In relation to 'training-paces calculator' and treadmills:
I currently do a lot of training on a treadmill. I'm used to the idea of having the gradient at 1% to compensate for wind-resistance, but is there a formula for compensating for speed ? I wan to do some intervals at speeds of 18kph, but the mill in the gym won't go faster than 16kph. Is there a way uf upping the gradient to have the same effect as upping the speed ?
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most treadmills in the Gym don't go as fast as you can sprint, i tell my clients to input the time they want to run the tempo plus 2 minutes, this takes into account the machine gain speed. Use the cool down period as a recovery, if you can find it some treadmills have a repeat program. By upping the gradient all you are doing is adding a hill.
Try using a heart rate monitor - then you can get a measure of your effort and adjust the treadmill incline appropriately. The HRM enthusiasts say we should be basing efforts on HR rather then externally imposed limits, anyway.
I only stumbled over this the other day as its not indexed so I added it manually to my index under 'gradient'.
I used to hate them too.
I now use tradmills through the winter for interval sessions of no more than 40 minutes. With an mp3 player to help, and the frequent changes of speed I find the boredom has been banished and I actualy quite enjoy them now.
(Still can't wait for the lighter nights and fresh air in the evenings though)
Warm up first by running for 10 mins
Select the maximum speed you could sustain a run at (run, not all-out sprint speed).
Run at this speed for 2 mins.
Next decrease the speed by 0.1 but increase the gradient by 0.5 (or the smallest increment on your machine).
Run for one minute at these settings.
Repeat the speed decrease and gradient increase for consecutive 1 minute intervals and see how long you can continue.
It's a tough one but alleviates boredom.
I've just come back to this forum after starting it all that time ago.
The good news: Georgia's Dad - thanks, that's exactly what I wanted
The bad news: I don't run as much as I used to, and don't run anywhere near as fast, so it's all fairly academic now - I can't hit 16kph in a 5k these days, where I used to looking at that sort of pace for a half-marathon.
Thanks for everyone's interest
RwandaMan (aka MisterP)
I'd be a bit careful of going at the flat out speed of a treadmill for too long, I find they shake disturbingly if you pound them too close to the max.
Tina, best advice is to train off-road as much as you can, as this will strengthen you and is far less stressful on the legs than road or even treadmill running, because the surface is uneven and so the leg isn't subjected to exactly the same forces on every step. You won't be able to go as fast as you can on the TM, but it will make you fitter and better able to cope with the HM.
Tina
I agree with JFB - off road running is far, far kinder on your legs and joints than pounding along the roads.
Get a decent pair of offroad shoes (for grip) and off you go!
Treadmill, I could not manage without. I am 66y old and suffer with quite a lot of arthritis and sore joints, I have an artificial hip which replaced the arthritic one ten years ago. Running on the road a lot really causes quite a lot of pain, any 'efforts' on the road cause a lot of pain and or injury. I find the best for me is to mix the treadmill work with the road or off-road. I do my long run on the road each week. I will jog/walk with my dog for about 3m once or twice a week or when the evenings are light I will run with my club. The remainder of my running is on the gym treadmill. I use a minimum of 2% gradient and do a mix of intervals, tempo runs and 'hills' some of which are in the 'fell runner' style. I do a Pilates session once or twice a week for the stretching and to help with mobility, and some core and (a little) upper body work. I walk the dog each day and we do agility (that's the dog not me). I find this keeps me fit enough to do a half marathon (sub 2h) or a 10K (sub 55m) each month so although very slow I get what I want from my sport and am able to enjoy running with other club members. I am also tired most of the time except when I rest for a few days before a race when I feel great. Older runners with similar problems might find that less road and more of the treadmill could keep them going for a few more years rather than give up.
Cam someone explain to me why my times are quicker on the road than the treadmill.. For example I do 40 minutes on the Treadmill I do 5 miles approx, but for example if I ran a 10km race I would complete that around 40 minutes... It seems the treadmill is slower than my road speed.
is this correct ?
am I going mad ?
No idea?
Is the treadmill calibrated correctly?
Are you slower on any treadmill or one in particular?