Newer runners often internalize the idea cast forth by "hardcore" runners that using a treadmill isn't the same as running outdoors and doesn't offer the same fitness benefits. This would be news to Christine Clark, who won the 2000 U.S. Women's Olympic Trials marathon after training exclusively on a treadmill during an Alaska winter. Any workout you can do outdoors, you can duplicate on a treadmill.
Advantages of Treadmills
Running on a treadmill, while not offering the scenery of a road or trail run, has a number of advantages over running outdoors. Inclement weather obviously will not interfere with a treadmill workout. The deck of a treadmill has a lot of give, and therefore impact stresses are considerably less than those you incur on pavement. Finally, because the belt rather than your body is moving, you can set and commit to a specific pace without having to feel for it and check your watch constantly.
Hill Work
Running up hills is a great way to add some oomph to a running session. When you run uphill, you hit the ground more gently and thus reduce the impact stresses on your joints. When you run outside, you have to eventually run downhill after you've finished climbing, and downhills are especially hard on the musculoskeletal system. Most motorized treadmills allow you to increase the grade of the deck to at least 10 percent, and running up an incline on a treadmill obviates the need to later descend.
Interval Training
Interval training involves a series of fast repetitions of two to five minutes at or faster than goal race pace interspersed with slow jogs of one to three minutes. Runners usually do these workouts on a track, but you can do them on a treadmill, as well. Here, again, the advantage of the treadmill is to allow you to set your goal pace with precision. According to longtime UK Athletics coach Brian MacKenzie, you can do interval workouts three to five times a week, depending on your level of experience and fitness.
Tempo Runs
Tempo runs are sustained efforts of about 20 minutes done at a "comfortably hard" pace, meaning that your breathing is just hard enough to prevent you from holding a normal conversation. Tempo runs are done at the lactate threshold -- the pace at which lactic acid begins to build up faster than it can be metabolized. According to exercise physiologist Pete Pfitzinger, this translates to about a 10-mile race pace, or 80 to 90 percent of your maximal heart rate. These runs teach your body to handle lactic acid more efficiently, thus raising your lactic-acid threshold.
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