What is the difference between running on the road and running on the treadmill? Well...
Road Running:
Most people that consider themselves "runners" run on the road and would never dream of running on a treadmill (I don't necessarily agree, but more on that later). The scenery changes as you go, making time seem to go faster. Yes, outside you have to contend with hills but just remember, what goes up must come down. My absolutely favorite part of running outside is running downhill, I pick up speed and I feel like I'm flying. Add that to the feeling of accomplishment for getting up that tough hill and you get something I call winning!
Just being outside is a huge benefit of running on the road. On beautiful days, I can't wait to get outside and run. The sun shining on you, a nice breeze cooling you off, it doesn't get better than that. Even running with a light drizzle can be fun.
Also, for me when I run on the road, I zone out and stress melts away, and I don't always get that on a treadmill. Anything that was bothering me seems to disappear. Seriously, I have completed runs before where I was fighting back tears during my warm up and by my cool down my mind was totally clear and I was back to normal.
Treadmill Running:
Even though running outside is wonderful on nice days, it can be downright terrible if the weather is not right. Weather that's too hot, too cold, too humid, or pouring rain can ruin a run. Problem solved on a treadmill! You're indoors in a constant environment and if your gym is awesome like my Planet Fitness is, you have a personal fan on your treadmill to keep you cool.
Being in control on your pace and incline on the treadmill is also a huge bonus. I like to use my pace settings as a challenge each time I run on the treadmill, I'll say to myself "you ran at a 5.5 pace last time, today start at 5.6". Even though that may seem like a small increase, over time it adds up and it's helped me increase my pace on the road. I also vary my incline as I go, it keeps my interested and gives me a much better workout.
One of my favorite features of treadmill running is easily keeping track of your time and distance. Yes, I know there are apps out there that allow to do this on the road (I personally use Endomondo) but the GPS on the apps can sometimes be glitchy or unreliable. On the treadmill you don't need to worry about an app because the machine does it for you.
I know, running on treadmill can be boring because you're stuck in one place. Luckily. pretty much every gym I know has TVs to watch which can lessen the boredom. Or, you can even stream movies and TV shows through Netflix, HBO Go, or Hulu if you subscribe to those services. Streaming Doctor Who on my iPhone really keeps me going during long runs on the treadmill.
So, which is better?
Some people swear by road running and run outside no matter the weather while others only run on the treadmill at the gym. I feel it really is a personal preference and I mix mine up. In the warmer months, I pretty much only run on the road (unless it's pouring rain or a heat advisory), but in the winter I have to run on the treadmill. I have exercise induced asthma and the cold is a big trigger for my asthma, so to keep myself... alive... when it's cold I run at the gym.
Which brings me to another question...
How do you transition from the treadmill to the road?
Anyone who has tried to make this transition has come to the realization that running on the road is not the same as running on the treadmill. It was October when I had to start training for my half-marathon and winter was coming... I knew because of my asthma I was going to have to train on the treadmill. Race day came, and I was pretty darn terrified (luckily February in Florida weather-wise is like April in Maryland so I didn't have to worry about my asthma as much). I had run up to 14 miles on the treadmill, but how would that transfer to the road?
I've tried to transition from treadmill to road before and I could barely do half the distance outside that I had done inside. However, as I was training my friend who had run a full marathon before gave me the advice of running on an incline on the treadmill to make it more similar to the road. I started out running at a consistent incline of 1. Once I got used to that I started increasing and decreasing my incline up to a 3 to try to more closely simulate going up and down hills. I am proud to report I had absolutely no problem running my 13.1 miles on the road and actually finished with a past faster than what I trained at! Apparently my incline training plan worked (full disclosure: it did help that Florida is pretty darn flat and I only had a few hills to contend with).
So, here's my 30 minute incline running plan for you to use and try out. Let me know what you think!
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