my watch (via chest strap which is accurate) was deep into the 170s for these reps as opposed to where it should be (low 160s). Basically 3 x 2M "tempo" was more like long intervals!