The transition from treadmill to the pavement.

[rochiebro]

How did you guys find changing from running on a treadmill to running on the pavement and roads etc.? I go to the gym 3 days a week to do the program, but I am anxious to run a bit more outside of that to improve my fitness. Is it a lot more physically demanding?

[Vivwestie Graduate]

I think it is. I have done the whole programme outside, because a couple of years ago I joined a gym and ran on the treadmill up to 10 mins at a time. I love running outside, because I love the outdoors! But.. if you don't like the great outdoors ie.. cold, rain, changing vistas etc., then it may not be for you. But the pay-off is seeing stuff you wouldn't normally see and just engaging with the world generally is very inspiring. Perhaps if you started off running on grass, because pavement pounding can be a bit challenging, - in fact running outside is challenging - but in a really good way.

[rubbishrunner Graduate]

I'm not sure it's harder ... but it takes a bit of time to get used to the change. I started on the treadmill then went outside and I struggled more with my breathing. On the treadmill I am a real clock-watcher (I look at the time at least once every minute), whereas outside I can run for several minutes at a time without checking my watch, so for me, outside is always better for longer runs! So, on balance, now I am used to it, I prefer outside ... although it is good to have the treadmill as an option.

[shelleymcb Graduate]

I did all of c25k on a treadmill then tried to go outside & failed. I think this is becauuse I couldnt pace myself & ran too fast. my daughters did c25k & I joined them & we did one run outside a week, which was great for me as I had someone to run with & eased me into running outside.

I would say that outside is more demanding (you have wind, cars, dogs!! pedestrians etc to contend with & also had to get new trainers as I suffered from shin pain with my trainers that had been perfectly fine for the treadmill. new trainers after gait analysis & now would not run indoors unless I had no other choice (snow).

good luck moving outside. & if you dont already run on the treadmill with an incline then moving it up to half or one percent gradient is supposed to mimic the extra effort of outdoors. x

[doggymum Graduate]

I too did all of C25K on the treadmill and other than a few Parkruns it was a few weeks after graduation before I ventured outside to run. I much prefer outside now and really struggle on the treadmill to find a pace I am comfortable at to run for more than 10 minutes as my C25K programme pace is now too slow. I also clock watch more on the treadmill (more than when I was doing C25K if thats possible!) I didn't find outside harder, just different. It was nice to have some scenery go by, rather than just looking at the same thing for 30 minutes. For me I think the treadmill will be more useful for interval training now rather than longer runs but its good to have it as an option.

[Shazzapat Graduate]

I did all but one run on the treadmill but I do have the treadmill on an incline.. The one outdoors was because I was on holiday. I struggled as was running into a sea breeze and I could not pace myself as easily. It was the hardest run of them all.