I count my treadmill miles to answer your question. I also agree with someone else on here that treadmill running seems to be much more difficult. 6:30 pace on a treadmill feels about like 5:30 on the roads, for me at least.
I count my treadmill miles to answer your question. I also agree with someone else on here that treadmill running seems to be much more difficult. 6:30 pace on a treadmill feels about like 5:30 on the roads, for me at least.
The first obvious problem with the Hillrunner chart is that it doesn't take heat into consideration. Even if running on a treadmill at 1% was equal to running outside on a calm day, it would only be for a short period of time and you would then have to factor in the energy it would take to dissipate that extra heat you build up by NOT having any wind resistence your body uses (with sweat) to help you stay cool. Do you think it is harder to run 10 miles against a 9 mph wind at 65° or run those 10 miles when it is 90° in in calm weather?
The other obvious flaw is that for each successive rise of 1% incline, the chart says you will lose a less amount of pace. At 8:00 a mile, you would run 19 seconds slower raising the incline from 1% to 2% but only lose 9 seconds per mile going from 9% to 10%. This is OPPOSITE of what really happens. It gets much harder every 1% you raise the incline. If the chart kept going, it would eventually say you would go from 20% to 21% and there would be NO effect. That is impossible. The increments should be going the other way because eventually you would get to an incline that is not only impossible to run, it would be too steep to walk .
While there are many variables in running, there are just as many on a treadmill. The best way to use a treadmill is try to always work out on the same one so you don't have to worry about different calibrations and to run by effort or heartrate. After a few sessions on a treadmill, you will know the different efforts it takes to run different paces and different inclines. Just like you can do 400s and know your pace to the second, you will adjust on the treadmill and know what effort will equate to a desired pace.
treadmill guru wrote:
NOT having any wind resistence your body uses (with sweat) to help you stay cool.
My gym's treadmills have a build in fan. While it's not enough to have a significant slowdown effect, it helps considerably with staying (somewhat) cool.
Oh, and in the NYC summer months, running inside is easier than outside.