If you want a more accurate comparison distance wise use a foot pod...the wrist based distance based on arm swing should only be trusted outside. Use an old foot pod (like the Garmin one and calibrate it) or use something like a Milestone pod (I suggest you run outside with it a few times to insure it calculates distance properly). You should also remember that the treadmill is much softer impact wise than running outdoors so you may find yourself a lot slow outdoors if you do all your running on a treadmill (you probably already know this but just saying).

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"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

I don't trust treadmills or my Garmin for recording distances inside. Overall, treadmills are definitely easier than road running because you can perfectly control the pace and have no incline (theoretically you should set to 0.5% or 1% to more closely match the intensity of outdoor running at a given pace). But also treadmills are not always properly calibrated, and some will definitely say you're running faster than others. With the Garmin, especially without a foot pod, I think the distance estimate is really just a best guess.

This is so individual to the treadmill that it isn't even worth thinking about.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

I find that the vast majority of TMs I use are actually pretty precise, meaning reproducible, even with comparisons. I know pretty much how fast I'll be running for a given HR, and it's pretty consistent between my home TM, hotel TMs, YMCA TM, etc. The rare ones I've used that are off, have been so off it's obvious, but 95+% of the ones I've used are legit for comparison based on my HR/pace correlates.

I can confirm for myself that for a dead-flat optimal 5k course, it's very similar to a TM set at 1% for myself. I did 2 speed sessions of 4 x 400 one week and then 8 x 400 the week after prior to a Turkey 5k. Did the 400s at what felt like a hair faster than 5k pace, which worked out to 6:00/mi @1%, ended up running the 5k in 18:53 (6:06/mi).

totally going to depend on the treadmill and (I think) your running gait.

I have the opposite problem (treadmill display speed always feels harder that same speed outdoors). My Garmin watch also didn't match the speed of the treadmill so I bought a footpod.

According to the footpod, I'm almost 1 min / mile faster than the treadmill speed and it feels much more like my outdoor speed. And that's across a range of speeds from 10 min mile to 5:00 min mile.

Precor machine at 24 fitness. I am using it because I have gait issues I am trying to fix. And mental pacing issues

I've owned 2 treadmills and 3 different Garmins in the last 10 yrs.

One thing's consistent, though........150 bpm X 60 min. is the same indoors or out. :)

There are so many variable on how accurate a treadmill is. I use a footpod and zwift and still take the results with a grain of salt. I tend to use percieved exertion and time when quantifying any treadmill workout. That being said, I am interested to see how this is solved by something like the stryd powermeter.

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NCCP certified Comp coach

This is about as accurate as you get with a treadmill, I have a Sole F80 and it is so far off that I don't use speed or distance at all. Mine paces you out quite a bit slower than what you're actually doing, I'd say it's at least 45s-1m off and when you're trying to do interval work it almost kills me!

I find the treadmill to require more effort at the same pace as outside. I run a 8:30min/mile on the treadmill (that's "fast" for me) and then outside I seem to consistently put down 8:05 min/mile for same duration, and that includes hills. I find that most TMs are accurate if used WITH a footpod. just the watch is a waste, as it always reads much slower.

Its nice though, as my times progress and I do intervals and hold a 7:30 min/mile for 5 minutes, I know outside that will translate to a better time. That's good news, and how I know I'm making progress.

You can calibrate the Garmin to your treadmill mileage, when you hit stop on the Garmin just scroll down past save to calibrate and save and then you can adjust the mileage so the Garmin matches the actual treadmill mileage. Not sure if this helps your situation, but for me it made my treadmill running more accurate to the actual effort I was putting out.

^ That'll ensure they match......but won't ensure either of them is correct.

You can validate this yourself. Take a piece of chalk and a tape measure to the gym. Mark a point on the belt and measure its total length. Let it run for a while and count the number of times you see your chalk line. Multiply that by the length of the belt. The actual (measured) distance the belt travels should be the same as what the computer reads. Running it for 0.1 miles should give you a pretty good idea of how accurate your treadmill is. Most of the treadmills I've run on indicate slightly faster (10sec per mile) than they're actually moving.

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https://connect.garmin.com/modern/profile/domingjm

This would work if the belt speed were consistent while you run. The belt slows slightly every time you land. If the belt speed were to match the indicated speed without any load, the speed while actually running would be too slow.

.....have your good friend count the marks while you run.

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https://connect.garmin.com/modern/profile/domingjm

I legitamately I have no idea why you would ever do that? Why would you calibrate the footpod to a number that you have no idea is accurate? Matching the treadmill theoretical speed is not the best option.

My treadmill (ProForm) and my Garmin bear no resemblance to reality. I wear the Garmin when I run the treadmill because I wear the Garmin 24/7. I might as well have it autosave the workout. The time running is accurate. My treadmill has me running at 13:00 per mile and my Garmin at around 9:00 per mile. I figure I'm probably going around 9:30 or 10:00 based on how I feel. I know I'm not going 13:00 and I know I'm not going 9:00. It is a total crap shoot. I gave up on it. Like previously said, HR x HH:MM:SS is what matters.

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/

If I calibrate the foot pod at approximately the speed I plan to run on the treadmill, the two line up pretty well. But if I calibrate it during a 10k, then run 800 or 1600 repeats on the treadmill, Garmin tells me I'm breaking land speed records.

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https://connect.garmin.com/modern/profile/domingjm

Your TM is seriously messed up in terms of calibration then - no way any correctly calibrated TM should be more than 20sec/mi off in terms of run pace compared to outdoors on a 1% incline.

This is the problem I am hoping to solve with a purchase of a Stryd running pod.. with work travel, I am always on different, poorly-calibrated hotel treadmills. So i'm hoping to have another transferable metric beyond HR.

That, plus I like new gear, and I'm looking forward to zwift running on my Ipad.

True that. I googled to the end of the earth to figure out how to calibrate it and support was useless. I guess that's what I get for buying a piece of...... [calm down, Hillary...]. Did I mention that I would avoid ProForm?

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/

Yes, I haven't heard too many good things about Proform, unfortunately...

https://www.runnersworld.com/...boston-marathon-expo

Podcast of Vega who ran a 1:01 half training 90% of the time on a treadmill...

https://runnersconnect.net/...dmill-antionio-vega/

I had a sole treadmill and it was way off. You can actually calibrate the treadmill through various inputs on the control panel. I got mine pretty close, but it was only close at faster speeds (where I calculated how off it was)....slower speeds were still way off. I assume if I had calibrated at lower speeds, the opposite would have happened, but I never tried it.

fwiw....my 1% incline run on a treadmill is always slower than my outdoor running times. (disclosure: I suck at running, so that is not saying much).