Tips for moving off treadmill to great outdoors?

[Sofabunny]

Anyone converted to outdoor? Were you able to just carry on or did you have to go back a few runs? I will be starting week 6 this week with all runs on treadmill. I am expecting it to be more challenging, just wondering how others have found the transition from treadmill?

[Sortyourlife]

So ive not done both as part of the program but up until I started it I’d only ran on the treadmill (this was fairly recently to me starting the program too, it’s not like ‘I was running on a treadmill 5 years ago then I’ve started doing this outside’ it was literally a week before.

I knew I could run on the treadmill for 10-15 minutes without stopping, but I was always focused on the time I’d been running for and the speed I was going at. I even tried watching Netflix whilst running but it didn’t help.

I started doing this program from the beginning just to try and give me a little more confidence and with the weather being as nice as it is I figured it’d give me a good incentive to go and do it outside than looking out of the same window at a tree at the gym. Now I’m so glad that I did. I actually find it easier to run outside as you’re setting your own pace rather than trying to keep up with a machine or being disheartened that you can only run at X speed.

But I am also glad that I can go back to the treadmill if the weather is absolutely awful or I’m just not feeling the heat or whatever the reason is.

If I keep going like this, I’ll probably cancel my gym membership and save myself £25 a month.

In terms of what to do mid program - I’d say just try the next run you’re supposed to do, you might surprise yourself. If it turns out it’s too hard and you count it as a practice run instead, that’s okay too. It’s then up to you whether you felt like you were almost there and will try it again, or whether you go back a couple of runs.

Good luck whatever you decide 💞

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

I would suggest that W6R1 is not the best choice for transitioning to outdoors from the treadmill. There is an increase in overall duration over the previous workout and it catches many out anyway, without throwing anything else into the equation.

You may well find coping with different surfaces, pacing yourself, gradients, weather and all the other wonderful things that outdoors has to offer, quite enough challenge. Increasing your duration is not going to help you adapt. If you have had your treadmill set to at least a one degree gradient, then you will be better prepared.

If you are going to do this soon, then it might be best to do it on the third run of one of the last three weeks of the programme, when you have already covered that week's distance a couple of times already.

I have huge respect for those who undertake c25k on a treadmill. I know my boredom threshold would make it impossible for me to endure that much indoor running.

The first few runs may seem hard, but I am sure that you will love the big outdoors when you make the change.

[Sofabunny in reply to IannodaTruffe]

My plan is to plod on with treadmill to end of programme now..tbh I would never have started this if it weren't for a friend who wanted to offload a treadmill..I took it off her hands because I have a chronic bad back and wasn't moving enough over the dreadful winter to stop it playing up. I planned to use it to walk on and then in a moment of madness decided to start a C to 5k..I never expected to get this far! I am very slow though..week 6 now..I would like to get outside..🏃‍♀️