Another Treadmill question
It is getting hotter here in West Tx and harder to run "fast" outdoors for that reason. I wanted the wisdom of the team to chime in and give me some guidance. Since our mantra is train hard and fast to go hard and fast is it better to run indoors on a TM where the temperature and humidity can be controlled which allows me to run a faster pace for longer or is it better to tough it out and run outdoors where my RPE and HR is higher but pace is slower due to the environment. This question is outside the issue of acclimation factors. I am running a half marathon in about 6 weeks in Chicago and the temps should be much cooler than here. Guidance please.
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I am actually a big fan of indoor workouts, which possibly makes me an outlier. During the week I do many of my runs on the treadmill and all of my rides on KICKR. I love both for:
That said, I don't like to do long workouts on either. My limit for the run is about an hour and two hours for the bike indoors. Do your long run and ride outdoors on the weekend, weather permitting.
The treadmill is a very effective tool for getting faster. Set your target pace, and there is no dogging it. I recommend using it for interval and tempo runs where you need to run at a specific pace. It's also nice for the occasional easy run. In a pinch, you can use it for hill training, depending on the incline capabilities of the treadmill, and longer endurance runs. Both are more enjoyable outside (at least for me).
BTW, when I met Meredith Kessler, she said she did most of her training indoors. My understanding is that many of the other pros do as well because of the ^^^ reasons.
Just wanted to offer a counterpoint to responses that will include the words "dreadmill" and "drainer."
I would really struggle with all in-door running. Some people are VERY successful with it, but not me. I like to feel the road, rolling course, etc.
If you have no psychological or admin barriers to using a treadmill, I think the following is worth considering: for this half marathon, you want to be training your neuromuscular units to be firing at a relatively brisk clip. And you want to program your kinesthetic sense with the stride length and cadence which will help you on race day. It seems to me that when the temps (and or humidity) get above about 60ish, then achieving those goals is compromised by your body's need to cool itself taking precedence over speed. This is not at all the same as getting ready for, say IM Texas or Kona, where acclimatization is a higher priority.
So, if you are unable to find those conditions outdoors, then by all means use the treadmill. With sufficient air flow from fans to keep you feeling cool, not overheated, while you are doing your top end intervals.
Personally, I agree with Dino's thought, but we're both lucky enough to live where the ocean often provides sufficient cooling early morning or late evening. Not so where you live?
I'll add another positive vote for indoor training during the week for all the same reasons Gabe mentioned. I've been doing this on a bike for the last two years and just recently acquired a treadmill - so far so good. I live in south Louisiana and even early in the day the humidity is already up there. My only suggestion with the treadmill running is to also get a footpod if you are used to tracking your runs with a Garmin or other GPS type watch. The footpod pace accuracy may be better than that of the treadmill and you'll get to log the run the way you normally would.
I just did my 3 x 1 miles yesterday on the TM at my local LA Fitness, just a few blocks from my place.
My big bits of advice:
-Get a footpod, to use with your garmin, to sync your inside pace to your outside pace. The footpod pace WILL be faster than the TM pace, 99.9% of the time. Your consistent use of the footpod pace is more important than the display on the TM. Plus, the footpod will help you work to get your cadence higher to have that number displayed in your face.
-Lots of water/electrolytes and moving air are key!
-For my long runs indoor, I sweat a TON, so I'm soaked early, which means I need to tape my nips before they scrape off with a heavy wet shirt.
Strangely enough, I can do 2-3 hours on a TM without issue (watching TV while listening to my own music), but can't stand more than 90 minutes on the trainer!
I think as others say, the treadmill keeps you honest on pace and intervals are easy to control.
Would try long runs outside but others, treadmill is a good option.
Good luck.
I really appreciate all the incredible insight provided in this thread.
This is an important topic to me as this will be my first summer here in the sandbox. Right now dawn is the coolest part of the day at 85F plus. Cycling as of now is no problem; however, running is a different beast.
I've got a regular PT that helps me assess these things, but hamstring and glute-strengthening exercises NEVER hurt triathletes, if you ask me.
I will further "warn" that a lot of TM running almost desensitizes you to your outdoor pace. I frequently clock faster-than-I-want-to running in races (hurts later in the race), because I don't have real pacing correlations between pace/effort in the "real world". It's a constant effort on my part to monitor it.
Marinda Carfrae uses the treadmill to help with her pacing consistency. If it's good enough for her...
@derrek - I'm in week 9 of my out season. My season racing season is October - April, so heat assimilation is down on the ladder of priority v quality wko