Slo-Jo: Treadmill Time--Whatever Will Tyra Banks Make Those Aspiring Models Do Next?

Today’s Run: 4 miles on treadmill

Pace: 10:30

BPM: about 135

Wine consumption: 9 btls Montgras Reserva from Chile (it is birthday week)

Let me begin by saying birthday week is hard. There is a lot of food. There is a lot of wine. These are some of my favorite things. But then, alas, I don’t really feel like bounding out of bed in the morning and putting on my running shoes. I feel like lying in bed and then maybe trundling out to get a big breakfast. So that’s what I did this morning. And the morning before that. And the morning before that.

That said, I’m now afraid to get on the scale and I don’t want to have to invest in a running muumuu, so I managed to get myself on the treadmill today. I own a treadmill. It is in the spare room, and I have a TV in front of it that records shows like So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Next Top Model. (I need a certain type of program to run to—SYTYCD is perfect, because I watch these young dancers do these incredible things and think, “You can’t even run another .2?” And ANTM, um, well, I just happen to like it. Tyra Banks has sailed over the edge into craziness. She invented a new word, "smize," which means "smile with your eyes." How can I not watch?)

(Tyra Banks is not smizing.)

I decided to wear my heartrate monitor on my treadmill run because I was curious if it would be lower. Certain friends have suggested the treadmill is easier. I have to admit it does feel easier. For example, I can run at speeds on the treadmill that tend to kill me outside. The treadmill might be doing some of the work.

Sure enough, rather than the 174 I had on the 9-mile run this weekend, I had a nice, relaxed 135 bpm. I did not feel like I was working hard at all. (I realize I probably could have pushed the pace a bit more, but I was pretty happy to be on the treadmill AT ALL.) And I had the treadmill at a 1% incline to try to simulate running outside, but it still felt kind of easy.

So is it easier? According to Runner’s World (I stole that line from Toe-Shoes Tina. Maybe RW will start linking to our blog!):

“Running on the treadmill is easier than running outdoors, for a variety of reasons. One reason is that the treadmill belt assists leg turnover, making it easier to run faster. So most runners find that their pace on the treadmill doesn’t correlate to their road pace. Also, some of the soft tissue conditioning or 'hardening' that occurs with road running does not occur with treadmill running because the plate or base on the treadmill ‘gives’ more than road surfaces.” 

Runner’s World suggests using the treadmill for speedwork or tempo runs instead.

But let’s face it. It can be, shall we say, a little toasty to run outside in Phoenix sometimes, and people who live in cold-weather climates can’t run outside all year either. Sometimes the treadmill is the difference between staying in shape and the long, slow slide into getting forklifted out of your house one day.

(You didn't think I'd put a picture of some poor soul being forklifted, did you? Let's admire Matthew McConaughey instead. I wonder what he thinks of the treadmill debate.)

Thus, as Tim Gunn would say (Project Runway is not a treadmill show. It requires my full attention), we have to make it work. Most of the authorities I have found online state that one way to make treadmill running more like outside running is to add an incline to the treadmill. Basically, the issue is that the lack of wind resistance means you will consume less oxygen at the same speed on the treadmill. There was a 1996 study of oxygen resistance that concluded a 1% incline offsets this difference.

I will note a last treadmill difference I didn’t see on the running websites: on the treadmill, you cannot take your fat dogs with you. Mine just stare at me like, really? Another walk opportunity WASTED.

(Site of our future marathon greatness!)

I probably won’t be blogging about a long run this weekend because some friends and I, including Toe-Shoes Tina, are going to New Orleans for my birthday celebration weekend. Toe-Shoes Tina wants to do a long run around New Orleans. She invited me to join her. (This from the same woman who once asked if I wanted to go running before we went skiing.) 

I told her I’m probably out. I’m planning to sleep in. Maybe trundle out to have a big breakfast. As I said: birthday week is hard.

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