Fun on the Fake Road

No telling how many times in casual conversations with friends the subject of treadmills pops up. Usually, I'm making some comment about how I'm heading to the gym to run on the treadmill and how I'd much rather be running on the street. Invariably, someone will respond with a retort like "I hate the treadmill," or "treadmills are so boring!" Lots of beginning runners are petrified of treadmills and avoid them at all costs. Like my buddies, I don't always find the "fake road," as I've grown to know it, a place I eagerly anticipate visiting. However, I've discovered a few tips that make those agonizing, but necessary, training runs more exciting and fun.

Some of the workouts I do on the mill are located on Runner's World's web site. Look under the "Training" tab in videos. I've adapted some of them to suit my needs, while others I follow per the Runner's World coach's directions. Here's a couple of examples of what I do at the gym:

Sprints: After a 5-minute light jog (comfortable pace), ramp up the speed to a pace where you can't carry on a conversation. Hold that pace for a minute. Back down your speed to the original pace or you can walk for a minute. Repeat the process. Go a minute and a half and up to two minutes as your fitness level improves, mixing in a minute or two recovery jog or walk. Finish with a cool-down run (comfortable pace) of 5-8 minutes. Typically, I do this workout for about 30-40 minutes total.

Tempo Intervals: Tempos are runs done at a slighter faster pace than a jog, but are slightly slower than a sprint. You can carry on a conversation but it's not as easy as talking during a slow-paced run. After a 8-minute warmup, increase the speed to a slighter quicker pace. Hold that pace for 4 minutes. Slow down to a jog for 4 minutes. Do four sets of 4 tempos runs with 2 minutes of recovery between each set. Cool down with an 8-10 minute slower run. You can always throw some walking in during recovery time if you would like.

Hill Repeats: Hills are a necessary evil when training, especially for longer runs. Begin with a slower pace run of about 5-8 minutes to warm up. Warm ups are critical when doing any training runs. After your warm up, bump the incline to 4% and increase your speed slightly. Hold this for 2 minutes. Move back to zero incline and a slower pace for 2-minutes. Move to 5%, 6%, and 7% grades for 2 minutes each. Make sure you do a 2-minute recovery between each grade. You can always walk during recovery if you need to catch your breath. As your fitness level increases, you can rev up this workout by going longer and trying higher inclines. Always finish with an 8-10 minute cool down run at a comfortable pace.

As I stated earlier, Runner's World offers some terrific how-to training videos. If you're a beginner, don't overdo any of these workouts. Walk more if you need to. The treadmill need not be boring or intimidating. It can be a dynamic way to add spice to your workouts and get you the training you need to finish any race distance.

I hope these help. It's 13 degrees where I live so you know where I'll be running tomorrow!

Happy running!


TFR