OK, thank you everyone for your input. It was helpful.
Moving forward, I will do 1-2 runs a week on the TM; and when my pace goes faster than 7:45 pace, I will increase the grade to 2%. And I will use my HR as a gauge on the TM to correlate best to what I usually do outside. So if on the paved trail I avg 160 HR @ 6:45 pace (Tempo Sessions) I will try and replicate that on the TM by getting my HR to 160 (at a 2% grade).
I hope I’m hearing everyone correctly, because damn, confirmation bias is easy to do …
Perhaps it’s just me but I’ve never experienced such a phenomenon. I find that treadmill workouts are exponentially more challenging for a given speed than running outdoors. YMMV.
It’s not just you - I’ve found that TM’s seem to make me have a slightly faster cadence than what I usually have on the road, so I feel like I’m working harder than I really am for the same speed. I don’t mind TM work, but I’d much rather be on the road/track.
Anyway, running on a treadmill is usually easier for the same pace than running outside. It isn’t just you. I’ve been taught to incline the treadmill to 0.5 or 1 degree to more closely replicate the feeling of running outside.
This is not true for me. I do all my runs on a treadmill at a 9:00 min/mile pace - been doing it for years and I can’t seem to break that barrier without bailing on the workout (I always run for one hour). I’m just getting back into running after 8 weeks off for a shoulder surgery, and right now I’m struggling to hit 9:30. I don’t use any incline. On the road I have no problem holding 7:30 for a half marathon.
I do find that treadmills vary quite a bit. I use a couple different ones at my gym (same brand), and the calibration is definitely off. Just something to keep in mind if you do a lot of treadmill running. I do all my workouts based on “feel” - same goes for racing.
it always takes at least 15 seconds a mile faster on a treadmill for me to feel same as outside, i only run on treadmill when there is too much snow on the ground, i do tempo runs on track to make sure i exactly hit right time which are around 6:05 a mile and treadmill im going under 5:50 to get the same amount of effort, i also partially tore my upper hamstring in feb 2014, a time in my area we had a ton of snow so i was on the treadmill for a couple weeks, after not having an injury ever in 20 plus years of running, not completely sure thats the reason for the injury but thats what happened, something about it is not real running, im never getting on one again
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