Tread mill or road

[nickylouise80]

Just finished my 3rd run of week 1! And did 2 on the treadmill and one on the road! I find it incredibly easier on the treadmill and can’t work out why? Any ideas? My stats are saying I’m working as hard and in cardio.

[LordLuton Graduate]

I find treadmill running a bit easier too. Far less enjoyable than being outdoors though.

I put it down to the environmental factors. No inclines, no wind, no obstructions, smooth forgiving surface, and consistent pace. It’s easier to get in a rhythm and stay there, I think.

Congratulations on week 1. When you look back, you’ll possibly realise the first runs were the toughest all of. Good luck with week 2. You’re ready for it.

[DrEdFullyunfit]

Hi

I’m on Week 6 and have just moved from the treadmill to road this week.

There is a difference, road running works your muscles differently - uphill wasn’t a problem for me, but I’m very achey after downhill as my muscles just aren’t used to it. Some treadmills have an incline setting so you can adjust it to give you a more road like experience, but it’s not the same as the ups and downs of the great outdoors.

Treadmills are great for keeping pace, mine has really helped me slow down when I needed to; so that was a big bonus. On the road you have to learn to pace yourself (I think I ran faster on the road). As you go through the program you’ll find pace is important!

I just found that I was getting bored on the treadmill and that was affecting my endurance. Plodding along looking at the time ticking down was a bit dull and if I was struggling it was a reminder of how far I had left to go, even my music couldn’t distract me. Also I was getting super hot on the treadmill - and my mouth was so dry. No problems like that outdoors which was a surprise. I think that helped my run immensely.

So, in short, my advice would be set your treadmill to an incline if you can - it will help you switch to outdoors when you want to. Run outdoors when you can (you’ll learn the difference between the two yourself and then you can decide which is best for you) and importantly remember running on a treadmill counts! I was feeling like a bit of a fraud running on mine but that was wrong. I completed my first outdoor run fine, I just worked some new muscles and ache today. If I’d transitioned earlier that might not have been the case.

Well done for completing Week 1, you’ll be amazed at how well you’ll do and how quickly you’ll progress

[mandy167 in reply to DrEdFullyunfit]

I on week 5 run number 2 I had a ankle op in October and I only been on treadmill I want to start running out side should I start from week 5 or go back some runs any advice please I have done c25k before out side until my ankle played up

[DrEdFullyunfit in reply to mandy167]

Mandy167, Have you done W5R2 this week or back in October?

[mandy167]

This week on treadmill