Running question

It's a different action - on a treadmill the ground is moving and you are having to move yourself to stay in one place. Outside you are having to physically move yourself over the ground. It does use slightly different muscles / actions and so is a bit harder on the body (there's also ground impact to take into account).

I think the advice is to start slowly outside and build up. Don't try to keep up with your treadmachine times. I'd run a bit, walk a bit, etc, until your muscles get used to it.

Most people do find running outside harder (except me- I can't do treadies at all!). Either try a run/walk program or just slow your pace slightly and see which suits. Good luck in the RFL.

Thanks for the advice, it makes a lot of sense. I'll perservere and try and improve gradually.

Ali :o)

The other thing that running outside involves a variable environment (heat, wind, pollen, etc) compared to an indoor treadmill in a relatively stable environment.

If you've got a heart rate monitor, it can be good to monitor your heart rate on your treadmill runs, then try to keep your outdoor runs to the same heartrate. You may find you need to go at a very different pace for a bit. I used to find my heartrate would soar in hot weather, and monitoring it would help avoid me overdoing it.

I'd second the run/walk. Time your walking and limit it to 30s or a minute. I'm from the school that it doesn't matter whether you run/walk or run or walk as long as you get there and I think some people get too het up about running all the way without stopping.

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Yes, I'd definitely agree with this. And I'm speaking as someone who can longer run due to not listening to her body. Particularly when you are starting out, slowly and gently is much better for the longterm.

To emulate running outside you should always run on the running machine with an incline of at least 1.0. Once you are used to this the difference running outside won't be as obvious. Hope that helps and good luck with the race for life

Try not to worry about your time when you're running outside, just relax and jog slowly. It can be difficult to set your own pace when you're used to the treadmill doing it for you. If your lungs are fit to burst then it usually means you're going too fast. It can also take the body around 10 minutes to warm up, so you might find your breathing settles after that amount of time. I am a little dubious about how reliable treadmill's km counters are. I can run a km much faster outside than on the treadmill! (usually around 6 mins outside and 6m 30 inside)I, on the whole find outside running easier because it's more interesting. I also, when using the treadmill, set the incline to 1.5 to mimic outside running.