I’ve been running pretty consistently for almost twenty-five years now. Some years more, some years less but I’ve probably logged at least 500 miles a year for the past two decades. You would think after thousands of miles and thousands of hours of running I’d have perfected a system. Actually, I have, it’s just that most days it’s not an ideal system. Despite being a veteran runner, I still make the same mistakes many beginning runners do.
Real runners don’t use treadmills. Or something like that. There is a bias against treadmills in the fitness community. Some just find them boring. Some think they can cause injuries. Some just really hate them for other personal reasons.
Living in the Northeast, I’m not going to say I prefer running on the treadmill, but I’m glad they exist to help keep my motivated and in-shape in the dead of winter. However, being a data nerd, I do often wonder about treadmill workouts. I certainly don’t totally trust the numbers the treadmill is spitting out.
Just how hard are you actually working on the treadmill? What is the pace if you change the incline? Do your mechanics change on the treadmill? Should you really always set it to a 1% incline? Let’s get some answers.
