It’s getting colder, the days are short, and for some, work schedules this time of year can throw a curve into running schedules. How motivated can you be to hit the road when you leave home in the dark, and return home in the dark, too? Winter stress can easily make us lazy or force us onto the dreaded… dum, dum, dummmmmm — TREADMILL.
These stationary-yet-moving “belts of challenge” get a bad rap, but they’re not totally evil. If there’s no other option, hopping on a treadmill is way better than skipping a run altogether. Some runners even incorporate workouts with them ON PURPOSE!
Here are a few ways you can make that stationary device (which, we fully admit, serves as a coat rack more than it should) into a fun, albeit necessary, part of your running routine.
Peleton
If there was one thing that came out of our inability to go to a gym during COVID, it was Peloton! Forgiving the whole “Peloton Wife” thing and the Mr. Big debacle, these guys have the routine figured out on the stationary bike and treadmill. The instructors are awesome – Selena, Andy, Robin, and Matt: you’re killing it and making the time go by quickly with your powerful music. Also, because it’s an immersive experience, you can try to imagine yourself running on a fantastic course instead of in your own living room.
Speed Workouts
You don’t need a degree in rocket science to have a great workout on the ‘mill. Use that Timer and MPH toggle to create your own speed workout, like this one:
- 10-minute warm up
- 30 seconds at 5k pace
- 1 minute at half-marathon pace
Repeat for the duration of the workout
Follow up with a 10-minute cooldown
Elevation Workouts
Don’t you worry, running on a treadmill doesn’t just mean running flat all the time. Those machines have the ability to move up and down, giving us some elevation if we want it. If your outdoor runs have plenty of hills to climb (and everywhere but northern Indiana and south Florida does!), then you’ll need to put some hills on that treadmill run, too.
Here is a great workout from Forward Motion to dial in those hill legs:
- Start with a 10 minute warm-up of easy jogging at a 1% incline.
- Increase the incline to 4% and hike it out for 4 minutes.
- Lower incline to 1% and run at a comfortable pace for 4 minutes.
- Increase the incline to 6% and hike for 6 minutes.
- Lower incline to 1% and run at a comfortable pace for 4 minutes.
- Increase the incline to 8% and hike for 4 minutes.
Lower incline to 1% and run at a comfortable pace for 4 minutes. - Increase the incline to 10% and hike for 2 minutes.
- Lower incline to 1% and run at a comfortable pace for 4 minutes.
- Finish with a 5-minute cooldown of easy jogging.
Hopefully, these 3 easy workouts will make you want to hang up your clothes – on something else – and actually enjoy the treadmill.