Mid Week 9 Run!

[Richard7]

I don't normally post mid week but following yesterday's run I thought I would!Yesterday was my second run of week 9 and so you can understand the determination to get it done!

I dropped my wife off and headed straight to where I normally start my run in the car and got out to make my start.

I was immediately met with the strong winds buffeting me as I walked around the corner between the road and the trail. I was already aware of the wind but normally the trail which is sheltered both sides by bushes and trees is OK, at this time however it felt more like a funnel pulling the wind through it.

I hesitated and decided to head back to the car and go to the gym! Then the indecision kicked in as I started going back and forth between the trail and the car trying to wrestle with my mind over trail or gym!

In the end gym won and following a loo break I was starting my walk on the treadmill. That's when further indecision started!!

I have found a fairly comfortable place at between 8 and 8:30/km and my walking pace ranges between 10 and 12/km. The treadmill said 20/km so I upped the speed until it got to about 12 and it felt a lot faster than normal!

When it came to the run section I pushed the button on the treadmill and it got to 7 which was 8:34/km around my usual comfortable pace. My watch showed 6:45!!

Totally confused I just went into automatic mode and managed to get through it at this pace - sweat poured off me and I have no real idea whether this was just harder because I was not outside or because the treadmill was lying to me!!

I recalibrated my watch at the end so hopefully next time will be closer between the watch and the treadmill but I also read that treadmills are not always accurate and they need their own calibration from time to time! So I have no idea what to believe now!!

Fortunately I won't be using the treadmill I hope all that often but it would be nice to work out which is more accurate. I could just go by what feels comfortable and should but it's a bit harder with a treadmill because it dictates the pace to some extent.

I wonder what other people's experience is using treadmills compared to running outside!!

Anyway Happy Running everyone and hopefully my last week 9 run on Friday will be back outside again. 😀

[Gentlydoesnt Graduate]

gosh that seems a stress Richard, I’m glad you got through it today even after all the problems with the machine. I myself have never been on a running machine in my life and after reading of the things that can happen I’m glad. Your one ahead of me and it’s great to read of your determination at finishing. All the best.

[Richard7 Graduate in reply to Gentlydoesnt]

Thanks GD and good luck with week 9 - I am sure as you've clearly got through week 8 you will smash it - it is only 2 minutes more 😀👍

[Gentlydoesnt Graduate in reply to Richard7]

Thanks Richard that’s very kind , keep up the great work

[Yesletsgo Administrator]

Well done for completing the run but a thought occurred reading your post - are you sure the treadmill was calibrated in minutes per km not minutes per mile??

I find running on the treadmill a lot easier than running outdoors, less to think about, easier surface without potholes, dog mess, branches across the path etc so it seems odd that you should have had such a challenging run on one.

[Richard7 Graduate in reply to Yesletsgo]

Hi YLG - yes it was definitely in km 😀 the last gym I attended had it in miles and that was something I specifically looked into when I signed up with this one in January 👍. I am so used to km pace and when I used the old one I had to have a crib sheet to help me 😆

When I started using these treadmills earlier in the year I was of a similar mind to you as I was nursing knee issues I figured the treadmill would be easier and it was - less undulations putting stresses on my knee.

However, this was my longest continuous run on the treadmill, I have done previously a lot of run walks but never a full 30 minutes - so I was trying to match my indoor effort to my outdoor effort so as not to burn out - but then it got confusing - I think if the treadmill were capable of matching my running pace rather than me trying to match its I would have been OK as I could have just run what felt right - but mentally having to set the pace on the treadmill got me then looking at my watch and it all started playing games with me!!

In the end no matter what the actual pace was - it was a tough but good run and I got it done which was the main thing 😁

[Gentlydoesnt Graduate in reply to Yesletsgo]

And traffic pulling out on you not prepared to give way to runners as I’ve found a lot. Probably a lot of benefit in the machines apart from having to pay for them !!

[Dexy5 Graduate]

😂 oh yes, the dreadmill! I have found that most of the ones in gyms are set to mph or kph rather than the min/km pace we tend to use on Garmin. I must admit, I rely on hubby to tell me which speed to use on them. There must be a calculator somewhere but it’s easier to ask him. 😂

Well done you though. Only one run to go!

[Richard7 Graduate in reply to Dexy5]

Hee hee indeed - what will I do Christmas week 😜

[SueAppleRun Graduate]

That sounds like hard work, I used to love my treadmill.when I was on my own and would often just run for ages on it, but I always just pressed start and then increased the speed until it was a comfortable run 😀 mind you I prefer outside, enjoy your next run and hopefully the wind will have eased

[Richard7 Graduate in reply to SueAppleRun]

Thanks Sue and indeed with hindsight that is what I should have done - I was just looking at my Garmin stats and discovered POWER (never looked at it before) but it does suggest that this was a bit more effort (20% more) than previous runs so my guess is that the watch and treadmill were both telling me lies 😀

[SueAppleRun Graduate in reply to Richard7]

They probably were, I didn't have a Garmin until a few years after I got rid of the treadmill, I keep looking at new Garmins at the moment and really don't need one but it's nice looking , it would have been nice to have one with maps when I first moved and I wouldn't have got lost so often 🤣

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Well done you... you got the run in ! I used mine for icy days, and really inclement dangerous weather... I found it really useful, but it really did not get the use for which it was intended so I sold it. I used my elliptical cross trainer much more.

For m. like you I feel, outdoors is just the best!

[Gthants]

I did all of C25K outside. I joined a gym earlier in the year and walked on the treadmill a few times to warm up - I didn't really like it and found the pace utterly baffling; as you found, my watch and the treadmill timer wildly disagreed.

But when I find a comfortable pace indoors, I find I can do 5-10 minutes of running and am basically worn out. But this year I have done 5-6k quite frequently, and not so long ago was regularly running 40-50 minutes.

Treadmills are clearly not for me!

[Richard7 Graduate in reply to Gthants]

Good to know it's not just me!! Treadmills definitely have their uses though ... nice to know it's there as a fall back. Fortunately today's weather was much kinder to me 😃

[drl212 Graduate]

Well done for getting that one done! Sounds a nightmare...

Best for your last run - TODAY!!

[Richard7 Graduate in reply to drl212]

Thanks and all done and outside ... Much better 😃