Tempo run on a treadmill

I do my tempo runs (steady 8-10 miles at GMP or GHMP progressing to a 10K pace finish) on the track, treadmill, and road. I definitely feel the road tempo runs are harder probably due to the rolling hills so I usually run these at 10-15 seconds per mile slower. I run about the same pace on the treadmill as on the track.

Bruin1996 wrote:

I do my tempo runs (steady 8-10 miles at GMP or GHMP progressing to a 10K pace finish) on the track, treadmill, and road. I definitely feel the road tempo runs are harder probably due to the rolling hills so I usually run these at 10-15 seconds per mile slower. I run about the same pace on the treadmill as on the track.

Not to stray too far off topic, but how did your NYC race go Bruin1996? Haven't seen you bump any of the other threads....

HahaRiiiiight: Thanks.. my NYC marathon went great. I ran a 2:42:22 (over a 10 minute PR from last year's Chicago) with a 1:10 negative split. Everything worked out well with the perfect weather and a good pacing strategy. I felt the best I have ever after the marathon so probably could have gone a little faster.

HahaRiiiiiiight wrote:

Nothing wrong with doing the tempo on the treadmill, but you need to factor in the fact that it's definitely easier to run on the 'mill. The calculator referenced above is a decent place to start, but for example if I was looking to hit a tempo at 6:20 pace I'd probably set the treadmill on 6:00-6:05 pace at 0.5 incline.

In fact you should always have the incline on at least 0.5 or 1.0 - easier on the knees.

this seems a little exaggerated. I guess it probably depends on the treadmill.

At 0.5-1.0% incline, the efforts between indoors and outdoors feel relatively similar, (assuming it's a nice weather day outside).

Bruin1996 wrote:

HahaRiiiiight: Thanks.. my NYC marathon went great. I ran a 2:42:22 (over a 10 minute PR from last year's Chicago) with a 1:10 negative split. Everything worked out well with the perfect weather and a good pacing strategy. I felt the best I have ever after the marathon so probably could have gone a little faster.

Nice, congrats!!! Sub-2:40 is next...

Bruin1996 wrote:

I do my tempo runs (steady 8-10 miles at GMP or GHMP progressing to a 10K pace finish) on the track, treadmill, and road. I definitely feel the road tempo runs are harder probably due to the rolling hills so I usually run these at 10-15 seconds per mile slower. I run about the same pace on the treadmill as on the track.

An 8-10 mile run starting at GHMP and progressing to 10k pace is not a tempo run.

I find it depends on the treadmill. I have a woodway at home and it appears pretty close in terms of pacing and effort.The gym treadmills, I some incline. But like a previous poster mentioned the Tmill is easier to hit the pace you want without going to fast/slow.

Sometimes using the treadmill just makes it easier when the weather is crappy with snow and ice

Saywhat2 wrote:

Just crank the speed or incline up a bit to make it more challenging. I always resort to the treadmill when my speed isn't where I need to be and force myself to go faster.

Use this to see the estimated treadmill to road pace.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hillrunner.com/calculators/treadmill-pace-conversions/%3famp

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T USE THAT USELESS PIECE OF GARBAGE CALCULATOR.

Here is a better calculator

https://42.195km.net/e/treadsim/

There are so many variables that it is impossible to just say raise the incline some. Variables include the calibration of the treadmill, the temp of the gym, if a fan is blowing on you, running style, etc

A better way is to just do a few runs on the treadmill and you will get a feel for the pace and how it correlates to your effort. The treadmill can be a great tool if you know bow to use it properly.

Oather: What I mean is I would do a 8-10 mile run mostly at GHMP where I speed up over the last mile ending at around a 10K pace (which is only 15 seconds faster than my GHMP). More like a fast finish than a run where I am continuously increasing my pace mile by mile from GHMP to 10K pace.

Hahariiiight: Thanks.. that is my tentative goal for my next marathon (2019 Tokyo Marathon).

omgggg wrote:

OMFG it boggles my mind how many people feel this way! The treadmill ALWAYS feels harder to me. I consistently run 30-60 seconds slower per mile on the treadmill with the same perceived effort as outside. Why do I seem to be the anomaly here? I promise you it's not the mental thing either; boredom doesn't bother me.

I have run thousands of miles on the Treadmill. I bought a new one last year after,mine of 13 years finally quit. My theory of perceived effort is this: It seems harder because your pace doesn't and cannot vary from step to step like it may outside. It seems harder and it is if you aren't used to it. I generally run faster (average pace) on the treadmill with a incline of 1.5 - 2%. than I do on a given day outside. Outside I might finish a run faster (sub 6:40 pace) but average 7:00, while inside I average 6:56 but close in 6:53.

I tend to overstride and be more quad dominant when I run which prevents me from absorbing the bounce back force supplied by the treadmill.

omgggg wrote:

OMFG it boggles my mind how many people feel this way! The treadmill ALWAYS feels harder to me. I consistently run 30-60 seconds slower per mile on the treadmill with the same perceived effort as outside. Why do I seem to be the anomaly here? I promise you it's not the mental thing either; boredom doesn't bother me.

This is unbelievably true. No sarcasm either. When people say running fast on a treadmill is easier, I have A LOT of experience over the years running all kinds of surfaces, and there's nothing that makes me cringe more than speed work on the mill. If I start dipping to low 7's indoors, I swear I am about to blow up. Low 7's outdoors on the roads or the trail, I am pushing it, but feel comfortable.

FindingTheAnswer wrote:

omgggg wrote:

OMFG it boggles my mind how many people feel this way! The treadmill ALWAYS feels harder to me. I consistently run 30-60 seconds slower per mile on the treadmill with the same perceived effort as outside. Why do I seem to be the anomaly here? I promise you it's not the mental thing either; boredom doesn't bother me.

How often do you run on the treadmill?

At least 3x a week. I won't run in the dark alone (female here) and with my work hours, usually treadmill is my only option to get my run in.

I love workouts on the treadmill. It's a very controlled setting so you can always get exactly what you want out of the workout. It is faster however because it's perfectly flat like a track and there is no wind resistance. Kicking up the incline a few clicks will cancel this out. And to anyone that says you don't propel yourself forward, you're dumb. The split second your foot is on the ground, the treadmill is pulling that foot backwards which means you've got to push yourself forward to stay in the center of the treadmill. That belt is moving around 15 feet per second at 6 minute mile pace. If your foot is on the ground for a quarter second it's being displaced around 4 feet.

^+1

You are much less likely to end up racing a workout as you stick exactly to pace.

It is much more accountable and makes sticking at the workout for the prescribed distance more likely vs quitting during the last 100m etc., which is all to easy to do outdoors. For tempo intervals every second at tempo pace and especially tempo effort at the end of the interval matter.

1.5 cents wrote:

omgggg wrote:

OMFG it boggles my mind how many people feel this way! The treadmill ALWAYS feels harder to me. I consistently run 30-60 seconds slower per mile on the treadmill with the same perceived effort as outside. Why do I seem to be the anomaly here? I promise you it's not the mental thing either; boredom doesn't bother me.

This is unbelievably true. No sarcasm either. When people say running fast on a treadmill is easier, I have A LOT of experience over the years running all kinds of surfaces, and there's nothing that makes me cringe more than speed work on the mill. If I start dipping to low 7's indoors, I swear I am about to blow up. Low 7's outdoors on the roads or the trail, I am pushing it, but feel comfortable.

I felt exactly the same way as you two guys until recently. I took a closer look at my treadmill the other day and noticed that the deck seemed like it was tilted up at a very slight incline. I went and got a level and put it on the deck and it was absolutely not level. I adjusted the incline on the treadmill's display until it was actually level and the display was -1.5%. I would suggest not taking the incline displayed at face value and using a level to find your true 0% point.

Let us not forget that treadmills needs to be calibrated to be accurate.

I've definitely struggled to run 8:00 pace on the mill when my usual easy/regular run pace is low 7:00s.

Still a fine training tool if you're not too concerned about hitting exact splits/paces, though I personally prefer to primarily run hard efforts on whatever surface I plan to race.

Never gets old...

if it was solar powered or some sht wrote:

Who cares about that, would the plane take off?