I find myself, at very short notice (as in, we need you here now - how soon can you be here? followed by a five hour drive) in the centre of Birmingham. It's all very roady and busy and I don't fancy running outside and doing al the road crossings etc. It's just not what I'm used to, dears. If I see a car on my run it is unusual.
So, I have access to a gym - how different am I going to find a running machine?
Can't answer that but some of Birmingham canal towpaths are good for running if you are anywhere near them.
And safe for a single woman very early in the morning? I can see one nearby on the map.
I ran on towpath when working in Birmingham earlier this year. Early evening and a few people walking so I felt quite safe but I guess you need to take a look an judge how safe you think your bit is.
As someone who runs on a treadmill and outside I can say that they are very different. However, the biggest difficulty, as I've found, is transitioning from treadmill to outside - you're doing it the other way round so you're unlikely to have a problem - you may just find it a bit boring!
Thanks Rebecca. I can imagine it being boring - I guess they'll have tv on or something.
The treadmills at my university gym have everything from Sudoku and chess to Netflix, so I wouldn't worry about being bored. You can always get a film on your IPod and plug it into the treadmill to charge if there's nothing else. If you can, try and get a treadmill next to an open window so you'll get a bit of a breeze as you run though, and a better view than a blank wall.
I started my running life on a treadmill and when my daughter suggested I run with her outside I thought she was mad. However since that day I have hardly used the treadmill at all as I find it rather monotonous, although a good dose of Jeremy Kyle or other day time TV can be entertaining. The hardest thing I found was knowing that I could just stop and get off, whereas when I'm outside I have to keep going to get back home or wherever I've started from. I also find now that I'm constantly looking at the seconds toking so slowly they hardly seem to pass, and I enter a completely different time space continuum. 
When I'm away from home I actually enjoy running new routes outside, and use MApMYRun or WalkJogRun to plot where I'm going to run and familiarise myself with the route.
Seriously though, if you feel safer running inside then just go for it.
Hi all just done W2R2 am doing mine on a treadmill as I live in a small village with not many suitable places to run, I feel reading some of these replies like I will never or at least really struggle to run outside which I would like to do once I have built up more stamina, so is it worth continuing as I am and eventually start outside when I feel ready or bite the bullet and move to the roads?
Thanks Richard
If you're near I think it is Broad Street it's all been redeveloped and is quite nice and dandy.. you can run round the green near the cathedral too, although the car pollution may get you. Where in Brum are you exactly...? I used to work there in another life...
I'm at Aston university so not far from the cathedral area but I think I'll try the gym. It's just round the corner and will be a different running experience.
Just different..you have much more control in the gym...
This article is very interesting!
First run completed 
My first 5km run!
First run post Graduation.
First run outdoors! 
My first free run!! 
