I’m interested in opinions or experiences of doing tempo runs or cruise intervals on the treadmill. I’m planning on running one tempo session per week over the winter, and am considering doing it on the treadmill to avoid bad weather which sometimes makes it hard to run hard outside. Am I missing out on any training benefit by doing my tempo work on the treadmill?
I only do my tempos on the treadmill… more control, ensures that you keep a constant pace, and no interuptions…
Ditto - I do both (outdoors and on treadmill). Treadmill is a great thing if you can handle the boredom because of the control of pace. Outdoors is great after you have a good, established, base of tempo workouts in the bag as you start to add varying terrain underfoot.
I used to until I suffered from very bad cases of psoas tendinitis for 2 consecutive Boston’s. I’ve concluded that it must be the treadmil because I’ve never had the problem for IM or late season marathons when I do all of my training outdoors. Watching myself in the mirror, I see that I have a tendency to overstride on the treadmil which must be causing the problem. So, I’ve learned my lesson - no more treadmil at all - ever.
FWIW
KC
I’d be apt to call that anecdotal. There may be others who have done the same but yours is the first story I’ve heard discouraging treadmill use completely.
I use the treadmill often for two main reasons - 1. like the others said: perfect pacing, and all the data is in front of you, including HR if you’re wearing a HRM and the treadmill shows the signal. 2. you never have an excuse to not run due to bad weather
I train every winter for a Feb. marathon and do alot of my tempo work on the treadmill. Doing the workouts on the treadmill there is no easing off the pace unless you want to get thrown off the back.
I think its a great idea, especially if you live up north and getting out on the roads can be a hazard. I would however suggest you run with a 0.5 or 1 incline all of the time to compensate for being on the treadmill. Also, beware that while most treadmills are fairly accurate, there is some variation so if you are going to be trying to track pace closely, try to use the same machine.
There definitely seem to be some advantages: pace control, pace feedback, consistency of conditions from session to session that allow tracking of improvement, no falling on icy roads. On the other hand, I was wondering if there was enough biomechanical difference between running on treadmill and on road to create a failure of transfer of training effects from one to the other. Anecdotal reports from you and others seem to suggest it’s not a problem. Another feature of treadmill running that can be seen as a benefit or drawback is the added heat stress caused by the stationary body. Since most of us race in the summer in warm weather, I’d call it an advantage to create some heat stress over the winter.
I did most of my tempo runs and pace work on the treadmill last winter while training for the St. Louis marathon and it worked out great. I typically put the incline at 1% sometimes 2% (if the distance isn’t too long) to mimic resistance due to wind and other ineficiencies that are encountered outdoors. I always did my long runs outdoors. My training prepared me well for race day. As an aside, I used the three day running program, a tempo day, an interval day and a long day, with three days of cross training and one day of weights.
Those were my identical reasons for training on the treadmil. I loved the control I had over my environment. But after 8 marathons, the only 2 I trained on the treadmil for were those 2 Bostons, and they were the only 2 I was injured for. That injury was so annoying that I’m willing to give up the convenience of the treadmil to avoid it. Several exercise physiologists and PT’s I’ve worked with have agreed that the change in my mechanics while running on the treadmil could well be the cause. In any event - I was just sharing my experience for what it’s worth.