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Many days, the thought of getting on the treadmill is enough to send me running straight back to bed. Putting on my running shoes and heading outside is easy. My motivation to hit the pavement, tour the town, running on my favorite bike paths, never wanes. I love breathing the fresh air, taking deep breaths and absorbing all it has to offer into my lungs. I especially love Spring, when the apple and cherry trees are blossoming. The light floral scent makes me want to roll around under the trees mid-run.
The dreadmill treadmill is never as welcoming, no matter where you place it. A treadmill can be a great tool. It helped me learn pacing and helped me be able to judge my pace by how I felt. It helped me run faster too...but that doesn't mean I like it! I've learned a few tricks along the way to help make time fly by on the treadmill that I'd like to share!
Do Interval Runs:
I like doing intervals on the treadmill because I don't think I'd be able to push myself enough on the pavement to get to top speed over and over again. And by consistently changing the speed on your treadmill it breaks up your run, I'm always watching the clock in 2 minute segments instead of waiting for a whole 30 minutes to pass and completely tuning out.
There are two different ways I do intervals, one based on speed and one based on hills.
An interval based on speed looks like this (these are the speed I do them at, you can adjust the speed either faster or slower depending on where your at!)
Minutes Speed
0-3:00 3.5
3:01 - 4:30 5.0
4:31 - 5:00 8.2
5:01 - 6:30 5.0
6:31 - 7:00 8.2
7:01 - 8:30 5.0
8:30 - 9:00 8.2
9:01 - 10:30 5.0
10:31 - 11:00 8.2
11:01 - 12:30 5.0
12:31 - 13:00 8.2
13:01 - 14:30 5.0
14:31 - 15:00 8.2
15:01 - 16:30 5.0
16:31 - 17:00 8.2
17:01 - 19:30 5.0
19:31 - 20:00 8.2
20:01 - 21:30 5.0
21:31 - 22:00 8.2
22:01 - 23:30 5.0
23:31 - 24:00 8.2
24:00 - 25:30 5.0
25:31 - 26:00 8.2
26:00 - 30:00 3.5
This workout ALWAYS turns me into a hot mess! These days, my comfortable "just out for an easy jog" pace is about 5.7 mph. So those 30 seconds at 8.2 leave me huffin' and puffin'!
(At the top of the Biggest LONGEST STEEPEST Hill I've ever tried to run up. What a cruel place to take a race photo!)
My interval workout based on hillllllllllllllllllllls is a hot mess too...but in a different way. Sometimes at the end of the 30 minutes I can't decide if I hate the slow hills more or the increased speed more!!
Minutes Speed Incline
0-1 3.5 0
2-3 5.2 3
4-5 6.0 0
6-7 5.2 3
8-9 6.0 0
10-11 5.2 3
12-13 6.0 0
14-15 5.2 3
16-17 6.0 0
18-19 5.3 3
20-21 6.2 0
22-23 5.3 3
24-25 6.2 0
26-30 3.5 0
Playing with speed is a great way to get your mind off the clock, keep you engaged in your run, and keep your mind from drifting to la-la land and leaving you with a potential "junk" run.
Even if my run is on the dreadmill treadmill...when its all done, I've never regretted the feeling of a run when its all done!
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