Feeling pretty down right now

hdlb

I thought I was doing good - I can run 20+ minutes on a treadmill, at an incline, and then I ran outside today.

I didn't expect it to be easy, and didn't think I would be able to make it as long as I can on a treadmill, but seriously, I couldn't go more then 4 minutes without having to walk. It was awful.

I'm not totally sure what to do, do I just keep trying to work myself up to 20 minutes (where I am on the treadmill) and then continue from there with the program, or do I start C25K over again outside?

rduhlir

Slowly add incline to the treadmill. That is what I did.

I actually find it harder on the treadmill than outside, but I have heard it the other way around too.

pet1127

Running outside is harder than treadmill running.
Treadmill propels for you outside you propel YOU
Big diff. I would slow down when running outside and work on form and breathing

hdlb

Running outside is harder than treadmill running.
Treadmill propels for you outside you propel YOU
Big diff. I would slow down when running outside and work on form and breathing

I was just shocked at HOW much harder it was...I knew it was going to be harder, but I didn't expect to be right back at square one. I think I'll stay off the treadmill as much as possible and keep working on getting better outside.

jlmed

I would keep trying until you reach 20 minutes then carry on. No need to restart the entire program.

Susay2942

I am just recently getting back to running. I found long ago that the humidity and the natural elevation of the area made a difference in my endurance. I ran three miles everyday alternating between treadmill and outside in Houston Tx. Then on vacation in NM tried running outside and hit the wall at 1.5 miles. It was really depressing until someone explained I would need to train to aclimate for endurance at a different elevation.. Hope that makes sense.

missmidge84

Same thing happened to me. I did the entire program on the treadmill because MN winters are cold and snowy. I've started doing one run per week outside on a relatively flat route to ease into the transition a bit. I also put the treadmill at 0.5 or 1 incline now.

mamakira

I have never run on a treadmill. I wouldn´t start over again, try to figure out how much you can run outside and what that would be in the program. Look what seems to be doable. And maybe start from there.
That is what I would do.

hdlb

I would keep trying until you reach 20 minutes then carry on. No need to restart the entire program.

Thanks everyone. I think I will just keep trying to hit 20. I know pacing was an issue, I'm so used to the treadmill doing it for me.... I woke up in a much better frame of mind today, and I will just keep working on it.

PaytraB

Stick with it. You'll be able to do this in no time. It's another training hurdle.
That said, I'm getting a bit worried now about making the transition to the outdoors. I've only run on a treadmill so far. Thanks for helping to prepare me for what may be an eye-opening experience.

ripemango

'they' say it is harder outside. it could be that.

i noticed something this week. I just was not able to hit the time lengths this week I was last week. It just wasn't in me. I was a little stumped. Then I had two good long night sleeps and the next morning I was able to reach my time goal plus 2 more minutes. I'm certain it was the sleep bc my cals were about the same the previous week and this 1.

give it time and keep at it. the set backs make the victories that much sweeter.

bostonwolf

Running outside is harder than treadmill running.
Treadmill propels for you outside you propel YOU
Big diff. I would slow down when running outside and work on form and breathing

I was just shocked at HOW much harder it was...I knew it was going to be harder, but I didn't expect to be right back at square one. I think I'll stay off the treadmill as much as possible and keep working on getting better outside.

My guess is that you were also running at a faster pace than you thought, since you did not have the treadmill to dictate pace for you.

I'd keep running outside. I plan to do so since it is getting warmer. You'll learn better pacing and you'll be back to 20 minute runs quicker than you think, I'd bet.

pet1127

'they' say it is harder outside. it could be that.

.

^^^^^
yup
best thing that ever happened to me running wise was my treadmill broke
forced me outside I was miserable the first two weeks
then nature puled me in and I will continue running outside my treadmill can stay broken lol

likitisplit

Yeah. Outside, elevations that you don't even notice normally can kill you. You become very sensitive to them as a runner.

It sounds like you need to slow down and listen to what your body is telling you about the terrain. "I think I'm about to die" means that the ground is going up and you need to lean in to the hill and slack off on the pace. "I can run forever" means that you are going down and that you should use the time to recover. If you run the same terrain over and over, you will learn how to use it to your advantage. Eventually, it will become easier than the unrelenting drill-sergeant nature of the treadmill.

PaytraB

I ran my first outdoors run yesterday. As expected, I did worse than on the treadmill.....but I did better than I'd hoped. I didn't time myself but think I ran 5-10 minutes before stopping and only walked for short periods of time (1-2 minutes) before starting up again.
Things I noticed:
- it's very hard to pace myself. I had to slow myself down quite often.
- every surface is different. The path I took had asphalt, gravel, grass, mud, wooden bridge surfaces. I preferred the packed gravel. It had some "give" for my knees and yet gave a firm surface. I thought I'd like the grass but the ground under the grass can be very uneven.
- if the wind/breeze is driving towards you, it's very hard to keep jogging. Even a bit of wind resistance adds to the intensity of the workout.
- although it's harder and my running time without stopping to walk is shorter, I prefer jogging outdoors. It's wonderful to see the people and the scenery. I'll build up my time over the next few weeks or so. It's best to remember that I'm in this for my fitness and time/speed doesn't matter at this point.


hdlb and others, we can do this. It's another transition that we have to master.

RunningChicken2

Ugh. Me, too. I've just finished week 7. I usually am on the treadmill, but for convenience I did w7d2 out my door. It was awful. Really hard to pace. After about 10 minutes I wanted to be done. I hung in there, and finished it- kind of hating it the whole time. I'm signed up for a 5K in 2 weeks and am getting worried. When does it get easy?

Resa52

I ran into the same problem the first time I tried C25k. I was in the middle of week 4 (having done it all entirely on the treadmill with a 1 incline) when I tried running outside and discovered the impact hurt my back pretty badly. So I quit.

I'm trying again with a 2.5 incline and even if I can't ever successfully run a 5k outside, I figure the fact that I can run one on a treadmill will still be good for my overall fitness level. I guess we'll see when the snow starts to melt in a month or so....

likitisplit

Resa52 - are you able to try trail running? That can help with the impact pain you get from pavement.

April482

I think I'm going to be in the same boat, and I'm already kind of down about.

It's REALLY in my neck of the woods, and since I'm so new to running I don't think that running outside is a good idea. Logically I KNOW that even running on the treadmill is better than not running (or doing anything at all, for that matter...) but I'm already worried about how I'll do when I start running outside.

I just keep telling myself that by the time I get a chance to get outdoors I'll be better at breathing and more in shape that I was when I strarted on the treadmill. We'll be fine. We're all already doing awesome!

PaytraB

April, you're so right. We're all already doing awesome.