Outdoor vs Indoor run 🏃‍♀️

[Anna_8892]

I actually went for my first outdoor run yesterday.I decided I would try my week 4 run 2 but just couldn’t do it for different reasons (heart condition),so I just went back to week 1 run 3 then ran and extra 2 minutes. Definitely prefer treadmill runs at the minute. What’s everyone’s preferred choice of location for their run.

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate]

Love that we’re all different….well done you for trying something new, if you don’t try you’ll never know…outdoors all the way for me…the only time I run indoors is on holiday if it’s too hot. Being outside, especially in the park or down by the canal is my absolute fav…enjoy yourself wherever you are!

[Meshuggah81]

I got to w3r3 on treadmill and carried on to 30 mins so I can now run up to 50 mins but went to do w4r1 outside and whilst I completed it, felt like far too much and has left me feeling really demotivated so I'm thinking of going back to w1 too purely for outside. I have fibro and it doesn't generally play me up but my physio indicated running outside can be a lot harder so to take everything back to basics. Definitely prefer treadmill and feel like I can fly on that thing lol

[Jancanrunagain Graduate]

outdoor for me too but it’s different strokes for different folks. The run is all that counts here. Sometimes it’s hard when you’re mixing indoor and outdoor to maintain the same momentum, because you’ve got used to a particular rhythm…

Indoor is definitely useful for me when the weather is too dodgy to risk

[kpnuts53 Graduate]

outside for me too, but completely agree that we all have to do whats right for us, a run is a run as many on here remind us, so well done on such long times

[JeremiahObadiah Graduate]

Ideally I supose one would be able to mix them up . Outdoors has much to recommend it-fresh air, daylight, views, sounds, distractions, less boredom factor….but the chances of any or all of uneven surfaces, odd camber of road, wind drag, rain, interaction with vehicles, interaction with dogs, getting lost , unexpected previously unnoticed inclines,

I think one can’t run c25k 30 mins on a treadmill and think that would translate to the same outdoors run -in the same way that running on roads and paths is very different again to running on fields and uneven tracks-but after a few exploratory runs to get legs and feet used to the different challenges it should/could be possible to ease oneself into it. I would dial it right back to short slow acclimatisation runs and see if it grows on you.

[Scruff55 Graduate]

I much prefer outdoor runs now but did complete C25k on the treadmill first then moved outside but also found it really hard to transfer so completed the whole program again outside 🤣🤣it’s so much fun outside I now struggle to run for any distance on a treadmill.

[Madwife60 Graduate]

I’ve never run indoors and relish the fresh air, birdsong and sense of freedom being outside brings. It took a while to get over feeling people were watching/judging me but once I realised I was pretty much invisible and nobody cared I’ve never looked back. I pass my regular dog walkers most days and say hi but really it’s just me and the birds

[Trailslogg Graduate]

Outdoors for me, and preferably trails... Which is always difficult in winter, here in New Hampshire; basically I take a two-month break from running completely in about January-February when I'm just skiing (Nordic, not downhill, so plenty of exercise!) and ice skating. Right now my beloved mountain trails are transforming into ice-cold torrents of water, flowing over solid ice, and once that melts they'll consist of ankle-deep mud through April - so no running there yet. (I suppose in a way that's a good thing as around this time the bears come back out of their dens, starving and possibly followed by their cubs - best to stay clear of them!). So I'm on the roads this time of year, jumping out of the way of too-fast, too-close cars every now and then (oh well, keeps me agile :-). Still, I prefer that over the treadmill, which I've only used occasionally when overnighting in an unknown city (hotel gyms!). I like to feel the wind in my face; as someone else said above, it gives me a feeling of freedom to just be running outside.

But as everybody else has said, a run is a run; do whatever works for you, and cherish your body getting stronger over time and more willing to do what's asked of it!

[Sojac Graduate]

I completed C25K in July 2024 on a treadmill at home. I run 5k three times a week since then ( mostly on a treadmill). I have completed a few runs of 8k. I have done a few runs outside but prefer my treadmill!