Training for a marathon on a treadmill can offer several
advantages. Depending upon where you live, the Winter months can make
it challenging, or even impossible to get your miles in. If you live
in a relatively flat area, then you aren’t getting any practice
running up and down hills.
That can end up making a huge difference
in your time. These are just two reasons you might consider adding
treadmill workouts to your usual training routine. Let’s look
at some treadmill techniques that can really boost your speed and
endurance. As with any other type of marathon training, look to
slowly build up your miles and change up your routine once in a while
to avoid stagnation.
Table of Contents:
Tempo/Long run
You can always perform your usual routine on a treadmill. Most
outdoor runners initially prefer the changing scenery they’ve
become accustomed to, but running on a treadmill can actually be
better for your knees.
Interval
Interval training is useful for building up your speed.
Essentially, you run fewer miles at a faster pace. Let’s say
you average 10 minutes per mile during a marathon. Utilize interval
training and practice running 5 to 10 miles at an 8 minute pace. One
of the benefits of treadmills is that most modern models
automatically calculate useful figures, such as your speed and
distance traveled.
Fartlek
Fartlek runs are fun because they change things up. For a Fartlek
run, you alternate between sprinting and jogging for random amounts
of time. One of the most common methods is to grab some headphones,
put your favorite playlist on shuffle, and run at the tempo of the
whatever song comes up. An example Fartlek run might look like: Fast
Jog-2 mins, Sprint-1.5 mins, Fast Jog-3 mins, Slow Jog-1 min,
Sprint-3 mins, etc.
Endless Uphill & Hill Circuits
If you live in an area devoid of hills, you will be in for a shock
after you run your first hilly marathon. Your times will vary
greatly, even with proper training, but hill can decimate your time
and your body if you are inadquately prepared for them. Many modern
treadmills have a built in hill setting where you can adjust the
gradient of the tread. Two common hill routines are the endless
uphill workout, and hill circuits. As the name suggests, the endless
uphill workout is pretty much the same as your normal tempo run,
except you are running uphill. Hill circuits are fun, and some
treadmills have a hill circuit function built in, but if yours
doesn’t, then don’t worry. You can make your own hill
routine by manually adjusting the gradient of the tread while you
run. Try running uphill for one minute, then flattening out for a
minute. Repeat this 20 times. You can vary the gradient of the climb,
the time, or the number of repeats to customize your own hill
circuit.
Guest post written by Ben from Ben’s Trends http://www.benstrends.com