Five Treadmill Workouts From Elites

I liked the title of this article in my Running Times magazine, "Real Runners Train on Treadmills." It makes me feel a little better about the days that I have to choose the treadmill over going outside. 

I thought I'd write down the treadmill workouts from this article so I can throw away these pages that have been sitting on my night stand for awhile now. 

Workout #1-The Endless Uphill

(The advocate for this workout is Pete Pfitzinger, a two-time Olympic marathoner.)

60 minutes or longer at 4-to-8-percent incline.  

This workout is great for people who live somewhere flat and are trying to prepare for a hilly race course, like Heartbreak Hill in Boston. By swapping some speed for hill work, you'll increase the type and number of muscle fibers recruited which will make the same effort on a flat surface feel much easier. 

Workout #2- The Long run

(The advocate for this workout is Dennis Barker, coach of Team USA Minnesota.)

Marathon-simulation run lasting 20-30 minutes longer than finishing time goal. 

You can stimulate the race course by going up hill when there will be hills during your race, and you can also practice drinking fluids and eating gels when you plan to eat them during your race. Keep the speed constant and steady, and don't change speeds even when you go uphill. Coach Barker says, "The course replication will have more than just physical benefits. I think treadmill running does stimulate marathon running quite well, just because it's so monotonous."

Yikes, I'm not sure if I'll ever be crazy enough to run on a treadmill for that long, but you never know, so I wrote this one down just in case. 

Workout #3-The Hill Circuit

(The advocate for this workout is Magdalena Lewy Boulet, 2008 Olympic marathoner.)

20x30 seconds hard climbing (with 30 seconds stationary rest) at the maximal gradient equivalent to mile race pace. (Kind of confusing, but I'll explain...use this chart to determine what speed to set your treadmill at. Example: if your treadmill goes up to 10 percent incline and you're an 8 minute miler, set your treadmill between 5.0 and 5.2 speed. The hills are steep, but the pace is forgiving. 

When I was training for the Boston marathon I used to do hill workouts in place of tempo workouts when my legs were too dead to do the speed. That way my lungs would still get a really good workout, but it was easier on my legs. 

Workout #4-Increasing Pace Tempo

(The advocate for this workout is Kara Goucher, 2008 Olympian at 5,000m and 10,000m)

Do 3-6 miles and gradually increase the speed so you finish the last mile at 10K race pace. 

I love doing these kind of runs on the treadmill, and it's something I rarely do when I'm outside running. 

Workout #5-Treadmill Lactate Flushing Session

(The advocate for this workout is Marius Bakken, Norwegian record-holder in 3,000m and 5,000m, and coach at marathon-training-schedule.com.)

30 minutes to 2 hours of varying pace with quick recoveries. Use your race times to get an estimate of your pace for varying race distances, then convert your pace to speeds on the treadmill. (Here's a pace/treadmill speed chart) Here's an example: 25K race pace for 3 minutes, marathon race pace for 2 minutes, 10K race pace for 1 minute, marathon pace for 2 minutes, 25K race pace for 2 minutes, 15K pace for 2 minutes, etc. 

I think it would be pretty fun to switch up the pace frequently like that, and it would make the time on the treadmill go by a lot faster too. Bakken recommended doing this type of workout once a month, and he said, "You'll be surprised at how much better you'll handle this type of work after two to three workouts." 

Well, I'm excited to try some of these workouts next time I'm in need of a good treadmill workout. I prefer running outside 100 times more than running on the treadmill, but sometimes it's either the treadmill, or nothing, and on those days I'm grateful for the treadmill. I'll take a treadmill run over no run any day. Even though I get a lot more sweaty on the stuffy-aired treadmill, and the time drags by, I'll admit that I usually run harder on the treadmill and get a better workout. I also know that gutting out a treadmill workout just makes me tougher, and makes those outdoor runs seem easier. (What doesn't kill you makes you a runner, right?) Maybe that's why this article said, "Real runners train on treadmills."

When do you choose the treadmill over outdoor running?

When I have to run by myself during the dark hours, either really early in the morning, or at night. I've heard too many scary stories of girls getting abducted on their runs, so I never go running alone in the dark. How I wish that wasn't a problem though. I tell Scott all the time that I wish I could run outside whenever and wherever I wanted without having to worry about being safe. I also grew to love the treadmill during the hot and humid Texas summers. I still try to go outside most of the time in the summer, but sometimes it's just too dang hot.