Time for a treadmill workout to get back to my old running self! Today was my first run since the half marathon on Thanksgiving Day. I eased back into running with a simple 30 minute easy paced treadmill run in the gym. I know there's a lot of animosity toward the treadmill among runners but I honestly don't see why. It's true that I would rather run outside most of the year but cooler temps and dreary weather don't inspire me to get outdoors. If it keeps me running during the winter then I'll take a treadmill run any day. This is particularly the case since I really dislike running on roads and having to watch out for traffic or wait at stoplights. My ideal run is on a clear trail with a few good hills spaced throughout.
I also learned a neat tidbit of information from the December edition of Running Times about the treadmill. I had always been told that, in order to compensate for wind resistance and other factors of outdoor running, that while running on a treadmill you should always keep it at a 1-1.5% incline. Apparently that isn't necessarily the case. Only of speeds faster than 8mph (7:30 min/mile) does this really make a difference. So, for those of us who spend most of their time running speeds slower than this, there is no need to increase the incline. Although, I suppose it won't hurt you to run with a 1% incline and will actually help you in the long run. At least I won't feel guilt anymore if I choose not to have that bit of an incline. I will need to bump up the incline though when doing speed intervals as I will usually be hitting that 8mph threshold for those.
No comments:
Post a Comment