I have been thinking now (for many months) about getting a treadmill and finally decided to go ahead .
It's nothing special and not full of bells and whistles but rather a tool for use alongside outdoor running .
I don't particularly enjoy running in the rain so at least this will enable me to keep running when I either don't want or can't run outside .
I may not do runs of longer than 5K on it but it will certainty help getting my run frequency up again .
So today was just a short trot to calibrate my Garmin for treadmill running.
It is advised to run 1.5K minimum for this excercise.
I must admit it felt strange !
The pavements and roads are normally a bit wider so I found I was having to concentrate more on my foot placement, although this may help with running form!
The other noticeable difference for me was temperature!
I very soon warmed up , however, I do have a fan I can use in this room for future runs.
I have not quite sorted my pace out yet , this run was particularly slow as I was getting used to the confines of the running belt but I feel that will be better next time .
So for a first run on a home treadmill I am happy with it 😁
Happy running ! (Be that indoors or outdoors) 😁
Written by
Instructor57
Graduate10
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Good post from you Ian, but I don't think that I will be running on a treadmill, this morning I ran 6K in preparation to run 10K by the end of the month working up gradually to run the London Vitality Virtual 10,000 in early May.
Ha, thanks Abi , it's just nice to have the choice 😁👍
I used to find running on a treadmill bad, very bad, despite owning a treadmill. But I now am going to use it more frequently, not feeling up to running outside for the time being. The things I find in treadmill running is that it is much harder than outside. This is mainly because the treadmill has a continuous pace, while outside your pace changes continuously undetectable, so on the treadmill it feels less natural. You indeed get warm fast as there is no air current keeping you cool. And personally I find running on the treadmill much harder in effort, because of which I can't run as fast on it as I can outdoors. While outdoors I run 7 km/h, I run 6 km/h on the treadmill. But it is a fantastic little piece of equipment to have when hell freezes over outside or pigs drop from the sky!
Yay that's brilliant! 👏👏👏 I've never been on a treadmill but I confess I have felt very jealous of my neighbours at times because they have a treadmill and they can still run when it's icy outside 👍
I had a treadmill for years, bought for my husband who used it once, got a blister on his foot and never used it again. I used to walk fast on it for half hour after work every day and it really made a difference to how i felt, then I moved out and the husband said don’t forget to take the treadmill, well in a small flat i stood it in my bedroom along with my bike, it was a good way of doing something instead of sitting around moping and hey I got a lot of use for it. Enter Willow and there wasn’t the need to run until I felt better. One night he got up in the middle of the night and tripped over said treadmill and the bike fell on top of him!!! Both treadmill and bike moved out within a couple of days. It was the first time i’d heard him swear too 🤣I miss the treadmill on wet windy cold days and am sure i’d have used it when we started C25K and would love to have the choice sometimes
Enjoy yours Ian, I found I was faster than I’ve ever been on the road but the change takes some getting used to
As long as you're doing what you can to keep going then it doesn't matter what you do. Great idea Instructor57 and looking forward to cheering you along the way as you get used to it.
I got one in January for the same reasons as you. I quite like it and am using in during the week (outside at the weekend unless awful weather). I find I get hot too so have a fan set up. Also find I run slower. But it means I am running more often so it's a win !!
Yes I found I was slower also but I'm happy to have it and great to run indoors when the weather is bad and as you say if it gets the run frequency up then that's great 😁👍
When I got my treadmill, it was because I thought I wouldn't be able to run outside once it got cold (asthma) I quite enjoy running on it, fan on, radio on, it's me time...and if I need to nip to the loo, I can! I just like the convenience of it, it doesn't matter what I look like and if at 4k I've had enough, I can switch it off, likewise if I want to go further I don't need to figure out a route, it fits just now. I don't think it will get the same use as spring approaches but, right now it's kept me running and that's all I wanted.
It did make me smile when you said you were going slow, that pace is my fast pace 😂.
If it keeps you running it's doing what it was made for 🙂
Well done Ian! I have to admit the longer this weather goes on, the more I just want to hide in a corner 🤣. So you’ve found yourself a good compromise. I know what you mean about the lack of space - watch those elbows, I kept hitting the emergency stop button last time I was on one. 😊😊😊
Wow! I hope you get in with it! As you might remember, I sold mine, but I think it's useful for short interval running.I agree about the rain. I enjoy a rainy run, but not a freezing cold rainy run!
I'm considering joining a gym when I retire, so the odd treadmill run might happen!
I enjoyed my treadmill runs in the gym on the heavy duty machines! When I tried in my house I got distracted with things like 'that windowsill needs a dust' 😂
I’ve been visiting the gym more frequently with this hideous weather, and I must say I’ve enjoyed my treadmill runs. It was a toss up between an air conditioned gym and an exposed windblown, muddy squelchy common. No contest I’m afraid! I even did 10k on the treadmill recently - and enjoyed it! 😱 I used to belong to a gym with no air conditioning - that was a whole other story! 🥵
So I think your purchase is a wise one Instructor! If it keeps you running, it’s a no brainer. 👊
I bought a treadmill and joined a running group 9 weeks ago. The running group was for beginners and we basically did c25k.the group meets once a week for a run outside and I did the other runs on the treadmill. I like the way the treadmill controls my pace for me and the leader of the running group is brilliant. I did my 1st ever parkrun last week in 33.27 and loved it although it was hard at the end. I'm hoping to beat 30mins eventually. I now intend to run with group on Thursdays parkrun Saturday and a longer run on the treadmill on Tuesdays. Loving running now
I'm so pleased to read this ! I joined our leisure Trust gym recently, I get cheapo membership and it was to use the other gym equipment for strength training and for the pool .I have found the treadmill much slower to run on too so far and I really don't enjoy it very much ! I'm a scheduled to to a short fartleck today and currently the rain is peeing down ,so looking like a lunch time run .Not sure I would know the first thing about a fartleck on a treadmill. But,yes it's a means to an end .Good luck and enjoy!
Thank you , and I have yet to get into the preset programs on the treadmill, but I will certainly have a few Fartlek runs on it.The beauty of Fartlek is you make your own rules 😁
I joined the gym to keep running in bad weather and I love it. Yes, I have to go slower to avoid heating up too much, but as we are often told that we should do 80% of our runs slowly, it keeps me doing just that. If it's not a running day I'll walk for an hour on it and can read at the same time, win win! Was it very expensive?
Yes, I found I run slower on it so far but I'm not really used to it yet but it's great for keeping me moving in the bad weather , and most of my runs are kept to a conversational pace unless I'm doing a Fartlek run or similar.I've included the pic so you can find the current price of this model on Amazon .
They always seem hotter and sweatier! Be aware most folks I know take longer to run 5k on the treadmill, I think maybe you limit your stride length? It takes me about 5 mins longer yet a feel I am running faster!
This thread and most of the replies please me a lot.
There's far too much negativity aimed at treadmill running and runners.
Treadmills are brilliant tools for a variety of reasons and sometimes, for people in parts of the world that are either too hot or too cold, are a necessity.
What I would have given for a treadmill during the 1st 6 weeks of lockdown in Spain in 2020 when not even outdoor exericse was allowed. I resorted to running literally thousands of laps around a small outdoor terrace, that eventually resulted in a knee injury.
Just remember treadmillers ... you've given yourself more options than the outdoor evangelistas and they also require GREATER MENTAL STRENGTH AND CHARACTER (due to that awful and horrendous boredom .... good Lord - how DO we do it?? *)
HAHAAAA !
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
* I dunno ... maybe we use our imagination and put a podcast or TV show on ... multi-tasking!
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Running on a treadmill - a pleasant surprise
Treadmill running today... Nah! 
Start to Run - W1L2 - treadmill
Evening run - no music, no Garmin!😮
