Have just got home after 14 days on a cruiseship - and have come away with an appreciation of the use of a treadmill as a complimentary tool to use for running training. I did also try out one (once) on a previous cruise in August and came away thinking "not for me" . But this time I persevered and did about 6 sessions - which I enjoyed and feel very good about.
The biggest benefit for me was the ability to set out to do a certain task and to complete it to the letter of what was required - especially as a HRM user. One big problem for me is pacing myself to achieve a certain training requirement - eg that could be to run for a set period of time at a certain heart rate. Out on the road, I find that the hills and my own inability to pace myself causes my HR to go all over the place. But on the treadmill, I was able to to do short and long "threshold runs" at a specific required heart rate. I used it to simulate "hilly" threshold runs, and high HR intervals for set periods of time. The machine was set for a maximum of 20 minutes use at one time - so this meant that I was able to undertake strenuous tasks for a 20 minute period - a time which is really quite short to what I would normally do on a road run. I am thinking that from a cardio point of view, because I don't have to worry about the leg muscles side of things while using the treadmill, I can improve my breathing and increase my endurance at threshold/tempo speeds. I am thinking that long slow runs on the road - and faster ,shorter runs on the treadmill would be of great benefit to me.
Written by
Bazza1234
Graduate
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Hope you had a good holiday Bazza. Useful lesson there about the benefits of treadmills. As I think some one else pointed out in another post, professional runners do use them, pretty much for the reasons you've listed. Definitely a tool to consider including in the running arsenal.
I do have room to have one -- but to get a"good" one they are fairly expensive!!
I am intending to do the "running for fitness" plans as in Jack Daniel's book "Daniels Running Formula". He has 4 plans of 16 weeks duration - and I will start on his second one. His plans are very specific - and the pace of all the runs are all determined by the outcome of a recent 5K race. He says to his runners - "you can train faster only after you prove that you can race faster." Hence the need to be able to do so-called "quality runs" at specific paces. I use this spreadsheet in conjunction with the book. goo.gl/EIfT7m
It is starting to get hot here - so all of my runs are going to have to be very early morning from now on - 4.30 AM to 5AM at the latest, so a treadmill would be good also because of this to do the short but hard quality runs . I do have a running track close to me - so I am going to measure it out to do the 1K and 1mile Threshold level runs that he calls for in the plan. Will see how that goes for a while.
Thank you Bazza, this is exactly the kind of motivation I went online for! It is lashing down and it's windy - even the dog does not want to go out... so I got my swimming pool bag ready but I am going to add in the runinng gear and have a go at the dreadmill!
Hope you enjoyed your holiday and well done on that Volcano!
Hi bazza glad you had a good time & could carry on on the treadmill . I can't make my mind up on them , used one in hotel on holiday in Turkey but it was pants , and used one in gym twice for incline walking few years back , that was not bad . Anyway what I want to ask is are you still doing the Jeff Galloway method of running ? I've just started his 10k training plan and find it much easier on my legs . Happy running
Re Jeff Galloway -- yes and no! I have been playing around with a heart rate monitor and doing "easy" runs by running until I get to 130 BPM and then walking until it goes back down to 120 BPM . According to all indications and and best "intelligent guess" I can make regarding my maximum HR ( which I believe is probably around 165), my easy runs should be done at between 120-130 BPM. As it turns out this works out at around 1 minute run/1 minute walk.
I am about to do a 16 week Jack Daniels "Running for fitness - not a race" programme. This entails mostly easy runs plus varying distance short and fast runs which have walking breaks between them. We are going to the US for 2 months in May/June , returning early July - there is a HM nearby which I would like to do in October ( which only gives me 10 weeks to train for that ) - I will use a "modified" Jeff Galloway plan for that .
Have a look at at Coach Jenny Hadfield's run/walk plans for various race distances here jennyhadfield.com/training-... -- I quite like the look of them.
Thanks bazza , yes seems a good plan you are following , and not much different to jeff galloway . I've got heart rate monitor got it with garmin but never used it . I will take a look at that link . Good luck and all the best with your training
Bazza1234, You are a very methodical man and it has paid. Like you, I prefer the equipment at the gym, as both treadmill and bike can be calibrated to your need. I shall go to my 4th week session this afternoon. Best wishes for your performance. Oh by the way, do you always have to book a cruise to go on the treadmill??
That 30 min run was only a training run - therefore you would run faster during a timed 5K race - if we regard that run as a long "tempo" training run, then according to the spreadsheet, you should be able to achieve 32 minutes for a 5K race ( after you have had sufficient training using that tempo training pace PLUS lots of much slower " easy" pace runs. -- easy pace being around 8 minutes per K)-- your pacing is very much like mine
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
I have been playing around with a heart rate monitor and doing "easy" runs by running until I get to 130 BPM and then walking until it goes back down to 120 BPM . According to all indications and and best "intelligent guess" I can make regarding my maximum HR ( which I believe is probably around 165), my easy runs should be done at between 120-130 BPM. As it turns out this works out at around 1 minute run/1 minute walk. 
Transitioning from treadmill to outside
Tales from the treadmill (the launch)
Treadmill or road running?
