Offseason is coming up for us in the midwest and it’s time to hit the treadmills. If I could run 30min at 9mph on the treadmill it would be a big speed gain for me. I know it would translate into better marathon training in the spring but actually doing it is not as simple as just saying it.
So my question is how do you go about training to reach this goal?
any thoughts? Just showing up at the gym hoping it will happen doesn’t seem to work
It doesn’t work that way. You need to increase your fitness and depending on many factors, you might be able to do 30min at 9mph.
Right, my question is how do I train to increase my fitness to the level that I can run at 9mph for 30min.
my threshold is 30 min. at 8mph, maybe if I do this 10 times in a given period of time like 3-4 weeks I could then attempt a 9mph session?
Work your way up the way I did. Last year I ran a 25:23 5k in my first triathlon. Last night I ran 6.2 on the treadmill in 38:47!
I started off slow. I knew I needed a lot of speed to have any hope of my aspirations as a triathlete. This is how I got fast. I can do 9.0 on a treadmill for an entire 13.1 run now…
Whatever your base pace on a treadmill curently is…start with that. Let’s say it’s 7.5mph and you are going to run 4 miles. When you reach .75 of each mile, bump your pace to 9.0mph until you finish the mile and then back it back down to 7.5! Then when you reach 1.75 miles, bump it back up to 9.0mph to finish the mile and then back it back down to 7.5 and so on for each mile you run.
On your speed days do a nice 15-20 minute warm up and then get off and stretch again. Then get on the treadmill and let her rip at 9.0mph for as long as you can hold it. Then back it down to your base pace until you get your breathing under control and go at it again. You WILL see your base pace slowly start to rise. It takes some work, but it can be done. I have logged A LOT of miles outdoors and on the treadmill. The treadmill has been the best tool for my running.
My speeds above were just examples. Whatever you base pace actually is, just add 1.5mph as I did above for your interval training.
I also never run on a treadmill at less than a 2.0 incline. I range 2.0-5.0 depending on what I am working on. For long distance runs I usually keep it at 2.5…for speed work 2.0…for hill repeats 3.0-5.0 for 6 minute runs at 9.0mph.
Others may disagree, but I am running longer and faster than ever before using this method.
Why stop at 9.0? I’m just going to shoot for 12.5 mph, since all you have to do is pick a number on the treadmill.
First, start thinking in min./mile, since this is what will translate better to races and outdoor pace.
7.5mph= 8:00/mile 8=7:30/mile 8.6=7:00/mile 9.2=6:30/mile 10=6:00/mile
To get faster, it helps to add speedwork. Try doing a speed session once/week. An example would be 7min at 8:00 pace and 3 min at 6:30 pace (repeat 3 times for a total of 30min. of running). As you get fitter increase the number of repeats until you’re doing 6 for a total 1hr. workout. By then you should be able to do a 30min. workout with the recoveries at 7:30 pace (so now you are doing a 30min run with 21min. at your old pace, and 9 min faster than your goal pace). Work up to 60 min. of this, then do 30min. sessions with the 3min. hard part at 6:00 pace (may have to drop the recoveries back down to 8:00 pace early on). By then you should be able to do 30 min. at faster than 7:00 pace and you’re well on your way.
To get faster, it helps to add speedwork. …
Agree, you need to be going a lot quicker than 9mph comfortably over shorter distances. Build up speed and build up stamina together. Not ideal though doing it on treadmill since they tend to max out.
This is what works for me (during the winter, otherwise the mill sits idle).
Pick a HR that is of ‘medium’ intensity. This is 140-145 for me. (resting 47ish, max 185ish. I live at 6500ft). You should be able to talk in short but full sentences at this intensity level and not go into oxygen debt.
Run for 50-60 minutes on the mill at a speed such that the last 30 minutes is more or less flat-lined at the target HR.
If you can’t hit your target the HR because it is too easy, bump the speed up in 0.1 or 0 .2 increments until you can.
If the HR keeps going up after 30 minutes, slow down.
Do this 3-4x a week.
1x a week, set it to 1mph faster than your easier run and go for 30 minutes.
It also helps to have good form: upper body relatively still, not bent over at the waist, no arms flying around, smooth foot fall, and to focus on not sounding like a herd of elephants charging away, etc, etc.
I do these runs in the morning right after getting out of bed but before I wake up. It’s best if I don’t realize that I’m running on a treadmill.
What tends to happen is that I see very little progress for 4-6 weeks, then the weeks get incremented by 0.2 or so per week till the longer runs are in the 8.5mph range.
As for speedwork, don’t bother. Speedwork is the icing on the cake and you don’t have a cake yet.
Why do you think you would train differently because you are running on a treadmill as opposed to outside?
thanks, I will try your method. I’ll do 9 mph for the last quarter mile each mile for the next 10 treadmill sessions and then go for a speed day where I will try 9mph the whole 30 min. I will report back.
Once 8mph is my base I will move up my goal to 9.5mph for 30 min.
*Not sure if I will try your incline thing, it sounds like it helps but 9mph flat is already an ambitious goal right now for me, though doable.
Find a treadmill that’s poorly calibrated. You’ll be able to do it instantly!
Why do you think you would train differently because you are running on a treadmill as opposed to outside?
treadmill is dif. mechanics plus you can see exactly your speed. When I train outside I only train for half and full IMs and I usually don’t have any way to measure my speed. What I do is run an Ironman loop of 13.1 miles or a loop and a half of ~19miles and measure performance by feel and by time taken to complete.
In the offseason I like to measure my run fitness by my ability to run in mph for a 30 min. duration.
So as you can see the nature of the training is very different, long outdoor runs in the spring summer not the same as short treadmill runs in the winter.
EDIT: although I see your point, I could get a GPS watch and incorporate this training method into my outdoor runs by putting in efforts for the last quarter mile of each mile to build my base pace. I am learning a lot here.
If you want the gains to transfer to outside than I suggest you do all your runs on the treadmill at no lower than1%. 1% =flat outside. i would focus more on using for hill repeats and long hill repeats. I ran most of my live in PA and after running for 42 winters i think I ran on a treadmill 10 times in my lifetim if that. you can get the right gear and run outside it is not bad.
I’m not going to answer you question but…
offseason in the midwest is not time to hit the treadmills. layer up!
Why?? I started using the treadmill to model Carfrae’s program. 7
65% of her run training is on a treadmill. She seems to be a more reliable source than someone just saying to “layer up” and run outside in the cold where you increase your chances of injury. Your joints and muscles never really loosen up when running in really cold temps regardless of whether you think they do or not. It’s the same thing as running in heat. Do ice packs really cool you down in really hot weather? No, they simply take the edge off the heat.
If you want to try and be a tough guy and train that way, go right ahead. I’m from the philosophy of “work smart, not hard”!
There is a reason your top triathletes are doing the majority of their run training on treadmills. There are a lot more pro’s rather than con’s for doing so.
Sure, If I was trying to maximize the efficiency of my workouts, I would probably do every run on the treadmill, where I could have complete control of everything. I would also do all my rides on a trainer. But that’s not really why I train. I just moved from WI to TX, and yeah, i won’t miss the winter too much, but sometimes, when the temps in the upper 20s/low 30s, light snow…at night when everything’s quiet, those are the runs i will miss. personally, I think treadmills make working out a chore, rather than something that should be fun.
but this has gotten completely OT.
Your goal should not be a certain miles per hour, but whatever pace your body can handle. Run at least 6x per week and make a portion of 2 or 3 of those runs at your lactate threshold pace (10k pace). in 6-8 weeks, your fitness will take care of the rest.
Treadmills are fine, but outdoor running is great. Go get a Garmin 110 and you’ll be able to measure your pace anytime and anywhere.
By the way, I second the recomendation to set your treadmill at at least 1% incline. That is the minimum amount to replicate outside running.
I didn’t enjoy the transition from outside to inside much, but as I saw the performance gains, I’ve learned to enjoy and embrace it.
Good luck training this offseason!