How to transition from treadmill to outdoor running

Try the C25K program, or create your own interval workout and just increase the time until you are running a full 30 minutes and then increase from there! I started with C25K doing my first day of the week on the treadmill and then the other 2 outside. Now it is REALLY tough for me to run inside!

Treadmill running does not , nor will it ever, correspond 1:1 with outdoor running. I started with a run/walk group last Jan and mostly walked with a few very short run intervals. I did my first half marathon, over a 4700 elevation summit, in 4hrs 11 mins. I continued to build my base using run walk intervals and this year I'm on track to finish it in 3 hrs 30 mins or slightly less.

Go out there start with short running intervals over fairly short distances - say 2 miles where you walk 2 mins run 30 seconds to a minute then walk again. This is your weekly long run on a Saturday - during the week run/walk for 20 mins on Mon, 30 min on Wed and 25 mins on Thurs using the other days to work on core strength (essential for running efficiently). On your next long run do 3 miles with the same intervals and repeat the mid week runs.

You work on building speed/longer intervals on the shorter mid week runs and building endurance on the Long Slow Days where you work on building distance adding 1 mile a week. If you want to see specifics of this awesome (in my opinion) method check out Jeff Galloway as he pioneered it

Slow down when you're outside...

Seriously, there's no secret...when you're a new runner, you need to slow down..

Ya, what he said.

Are you sure you're running at the same speed? Are you using something to confirm this? Try running slower. Not every run need to be a speed workout.

Plus, when you run outside, you use your feet muscles more as you are actually launching yourself forward.
Plus, there's the wind resistance.
And the hills.

I would second the advice to add an incline to your treadmill.

Do you have allergies? When you say you have trouble breathing it just made me wonder if you weren't reacting to external factors.

Anyway... I was a treadmill runner but I hated it... it made my legs feel weird so I immediately moved to outdoor running. Using the C25K program I was able to transition. It wasn't easy persay but if you keep at it it gets better.

I am NOT a runner, so take this with a huge grain of salt. I've been doing C25K and am currently on week 6. I did everything through w5d3 (the 20 minute run) on the treadmill with an incline of 1.5% or 2% (depending on the day) and then did w6d1 outside. I thought I was going to die within 3 minutes.

I was on a flat stone/dirt trail (not paved) and it wasn't my legs that bothered me, but rather I was out of breath in a hurry. Then I realized how fast I was going relative to the turtle pace the treadmill keeps me to. I slowed down...and then slowed down some more. I was barely moving...but then again, I'm barely moving on the treadmill too! :laugh: It turns out being outside in the sunshine and fresh air, with a lovely breeze, I started out WAY faster than I could sustain for 8 minutes. Yes, I am pathetically out of shape. :ohwell:

My current plan is to complete this round of c25k wherever and whenever I want...but to know that outside is going to be a struggle. Once I can tackle the longer treadmill runs, I'm planning to redo c25k outdoors from wherever I decide to pick up (might be w2 or w3 instead of w1...we'll see when I get there). That way, I can work on improving my speed outside, where I hope to do my running during the nicer summer months.

ETA: My HRM bears out what I was saying about my effort during that outdoor day. I've never burnt more than 340 calories or so doing c25k on the treadmill, the outdoor day was about 440! I covered a little more ground outdoors (about 3 miles from warmup to cooldown - 40 minutes in total) and burned a whole lot more calories outside, even without encountering any hills! FWIW, I warm up for 5 minutes at a slow walk and cool down for 5 minutes the same way - before and after starting the c25k app I use - so my total time is 40 minutes or so, rather than the ~30 c25k should take.

I was stunned to realize how much different running outside is. There were three things that helped me transition the two, although I still go much further on the treadmill, I can do two miles on pavement now. I'd love to work it up more, but life hasn't allowed for it.
Anyway, first off, pay attention to your pacing. I wanted to go so much faster on the pavement, I was winded almost right away. So find a song that has a strong beat that matches your comfortable treadmill speed, and listen to that when you start out running outside.
Second, don't forget to breath. It sounds silly, but I got so excited I forgot to pay attention to my breathing.
Third, start putting the treadmill on an incline of at least 1. I read somewhere (shrug as to where) that when you run on a treadmill, you are just sorta hopping your body along with the moving track, you aren't actually having to propel yourself. If you tilt that track up just a bit, it helps you get used to the bit more work that outside calls for.
Don't give up. It's so much easier to stop when you are running outside, which makes it that much harder to push through the same barriers that we push through on the treadmill, just because while running outside we don't have the chance to yell at ourselves when in a moment of weakness we reach for the button to slow down. Outside, we can just stop, so it's harder not to. I hope that makes sense...
I'm sure that there are a bunch of other tips, and I hope someone posts them, but as a newbie runner these were the best for me.

^^This! I am doing C25k and not that far along. I started on the treadmill doing intervals this month but just moved outside today. Wow! MUCH different. I noticed all those things that were mentioned above..I went so slow jogging that a toddler would've passed me but I didn't give up..Keep at it and good things will come (at least I'm hoping)!

I've never run on the treadmill for two reasons - I find it boring, and I'm pretty terrified I'll trip over my own feet and go flying. My coordination is not exactly the best. Neither is walking in a straight line. :happy:

I say that to explain that I started outside, and stayed outside. I ran on an indoor track once, but I found that as boring as the treadmill.

Anyway, to my point, slow - slow, slow, slow. I'm pretty sure old ladies with walkers can pass me while I'm running, but I'm running all the same. Speed will naturally follow once the practice and endurance is there.

So, I second everyone who said use the C25K program, just like you were a new runner, for going outside. That will help get you adjusted within a few weeks. Before you know it, you'll be flying again.

What type of incline are you running on using the treadmill? Most treadmills are set so that if you run with 0 incline it is slightly downhill. If you would like to mirror the outdoors, I suggest you increase the incline on the machine to 1 or 2.

Really? Good to know.