stuck..

Hi,

In my opinion, running on a treadmill is great excersize, but it's a completely different thing than pounding the pavement.

On the treadmill, you can get by just making your body (legs) move fast enough to keep in one place. Outside you have to use your hamstrings / quads to move your bodyweight forward.

I'm a terrible runner and someone else will probably have better suggestions, but I think I would try reducing your pace (but maintain your cadence) until you can be comfortable doing the amount of time you're looking to put in.

Keith

Welcome!  Well running outside adds a few things.  You have to push off the ground more, you have uneven surfaces, and things like weather (wind, heat, etc.).  Keep practicing, and you'll be fine!  It just gets better with time!

The treadmill is a great pacing tool - it tells you exactly how fast you are going, and you (or at least I do) tend to push your pace because of it. Once you get out in the real world, unless you have one of the high dollar gps units, you really do not have any way to effectively pace your self (except perhaps on a track). I have found that my run times, under competition, are actually very competitive with my treadmill times. The track would be a good tool to use to help establish a pace (I have not made it to one yet).

Other things I have done is to push intervals - say to yourself, I am going to pick up the pace for a set distance (maybe 1500 or a 1000 feet) and then slow back down to recover. Do this three or four times, after your warmup, and viola, your workout is down, and you have probably cut 5 to 10 percent off your time.

Also, keep in mind that 3 weeks is a "millisecond" in terms of the geologic time that most people have spend getting out of shape. Try to be patient, and work for those small improvements in time and form - before you know it, you will be up at the front of the pack!!!

Good luck, let us know when your first race is!!!!

Dennis

Hey, I've encountered the very same issue. I travel a lot, so outside running can be difficult. Most hotels have treadmills, so oftentimes, its the best option.

Fact is that running on a treadmill requires a different motion and a different emphasis on the leg. You are using the muscles on the front of your leg to keep up with the belt rather than the back to push off of the ground. The trick is to make your treadmill excercises "harder" by varying either the speed or incline. One solution is to put a little incline on the treadmill when you are forced to use one. The heightened angle will force you to push off more, utilizing more of those outside running muscles. Proceed slowly, though.

Training outside, on pavement is truly more strenuous and stresses the muscles in the rear of your leg (glutes, hamstrings and calves).

I wish you the best of luck.

I am the *last* person to give running advice because I am soooo sloooow, but wanted to welcome you to the site!

Kelly

Thank you all for your feedback and encouragement - I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

Welcome!