Aside from the fact that running 10, 12 or more miles on a treadmill would probably kill me from boredom, I make a point of doing my long weekend runs outdoors. I have to get up extra early in the summer and/or run wherever the shade is, but that run outside is really important to me.
But for shorter runs, of say 6 miles or so, I have no problem hopping on the treadmill to avoid running in an 85 degree afternoon during the week. Such as it was yesterday for my scheduled 6 miler at a 9:22 pace. An easy run in week two of marathon training.
The problem with this kind of run is that while I sweat like a maniac it's a generally too easy workout for me, by probably a minute or so a mile. Especially on a treadmill.
To compensate for the slowish pace (which I'm dealing with because I'm trying to run 26.2 miles and the key is to slow the heck down) I find myself cranking up the incline on the treadmill. While that turns me into a true salination machine, it gets my heart pumping a little harder and challenges me without going at a faster pace than I should.
There's nothing like running outdoors, but there are ways to make running indoors a little more manageable. For me, playing with the incline buttons is key.
Funny you mention incline buttons on treadmills. I remember way back when I was just a walker and I wondered why people were stupid enough to add hills on a treadmill to their walks. Of course I wasn't too fit then either, now I like hills in my outdoor running and probably will have to add then to my winter treadmill runs as well. Now hopefully some unfit person will wonder why someone would want to add hills to their indoor run, I bet you've already got some people at your gym wondering about you! ;-)
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