Sunday Night didn't happen - it was tanking down with rain, and I decided instead I'd run Monday. So back along the canal - which it turns out is closing for repairs to the locks near where I turn for home, so no narrowboats to chase.... Still, I did it, and distance was up on Friday - maybe because of no real gradients!
Now, whether it's the extra day to recover, or just that I'm getting fitter, but my breathing seemed a lot better this time. Normally I'm puffing away like a steam train after a few minutes, but less rhythmically - for all Laura's advice back in the early weeks, I've never got the hang of it. But yesterday I noticed that most of the way my breathing was a little slower, a little more measured, at least until the last few minutes.
Sadly though I might have to abandon the canal for the winter, as the towpath is getting quite slippery in parts and I had to be quite cautious over parts of it not to fall - I know it's not deep in the canal, but I don't really want to end up in it, pulling myself out like the creature from the black lagoon only moaning about my ruined technology..... So I'm currently looking on Ebay for people in the area selling treadmills, which would also leave me fewer excuses of the "It's raining too hard/too cold/too dark" to go at. One thing - how do people running on treadmills find it compared to outdoors - is one easier than the other?
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AlbertRoss
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I contemplated this a few weeks ago after getting heckled to an extent I reported it to the police. I went to a gym on a free trial pass to give it a go and hated it. Time DRAGGED. I don't know how people do it. Give me the rain and a load of abuse any day of the week (well no, I'd rather not have either, but you get the gist)...
Maybe do the same, get a free day pass for a gym - they want people to sign up in Jan so you may still get a few about at this time of year. Have a go and then see what you think. Or just buy one on ebay and if you hate it sell it in the new year for twice the price you paid (everyone will be on a health kick then so you get more for stuff).
I don't think it is a case of one being easier than the other. Its a personal thing. I can't cope with the monoteny of a treadmill and struggle with pace. I tend to run to the speed set, whereas on the road I run to how I feel, the pace is constantly changing.
For me you can't beat running outside, the feeling of freedom. For others they will be removed from their treadmill kicking and screaming.
Have you considered getting a pair of trail shoes instead? Much cheaper!😉 No offence to anyone who uses a treadmill, but I agree with Miller2 on this one. Embrace the weather, kit up and step out!!💨💦🍂🏃🏻💦🌨
I've found the treadmill easier. You need to use a slight incline to make it approximately equivalent to outdoors. That said, I started but never completed c25k several times at the gym. I completed it first attempt outdoors.
Treadmills, the sort you get in a gym, have really good shock absorption, great if you've got dodgy knees. I looked at an equivalent treadmill for home this year and they are really expensive, even refurbished or second hand. It was more cost effective to get a good pair of running shoes and hit the paths around my home. I don't think I could go back to running at the gym. Even with the running shoes and running gear my husband keeps buying me (long sleeved tops, thicker leggings, gloves, hat, gillet etc.), it's still cheaper than joining the gym.
I belong to a gym and go about three times a week, and it was through my Macmillan Personal Trainer that I was first encouraged to include in my warm up some fast paced walking on the treadmill, and later she suggested I put in some intervals of running. I then began C25K on the treadmill in the gym and was quite enjoying it. A friend suggested I ran outside, and I thought I'd never be able to do it, but I had a go with my daughter. Running outside is certainly very different, and I'm lucky that I have two relatively nice routes which are mainly away from the roads. I've really come to appreciate the park that is at the back of my house as well as a small park and woodland a stones throw away.
I still enjoy going to the gym and have worked on my core strength, and done rehabilitation exercises. There is also a swimming pool, which has been great.
So far I've been lucky that all my outdoor runs have fallen on days when it's not been raining, as I don't know how I will fair in the wet (I'm a glasses wearer and suffer from vertigo when my vision is impaired, so rain is not a friend to me even when I'm walking). So I think I will still need to use the treadmill on wet days, and possibly when it gets too cold.
To be honest I think I will prefer outdoors as well - I did my first C25K run in the house, running round and round to the bemusement of the dog, and it wasn't an experience I particularly want to go back to - but it might just give me that other option (or alternatively remove an excuse!)
My other half would also use it - she tried C25K but finds it difficult to find three slots a week, partly as she wouldn't feel comfortable running in the evening on her own (one of us has to look after the kids!) and so it gives her that flexibiility too.
Hi AlbertRoss, just finished W5R2 this morning and most of my runs have been on a treadmill. I find it much easier, I think because it keeps my pace even. I get in the zone and just keep moving. I know it's not for everyone, but it works for me!
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