I have begun my training for next year and I am trying to do almost all of my running in what is commonly called zone 2 or zone 3, trying to keep my HR between 135 and 155. This is easy to do outside, but on the treadmill my HR has been starting high and staying there (even at a slightly slower pace than on my outdoors runs).
My treadmill is in my basement (probably mid-60’s) and I have a fan blowing on me. Not sure if it is heat related or what.
My question is this…should I just worry about running the “right pace”, and if my HR is in the upper-150’s or 160’s, oh well…or should I drop down to a near-walk if necessary to keep the HR down…or should I move to North Carolina (I’m in NY). Does anyone else run into this?
Have the same “problem”. In my case this was caused by a treadmill whose incline doesn’t go below 1.5%. I saw my HR go up from 145 to 153 at the same speed.
Decided to run a little slower and not as long. Three months later I was running longer again and see an increase in speed at the same HR.
Yesterday 60F but no time for an outside run. Today heavy rain and flooding, so back to the basement …
As Hein says, this is caused by the nature of many treadmills. The incline of the treadmill, which may be close to, but not quite, flat, makes it so you are always running uphill. Therefore, your HR is higher. Even a 1/2 inch difference in height from front to back can equal a 2% or more grade, which requires a lot more effort.
I run on my treadmill under the same conditions you mention(the fan helps control HR a lot), and I typically run a minute or so slower on the treadmill at a given HR than when running outside. The upshot, however, is that my knees are less stressed than when I run outside, and my pace when I go back out is the same or better than before(most likely due to a solid base.)
I would suggest that you run based on zone, rather than pace. If you force yourself to run much harder, you will not be accomplishing your goal(if your goal is building base fitness), and you will likely injure yourself.
You could try putting a 2x4 or something similar under the back of the treadmill to make it level. If you try this, use appropriate caution. (Sorry, I’m litigation averse, so I disclaim almost everything!)
I think the others have it nailed. Check the incline or you may be on a 1 inch or 2 inch pitch up hill in a basement. In addition… there could be some efficienties ( is that spelled right?) you need to dial in. If you are new to a tread then it may take just a smidge more time to get used to balance, pace etc. Also… is your hydration as high as it should be? Sometimes people who are indoors do not keep that up to par since it it climate controlled. It will all work out. Have fun.
Thank you both. Good points about the incline, I am eager to measure it when I get home. I kind of know the correct thing to do is go based on HR (as opposed to pace), but it just seems SO slow. I know there will be dividends later though. And your point about the slower pace being easier on the knees, etc. is a good one…this year I had a few nagging pains, all the result of a hard effort.
I agree with the above points in that I wouldn’t take pace comparisons to outside running too seriously. I do think the idea of a 2 X 4 under the back of the treadmill is a bad one though. I doubt it is good to run on the level with a treadmill and it would certainly be worse to run downhill. Either of these approaches will cause a lot more pounding on the joints. Presumably you are on a treadmill to minimize this problem.
I find it much better to run with the treadmill at a 1% or greater incline. You can obviously achieve this with the elevation control or by putting the entire unit on an incline. Small elevation changes willl make for big HR changes.
Stick with your base building plan. You aren’t going to run long and fast at a HR of 170 if you can’t run pretty fast at a HR of 140 too.
i have read in many locations that you want about a 1% incline when running on a treadmill in order to simulate the effect of air resistance when running outdoors. that being said, my hr is also much higher on a treadmill than outdoors.
I generally dreadmill at flat to 0.5% incline and I also use a fan for cooling. my HR is nearly the same as outdoors if not a tad lower (likely from the flat bit). I’ve never seen the data, but I’m quite sure mags like Runner’s World or the like have commented on the relative accuracy of treadmill speed settings across brands and models…do you trust what the little numbers say? I’ve got a commercial LifeFitness 9500HR, mainly for the health-club-bombproofness, and if my first comment is any indication, it’s probably pretty close to spot-on (at least between 6.5mpm and 8mpm where most of my training happens). I’m not sure if this is truly an issue for you, but it’s the only original thing I could come up with. good luck, and happy holidays!
Dreadmill! That’s what we call it too! I finally broke down and started watching movies while running on it, and that has helped a lot, although I am no longer focusing on my running form as much. The CT I got in October has made cycling in the basement much more endurance training and less something to be endured. It took three years, but I finally look forward(mostly) to those long workouts in the basement.
I assumed that TriAlbany was using a POS treadmill like mine(bought used for $200 out of the Want Ads) that has no self-levelling or incline/decline features.
AJ: You are probably right, however I was suggesting the 2x4 to level the treadmill, not to create a decline.