Treadmill training

Regular readers will know that I have recently re-joined the gym (DW Sports Fitness Club to be precise).  Although I'm not a complete fan of such places, I think of it as a means to an end.  Being able to avoid the harshness of a British winter and have some safe, reliable indoor training has many attractions.

I have found I like running on a treadmill, much to my surprise.  This is why:

• Indoors, so the weather outside doesn't matter.  Self imposed excuses like "it's too cold, wet, icy, snowy, windy" simply don't apply.
• No tripping up on things in the dark as I have done in the past.
• Great to monitor progress - distances and times are precise.  I take note of my 10k and 1 mile runs
• Some have heart rate monitors
• Some have programmable runs - different gradients and speeds.  These can simulate tempo runs, fartlek training etc
• It's safe.  Nobody is going to mug you
• A running surface that is not rock hard
• Set a speed and it stays constant.  This is a great way of pushing myself.  Otherwise if I'm running outside and resolve to have a faster or slower run, I always seem to adjust and run at my normal pace
• You can stop at any point, have a nice hot shower and go home.  Or maybe a different form of exercise, or perhaps stretching.
• You can still get that Runners High feeling
• People watching can be fun.  Just watching the others in the gym is fascinating sometimes; the body builders, the posers, the bums n tums folk and so it goes on...

Of course there are some disadvantages:

• Can be boring
• Is it real running?
• Treadmills cost money
• And use electricity
• Some might say it is a pointless treadmill which refers to jobs, careers, lifestyle etc (I tend to think of it as a keep-fit tool)

So there you go, treadmill running.  Boring but it serves a good purpose and has made all the difference to me.

Related:

DW Sports Review

What is the Runners High?