Indoor vs. Outdoor Running- Need advice

I ran on treadmills for over a year before venturing outside. I find steady-state more common outside, while I'll choose a hill/sprint program on the treadmill. As I live in a flat area, the treadmill pushes me in some ways.

But I like to run with my pup, and he can't run on the treadmill with me, so to the outdoors we head.

I prefer trails to the road, but find myself running on the local roads (or in the ditches) due to convenience.

Running with music or an audiobook playing on the phone helps keep the mind occupied. You might see if something along those lines will help you appreciate the outdoor runs more.

When you push too fast outside, of course you will not be able to run as far without a break! I had the same issue. If you want to improve your endurance for outside, up your speed and hill work inside.

Scientifically speaking, we push through air when running outside, but don't have the same force on our body running inside. I read that a 1.5% incline on the treadmill mimics this exertion level.

Do you run? Yes? Congratulations, you are a runner. :-) See, that was easy.

Race pace is almost always faster than training pace so it's not surprising that your outdoor pace is faster than your indoor. You should also notice you're a lot more sore after a race - you generally work a lot harder in races than you do in training!

My 2c - and it's a very persona decision - I cannot stand treadmill running, for me the experience of running is inherently outdoors, immersive and all-encompassing. If it's raining, it's raining. If it's 40C / 100F, it's hot. If it's windy, it's windy. All of these things form part of the experience. Sometimes you have a great run in *kitten* conditions - one of my best training time trials was in the pouring rain.

The other thing I can't get my head around is the mindset that exercise would require distraction (ie watching a movie while on a treadmill). It sounds so odd - instead of going outside and running a physically measurable distance past actual things in reality, we hop onto a loop of rubber inside a building and watch made up things on TV.

Or worse still, my colleagues that drive to the gym, jump on the exercise bike for half an hour, then drive home. Why?? Why not buy a bike and go for a half hour ride from home?

Excepting conditions like safety, weather and access to reasonable running or cycling areas - I will always, always go outside. But being male / living in a safe neighbourhood / having access to good local trails and bike paths may play a significant part in this approach.

rrowdiness wrote: »

My 2c - and it's a very persona decision - I cannot stand treadmill running, for me the experience of running is inherently outdoors, immersive and all-encompassing. If it's raining, it's raining. If it's 40C / 100F, it's hot. If it's windy, it's windy. All of these things form part of the experience.

I agree with rrowdiness, love my runs, particularly when people think I am "crazy" for running in "this!"

It has to drop below zero before I will think about treadmill run....

I don't get the "failure" thing TBH. Why should you be a failure because you run on the treadmill only?

Any activity you do should be undertaken because you enjoy it and it is clear you do. That's a wonderful achievement which not many people can attain!

For me, I live and breathe running (lol) and I am of the opinion that everything has its place in training. I use the treadmill once a week to run at an incline of 6-10% and I go up to 20% for speedwalking.

I also think treadmill runs are good for mental conditioning for ultras due to the monotony of the runs and the lack of mental stimulation from the surroundings. Mentally pushing yourself to continue for 2 or 3 hours on the treadmill is far, far more difficult than doing it on a long run on the road or trail.

I love my tredmill and its a huge reason for my weight loss to date. The reason I bought it is because my wife works away a lot and so Im house bound with the kids when they are in bed, so having a tredmill allows me to run when the kids are asleep and get the pulse racing. It works for me, its helping with the weight loss.
So.. each to their own, dont feel a failure or any less of a runner.. if it works for you, it works!

I only run indoors I feel a bit ashamed of that, which is daft I know! at the end of the day does it matter where we run as long as we run? I watch my favourite tv shows while I run and don't notice the time going by - I do up to 50 mins running without stopping 5 days a week and I LOVE that I have more stamina and feel strong and fit
I also prefer to run bare footed, I cannot stand having trainers on my feet (I'm weird like that LOL), so I HAVE to stay indoors.

I also prefer running outside. My physio suggested that treadmill running was aggravating a calf injury, so I moved outside and now wouldn't go back unless absolutely necessary.

It doesn't matter what I like though: it's what YOU like.

I'm not a fan of the treadmill, just find it incredibly boring, I won't watch movies/tv when I'm working out as I'm not focus'd on my workout if I'm watching TV, you might find this is another reason that you're faster outside, as you've said yourself, you watch the movies etc to distract yourself, meaning you're not focus'd on the running and might be going slower because of the lack of focus. It has to be very icy outside before I'll stop, even below zero, if the tracks are gritted, I'll be out running with the dog!!
However, that being said, it's up to you what you prefer and it depends on what you're looking to get out of it, if you have a lot of 'races' outside then practising on the treadmill isn't helping as much as running outside, but if you're only entering the occassional 'race' then it doesn't really matter, I've trained outside all year this year for running, but I was training for a marathon, there's a huge difference between running 26.2 miles on a treadmill and running that on the road, running 5k on the treadmill and then on the road is not as big an issue to the legs!