Treadmills vs Outside Running

originally posted on 11/25

so I’m sure every runner out there has an opinion about running outside vs running on a treadmill. This is one scenario where the hubs and I completely disagree.

He LOVES running on a treadmill. He likes that someone else is monitoring his pace - it keeps him motivated and he feels like he has a better workout.

I do not like running on the treadmill. Because I have to stay a consistent pace I feel like I tire way more easily. Hubs asks “well, don’t you want to keep a consistent pace when you run?” yes…. but I find I can run faster outside, so it’s frustrating to me to be tired after running a mile at a 12:00 pace when I ran a mile outside the other day at a 10:30 pace.

The gym we go to has tv’s on each treadmill. This makes the running a little bit easier. I can get my HGTV fix in while working out. The bad part? the time/distance, etc. is RIGHT THERE! When I run outside, I have to make a concerted effort to lift my arm and look at my Garmin (which, don’t get my wrong, I do much more often when I get tired!), but on the treadmill, I just have to glance down a fraction and it plays with my mind - I get more tired after running a shorter distance. Now that it’s dark whenever I’m not working, though, I think I’m going to have to get used to treadmill running. We live in a developing area, so there aren’t a ton of sidewalks. In fact, if I want to leave my neighborhood, I have to be “on the road” for about a half of a mile before I get to sidewalks…
Unfortunately, I also had a friend in high school who was a runner and went out for an early morning run when it was still dark and was raped, so I have a very scary fear of something happening to me when running alone. and since hubs doesn’t like outside running, I’m on my own. I would take my nurse (aka Riley) with me, but she can be a bit of a distraction, and I can’t race with her so I’m worried about getting to used to having her along.

Stay tuned: tomorrow’s post should be interesting: the thoughts of getting in shape as a skinny person. There are a lot of weight-loss blogs out there (and I am so inspired reading them all) but the bottom line is: I don’t need to lose weight by working out - and that brings a whole new set of challenges. I’ll discuss more tomorrow