Please excuse this post. I'm an old (38), slow (1:20 half), fat (170) and new (5 yrs) runner.
Due to an injury (and work) I took some time off with only light running and riding my bike. Coming back I decided to only run on a treadmill which I've been doing for a month. I have never run on a treadmill before (other than a day here or there). The differences between t-mill and road have been shocking. I've never been able to get above 70mpw w/o feeling trashed but running on a treadmill I feel almost no soreness from one workout to the next.
Yes, I run on the t-mill with an incline.
Question 1: Am I giving anything up running on a treadmill? It seems so much easier on the body, almost cheating.
Question 2: If I did 80% of my workouts on a treadmill, and was able to run 80mpw, would it be better than running 100% road and only running 70mpw?
Question 3: Does the distance I'm training for make a difference in deciding what percentage of my milage should be on t-mill? All my 2011 races will be on the road (5k-marathon).
I'm wondering if not better preparing myself for the concrete pounding of a road will impact negatively on results.
Thanks.