Well, the schedule for today was a half marathon at about marathon pace. So that is what I did. It had to be on a treadmill at a gym in Yotsuya to which I still have a few tickets, a gift from my former employer.
I did 2k warm up, then got into the half marathon at 4:05/km pace with the slope at 0.5%. At 8 km I had to stop for a number two, then with 13.1 km left I broke it into two lots of 6.5k + 6.6k with a drink break in between. The temperature in the gym was probably 24 degrees and there is a pool in the building that seems to increase the humidity. So I sweated like crazy at that effort and had to reduce the pace a few times as the run progressed. I found the last 3 km really, really hard, both physically and mentally. It was definitely difficult to suppress the urge to stop early, and each 0.1 km seemed to take forever.
I took the complete 5 minutes cool down cycle of the treadmill and really needed it. One tough little run, but certainly better than being turned into a snowman outdoors.
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Steve, as I already mentioned to you in my mail, this workout shows your spirit. After the HM was canceled I went to "battery Aziz" mode for the rest of the day. But you pushed the limit. Great!
It seemed to me, after my treadmill effort yesterday, that anything under 5min per K on the tread mill seems much faster than when I'm running outside.
It may be just an illusion but definitely harder for me to do a half inside than out. As you seem to attest to.
Well done for finishing it off.
Good on ya!
I don't know about you but I find trying to maintain a certain speed on a treadmill so much harder than on the road.
Remember George Jetson .... Jane, stop this crazy thing!
I found a link to where people are talking about their experiences vis-a vis what I said above that seems to confirm that running on a treadmill is harder, well at least until one gets used to it.
http://www.trifuel.com/forum/11686/treadmill-running-i-run-slower-on-treadmill-than-on-ground
I don't know if it is physically harder but mentally I find treadmill running exhausting. I also find it much hotter. So even though I dislike the cold I might have taken the snowman option.
When I first started using a treadmill I found that there was much greater sensation of leg speed for any given pace compared to outside. 5:00/km felt pretty fast. As time went by and I used my heart rate monitor, I realized that it was somewhat illusory. I also felt physically afraid of being flung off as the pace went above 4:30/k. But once I got used to it I found I could actually hang in there at faster and faster speeds and the aerobic effort was about the same as on the track. So I think it just takes some getting used to. The comments on that thread Scott linked are interesting. The thing about it being more use of hip flexor and less hamstring compared to outdoors is probably correct. My hips are a bit sore today. This is probably a good thing because it "gets at" the hip flexors and conditions them more than normal workouts, and having good endurance in them is important for the marathon. I mean good in the sense of including the occasional workout on a tready, not that it is better than running outdoors per se.
I am a fan of treadmill running because as you have commented I also believe it works the muscleds differently to running outdoors. So a treadmill run every now and then gives the full workout when incorporated with the other regular running. I would hate to run indoors all the time though and I think the consistency of gradient, temp, scenery etc is very boring and monotonous.
Then again.....I would kill for any sort of running at the moment. Had to ditch my 3km TT this morning because I couldn't run in the rain with Bub.
I had to do a double take when I read half marathon on a treadmill! What an effort. Interesting to see that your heart rate was similar to effort on the road though.
Mildura is sending two runners over for the Tokyo marathon, one of them is Coolrunner Dash. He has been contimplating setting a treadmill up in the 4 degree coolroom at work! Hope the weather improves soon :)
Rachel, tell dash to email me ... stlacey at gmail dot com
I actually got it wrong. He's going to the Osaka Marathon. Leaves on Sunday. Will let him know your email though.
Make that the Senshu Marathon (in Osaka I guess!).
I've done up to 12km on a treadmill, but a half marathon is a way lot more! Huge effort, Stephen.
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