How do you treadmill runners do it!

EricaH7

I love running. I run all spring, summer, and fall. However, I am from Michigan and I am sort of a whimp. I told myself this year I am going to try not to slack off and continue to workout all winter. Usually I quit in the winter and start up again in the spring. I've been trying to go to the gym and run on a treadmill but I find I am so exhausted after a few miles! I usually can run 7-8 outdoors before I feel the way I do after 3 in the gym! I think it is just because I am so focused on watching the time and wanting to be done. I listen to music while I run. Watching tv is not an option. How do you keep yourself focused for a long run on a treadmill?

rsclause

I don't! I hate treadmills but thankfully I live in an area where the coldest it gets is in usually in the low twenties. If the weather gets really bad I do some Nautilus and ride a exercise bike.

kristinegift

I play with the speed a lot to make the time go faster. Every couple minutes or every quarter mile, I'm fudging with the speed. I'll run fast for the chorus of a song and then drop it down. Anything to play little games to make the time pass a bit faster. You don't have to make it crazy intervals or anything either. Just a couple .1s of speed up & down every few minutes can do the trick. It makes the 3-4 mile runs go by pretty quick, and I actually love doing 7-8 mile speed work sessions on the 'mill.

Philtex

EricaH7 wrote: »

How do you keep yourself focused for a long run on a treadmill?

Like Kristine I watch the speed/ pace. I try to work it out so I end at the exact time I plan, such as 4 miles in 40:00. It becomes a math problem and a challenge.

BrianSharpe

That's why I run outdoors all year 'round (and it gets down to -40 occasionally during the winter...) I'll resort to the treadmill if there's freezing rain or a monsoon but that's about it.

With the right clothing winter running can be very enjoyable.

peleroja

I'm a princess and I hate running outdoors when it's much below freezing. Not fun at all to me. I happily run on the treadmill all winter and outside all summer.

I've learned to love the treadmill with the help of a towel thrown over the screen, audiobooks, a good playlist, and an e-book reader (as well as the Zombies, Run! app.) I don't use all these things at once but I do vary my routine - some days I do just the audiobook, sometimes I blast my music and read a new book on my tablet (I have the Overdrive app and can read downloaded library books on it so it's free and uses no data or wifi), sometimes I do music and a Zombies, Run! mission on "steady pace" mode.

Intervals are another good way to pass the time. If I do 8-10 sprint/walk or sprint/jog intervals I can kill half an hour without even noticing the time because I'm so focused on adjusting the speed, counting the intervals, etc. Sometimes I do half an hour of slow hills and then half an hour of sprint/walk or sprint/jog, sometimes I just do sprint/jog HIIT-type stuff if I'm doing a shorter session.

The towel over the screen is key so I don't have to watch the minutes and miles tick by too.

girlinahat

I've had to resort to the treadmill rather than my beloved outdoors as it's dark out there when I run. I'd still rather be outside and there's always another layer of clothes to help with that.

However if needs must – varying the speed is a good one – I find myself varying it by tiny amounts frequently just to mimic the tiny variations I have when running outside.

I listen to audiobooks and podcasts, and try and ignore the TV screen in front of me as it shows a half hour commercial for a bamboo pillow (srsly). I like the idea of covering the screen/dashboard thing too.

Try and have some kind of incline to mimic outdoors.

My gym has treadmills in miles and kilometres. I work in miles but the other day only had access to the kilometre one. I had a much better and longer run as I had no clue what was going on.

One of the things that makes me tired on a TM is that I get too hot. When you run outside the airflow promotes cooling. Can you have a fan running over you while you run to vaguely attempt to recreate this?

Finally, how about switching workouts for the winter? My focus for the winter is on strength training and free weights. The runs are just there to keep my hand in. I want the strength training to build my muscles and give me more power ultimately for my runs in the spring.

chemtrailz

I listen to music

Joanna2012B

I don't run on a dreadmill. I will dress for the weather. I live in Ontario Canada and it gets pretty cold here too. My limit is -20C (-4F). Once it's colder than that I have an indoor track I can use.

pondee629

Alternating speeds does help. I often start at a long distance conversational pace for ten minutes, and increase to my 10K or Half marathon pace for 6 minutes, dropping back to that conversational pace for ten then, perhaps a 5 K pace for 5, then back to conversational etc.

Breaking up the pacing, keeping track of the faster paces for a shorter time, keeps me more focused.

Tacklewasher

My treadmill is in my basement in sight of my 60 inch tv. I watch the news or sport shows in the morning and will walk/run 1 or 2 periods of a hockey game when my team is playing. I'm varying what I do, but am not very fast yet. Couple of times I've just listened to something on RockMyRun, and I expect I will do that when I start outside.

No friggen way would I run at -20. And I was born in Winnipeg.

Azdak

When your choice is either a treadmill or never being able to run, then the treadmill suddenly becomes a very attractive option, and with that mindset, you get used to it.

One thing to try is a variety of interval training workouts. One that I use a lot is 4 min running, 1 min either jogging or incline walking. If you push the intervals, this can be a tough workout--it's one of my "1000 calorie" runs that I try to complete in less than 55 minutes.

Another workout I do are what I call "ladder intervals". I run 10 minute segments in which I start at a recovery speed and then increase by 0.1 mph each minute--for example start at 6.3 mph and increase to 7.2 by the end of 10 min, then start the "ladder" over. You can keep the "range" of speeds the same or increase/decrease them as you go. If you are feeling good, you can increase the range of speeds. I use the random incline feature on my treadmill so that the incline constantly changes as well.

Both of these have the advantage of breaking up the run into smaller chunks and keeping your mind engaged.

As for longer, endurance runs--well, you just have to gut those out. Sometimes I cover the console so I can't see the timer and choose a number of songs I am going to listen to before I look at the time again. I decide to run for 10-12 songs before looking at the console, which is usually good for 45-50 min. Or I hang a magazine/book rack over the console and watch a show or movie on my iPad.

peleroja

grmckenzie wrote: »

My treadmill is in my basement in sight of my 60 inch tv. I watch the news or sport shows in the morning and will walk/run 1 or 2 periods of a hockey game when my team is playing. I'm varying what I do, but am not very fast yet. Couple of times I've just listened to something on RockMyRun, and I expect I will do that when I start outside.

No friggen way would I run at -20. And I was born in Winnipeg.

Lol. Edmonton here and I'm with you. The outdoors loses its appeal to me right around the time the skin on my face goes numb, my eyelashes freeze my eyes shut, and my extremities go from "can't feel" to "burning pain" I've lived in cold climates my whole life and I know how to dress properly for the weather, but there does come a point where being outside is more of a necessity than a pleasure in my opinion. I have a ton of great, high-end gear and I know how to layer properly, but for me it's just not a good time in the -20s, -30s, -40s no matter how well I'm covered.

I mean, if you do enjoy it, more power to you and all that, but I can confidently say that there's nothing wrong with you if you don't....

BruinsGal_91

I do prefer running outdoors, but I'm also one of those weird people who actually enjoys running on a treadmill. I'm in New England, and I am not going to suck it up and run outside in the winter (when there's 5' of snow on the ground, I'd rather be X-country skiing).

My treadmill is in the basement, and if I'm not watching hockey, I'll crank up the music, muck around with the speed settings, and before I know it, I've done ten miles or so.

RoxieDawn

I am not friends with my treadmill.. But it does beat not being able to run when weather is too bad.. The longest run is 5-6 miles MAX.. I find a way to get into my running zone the best I can. Once the music is on, I can endure it pretty well but my enjoyment factor is NIL.

duckgems

It depends how long is long?! Personally, I can't go more than 1 hour or I get bored. What I try to do is challenge myself either by increasing the incline and/or doing fast sprints and/or running at a certain speed during one song. It helps...good luck!

janejellyroll

I'd rather run than not run. If that means I'm hitting the treadmill when it's icy outside or pouring rain or -15, then that's what I'll do. Would varying the speed or incline make it more interesting for you? If you don't find music sufficiently engaging, have you tried a podcast or an audiobook?

GottaBurnEmAll

I'm just getting used to a treadmill because I am a delicate princess about weather. It's not awful. I tend to let my mind wander when I run anyway, even with music. I do find it helpful to throw a towel over the thing. I also find the radio more engaging that a straight playlist.

SLLeask

The roads where I live are really hilly and uneven and gravelly, I LOVE the treadmill. I like to listen to loud music, stare at the blank wall in front of me, zone out and do my thinking... without worrying of I'm going to slip on gravel or twist my ankle in a pot hole!

spiriteagle99

I have a treadmill in the basement, which I use when the weather is bad or too hot or too cold. I've done up to 20 mile runs on it when marathon training but mostly I end up doing either fartleks, intervals or tempo runs on it. I'll usually do 2 miles warmup followed by 3-4 miles of speedwork of some kind then a mile of cool down. I find that the faster paces feel much faster on the TM, so I have to pay attention. For regular runs, one key is to start much slower than usual and make most of the run progressive. Depending on the length of the run, that can mean speeding up every 1/2 mile to 2 miles. On the longer runs, I vary the incline every 1/4 mile or so to replicate the hills around my home. My overall pace is always slower than the same length run outside, which makes it easier on my body but by the time I'm getting bored, my pace is fast enough the miles pass fairly quickly. I listen to music or watch a video on the longer runs, usually one with lots of nature images and very little dialog since the TM is very loud.

GiddyupTim

Maybe try getting the proper gear. You can keep yourself comfortable and you adjust and get used to it fairly quickly.
I used to run in Minnesota in the winter -- all winter. Storms. Below zero. Etc. I suppose when I started doing it, it was hard. But you really do get used to it. I actually liked experiencing weather. (Much of the time, anyway.)