Transitioning from Treadmill to Outside

JenMc14
JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've decided to run more. I'm running 3-4 days a week, and doing strength and HIIT on my non-running days. I mostly run on the treadmill because I work out while my kids are sleeping, so I have to be in the house. Sunday, since it was decent out for the first time in awhile, I took my dog for a walk. He seemed to want to run, so I ran a bit, and man, it was hard! I had run 1/2 mile that morning and 1.25 miles the day before, but I don't think that was the big factor, I think it was becaue it was outside. I can run outside on the weekends because my husband will be home with the kids, and I'd like to start, I know my sitr crazy Doberman would love it. I know the treadmill propels you, and that's the major difference between treadmill and outdoor running. I don't know that I'll ever be a "runner", but I'd like to give it a go, especially because it seems to be getting easier for me. Any tips for making the transition from treadmill to outside easier? Or do I just suck it up, run slower and deal with being a bit more achey?

Replies

  • megedoug
    megedoug Posts: 31 Member
    Setting the incline on your treadmill, even to as little as 1%, will help simulate running outside. Running outside is much more difficult than the treadmill
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    Setting the incline on your treadmill, even to as little as 1%, will help simulate running outside. Running outside is much more difficult than the treadmill

    And, the incline on my treadmill is broken. I'm the 3rd or 4th owner, it was free from a friend when he moved! I was walking at a high incline a lot, then one day, it decided it was done with that! I can sometimes get it to go up a little, I will definitely try that, thanks! Ot, maybe the one night a week I workout at my kids' gym while they have gymnastics classes I can use that treadmill instead of the elliptical for my "bonus" workout. Would two runs in one day be too much? I suppose I could skip the run that morning and do more HIIT, then run that evening, on the good treadmill, hmmm.....
  • RonandDi
    RonandDi Posts: 120 Member
    I started running on the treadmill last October and never ran outside all winter. A couple weeks ago we had a fairly nice day so I decided to try out my new legs and see what I could do outside. I normally do 3 miles on the treadmill at a 12 minute mile pace. I decided that I would start out at 2 miles for my first outside run and ended up doing it in 20 minutes exactly. I was surprised, considering all that I had read about how much harder it is to run outside.

    I recently increased the incline to 1% and to be honest, I don't notice that much difference.
  • rward007
    rward007 Posts: 32
    I typically run with an incline, to make it more like outdoor running, although I've started to shy away from that due to some knee pain. However, because of the constant pace of a treadmill, I have always done equally well or better on roads.

    Pretty much every race I've done I primarily trained on the treadmill and I have done significantly better than my best treadmill time. My last 5k event was about 90 seconds faster than my best treadmill 5k.

    In part, it was race environment for sure, but I also think there is a natural ebb and flow to your pace. On the treadmill you're typically on one pace for an extended period.
  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
    I started running on a treadmill in October and have added incline as my endurance improved. I ran outside for the first time about 2 weeks ago. I had already mapped out a route of 3.2 miles, a distance I know I can run on the treadmill. I was getting over a cold at the time so I had already decided to stop and walk as needed. Anyway, I know I had recently run 3.1 miles on the treadmill really slowly with a time of about 37 minutes (I have done it faster, but am still learning to pace myself). I finished the 3.2 mile route in 37 minutes with a mix of running and walking. So I know I was running quite a bit faster than I normally do on the treadmill. I'm looking forward to getting back outside and running when I'm not sick to find out just how fast I can do it!

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