Treadmill running and road running are not quite the same but the treadmill can still be a fantastic training tool.
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. And, obviously there are no weather conditions to deal with when running indoors.
The treadmill has a time and a place and can be used to your benefit. Use the treadmill to help with pace judgement and as a nice introduction to interval work. You run faster by speeding up the pace for short intervals and then slow it down for recovery intervals. This is a very convenient way to get in some speed work or tempo runs in a controlled setting.
Try running a progression type run on your next treadmill run to practice judging pace, gradually increasing the speed throughout the run.
For pace conversion check out the link below via Hill Runner
