Treadmill to Road running

[Peaks08]

Hi all I’m now in W5R2 and have only done 1 of those runs outside and my god I found it hard!

I now feel like sometimes I don’t always want to go to the gym to do my runs so will have to do them in the fresh air..........any tips pls?

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

I know it’s hard to change from one to the other, I think it’s just gonna take practice.

[misswobble Graduate]

I’ve never run on a machine I only ever run outside It’s complete freedom

I’m going out in a mo, over the fields, probably, some road too. i think the main difference will be the passage of time. It will fly 👍

[Pippatong]

I started the programme outside, moved to the gym around week 4 for three weeks then back

Outside. I haven’t run in a gym since then. I suspect you’re more likely to get injured and certainly more aches being outside but it’s more interesting and you toughen up more. Introduce one run a week outside and build up as you feel able. There’s no shame in doing it at the gym, ultimately you are fitter than when you started so do whatever suits you best. Good luck

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

You'll be fine - it will feel a bit odd for the first few mins, but after that, no problem at all. You'll get used to it very quickly and no doubt start to plot interesting routes as you start to appreciate being outside. Enjoy!

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

Interesting to see 2 threads posted almost simultaneously Pitco

[roseabi in reply to John_W]

Oh yes - one road to treadmill, the other treadmill to road!

I would like to propose that people stop referring to the treadmill as the "dreadmill" - maybe we should have a competition to come up with a more cuddly nickname 😊

[John_W Graduate Ambassador in reply to roseabi]

Don't get me wrong, treadmill can very very hard at times (as you probs know) - but it *has* its place. As for new nickname ... pass!

[roseabi in reply to John_W]

Oh, I agree! I have actually only used one once (the weather was unspeakable), but I thought running on it was fine, and would definitely use it again if I needed to. Not for very long runs, though 😊

I'm partly kidding about the nickname (actually I think it's pretty funny), I just think the negativity can be unhelpful.

[Wolvesmad Graduate]

I too did all of my runs up to end of wk6 indoors but as the runs got longer I just got bored. We also went on holiday at start of wk7 so did 2 runs outside. Boy did they make my leg muscles ache. But I took an extra recovery day and i love outdoors now. It's more interesting and I don't sweat buckets plus my leg muscles have grown noticeably.

Hope this helps

[Cherylcw Graduate]

At week 3 I bought a treadmill (due to young children and my partner working nights) and have done pretty much all my runs since on the. End of week 6 I did an outdoor run and it was bad as it was all uphill and I struggled. Then went back to the treadmill.

On Sunday it was w9r1 and I decided to run outside. It was warmer than I'd anticipated, and again I hadn't thought my route very well and the 2nd half was very uphill.... I felt like I was running sooo much slower as almost slowed to a walk on a couple of occasions. But by the time I finished, my pace was 30 seconds a km faster than I normally manage. I did 4.89km in 30m22s which I was soo pleased with. There was a nice breeze and I wasnt dripping like I am on the treadmill. But... I forgot to do my warm up walk and didn't stretch enough after, and my legs were hurting for 2.5 days after.

I did w9r2 yesterday back on the treadmill, but found that unusually hard.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get out and do my graduation run back outdoors