Transition from treadmill to road running--advice?

neurorat

I usually run before work on my treadmill (for safety issues as I run at 3 am), and even trained for a half marathon on the treadmill at 1% incline. I can run 12-15 miles easily on the treadmill. When I run outside my lateral knee begins to hurt at about 2 miles. I did finish my half marathon but I was significantly slower due to the pain at the knee.

I am training for another half in September and am trying to transition to running outside in order to improve my race time and comfort. Still, at the 2 mile mark my joints start to hurt.

Any advice to transition from my cushy treadmill to the road? I have already been fitted with running shoes I love, so that shouldn't be an issue. Barefoot/minimalist running is out for me, I have flat feet.

Thanks in advance runners!

rduhlir

I am a beginner runner, but I started on the treadmill. One thing you have to remember, with the treadmill you don't create your forward momentum. You are simply keeping up with the speed on in which you set the machine. When you shift to outside then you have to push forward with your feet to create that forward momentum.

I was in the middle of C25K when I shifted from treadmill to outside and I researched before I did the shift and saw that pretty much everyone recommends cutting distance and speed by 25% and working back up over a months time to allow your feet and body to transition to the different conditions.

Another thing, I don't know how you do marathon training. If you just run or you do walk/run splits. But I would consider doing walk/run splits on your long runs until your feet and body adjust.

MamaKeeks

Who/where did your shoe fitting? If they are just shoes you love because they are comfy and feel good, they are not necessarily the right shoes. Especially for such long distances - make sure you have the right shoes for your body and feet! Go to a running store and request a gait analysis by a qualified staff member, then try on several different shoes they recommend. See if they feel different than the shoes you have now.

Training for my 1st half I thought i'd blown my hip - turns out it was the wrong shoes. Got new ones and was better within days!

Also, where are you running/what are you running on? i used to run in the country, and running on gravel roads vs running on cement made things very different - I had knee pain until I adjusted to running on gravel.

Are you wearing a garmin or anything similar outside? On a tread you can adjust and set your pace to run; without a monitor outside you will be running at whatever pace you think feels right/best. You could be going too fast?

Just brainstorming here... hope you can figure this out!

Good luck,
Kiki