threadmill 5k vs road running 5k

Amprodude

How much of a disadvantage am I at when comparing my threadmill running to road running? I know nothing beats real road running but i want some advice here as im think of doing a 5K road run in February.

Firstly ive never ran any type of 5k road run or race. I usually run on a beach once a week and do about 7km. The rest of my running is all threadmill based and I run 5k on threadmill 3 times a week and today I did it in 20.44 mins bit slower than other days but i also cycle row and swim hard so its to be expected from time to time. I also do interval training on threadmill and vary resistance/gradient. I am reasonably fit as I train in gym 4-5times a week spending 1.5 -2 hours working out doing all different fitness workouts during the week.

Would I be capable of doing a road run in about sub 21 mins or must I hit the road full time and forget threadmill?

Advice and help much appreciated.

JJJJNR

Totally different, you'll notice the difference after a couple of km, it'll be harder on the legs and you'll tire a lot quicker as the surface is different, its a much better experiance.

Amprodude

JJJJNR wrote: »

Totally different, you'll notice the difference after a couple of km, it'll be harder on the legs and you'll tire a lot quicker as the surface is different, its a much better experiance.

would I be correct to say that a beach surface is harder to run on than a road?

Having second thoughts about the run now.

gally74

I find the treadmill harder than a road run

Amprodude

gally74 wrote: »

I find the treadmill harder than a road run

When I run on beach, I actually find threadmill harder funny enough. I can't comment on a road run.

JJJJNR

theres no wind resistance on the TM, sorry missed that bit about beach running, that would be a decent distance on a beach, I'd say your more than ready to go for a 5k road race, but I think the difference in surfaces will be felt, I'd move off the beach and onto the road for a couple of km's at least see how you get on.

Amprodude

JJJJNR wrote: »

theres no wind resistance on the TM, sorry missed that bit about beach running, that would be a decent distance on a beach, I'd say your more than ready to go for a 5k road race, but I think the difference in surfaces will be felt, I'd move off the beach and onto the road for a couple of km's at least see how you get on.

Ok will give it a go. What would be a decent time for my first road run?

RandyMann

Amprodude wrote: »

How much of a disadvantage am I at when comparing my threadmill running to road running? I know nothing beats real road running but i want some advice here as im think of doing a 5K road run in February.

Firstly ive never ran any type of 5k road run or race. I usually run on a beach once a week and do about 7km. The rest of my running is all threadmill based and I run 5k on threadmill 3 times a week and today I did it in 20.44 mins bit slower than other days but i also cycle row and swim hard so its to be expected from time to time. I also do interval training on threadmill and vary resistance/gradient. I am reasonably fit as I train in gym 4-5times a week spending 1.5 -2 hours working out doing all different fitness workouts during the week.

Would I be capable of doing a road run in about sub 21 mins or must I hit the road full time and forget threadmill?

Advice and help much appreciated.

Yes, try and leave it alone as much as possible as it makes your hamstrings redundant. A treadmill pulls your leg back for you which is no use.

Clearlier

The word is 'treadmill' people, 'treadmill' no 'h' :mad:

Assuming that the treadmill is correctly calibrated and the course is reasonably flat then you should be good for sub-21 in a road race, possibly even sub-20. They key will be to pace it correctly. Take it easier than you think at the start and pass a whole load of people in the last couple of km's. You'll be better prepared if you do one or two runs on the road first but it's not necessary at all.

AntiVirus

When I switched to running on the road I found I was running faster than on the treadmill. You'll feel completely different, I think the cool and fresh air gives you a boost over the hot stale air around you when running on a treadmill. You won't overheat as much.

As for wind resistance, you won't notice it unless its windy and even then you'll get a nice tail wind at some point. Id say you could do a sub 21, just make sure the course is flat. Good luck

dev123

The typical advice for running on a dreadmill is to set it to 2% incline to negate the fact that there is no wind resistance. Try 5K at that setting to see where you stand

Hatcho

Mate of mine was getting pains up the top of his left leg when running on a treadmill. He did all of his running on a treadmill - approx 8k per day, 5 days a week. When he went to a physio to get it checked he was told that the issue was that some of his leg/bum muscles were underdeveloped compared to others as treadmill running does not replicate the muscular efforts experienced when running outdoors. Physio told him only solution was to do at least 30% of his running off the treadmill so that his muscles would even out over time. We called him 'Lazy Arse' for ages after that!

Personally I much prefer the outdoors - the fresh air is lovely and you don't feel like a hamster in a wheel! Strangest thing I ever saw was a load of peeps running on treadmills in a stuffy gym on a nice sunny Saturday afternoon. Makes no sense!

gearoidol

I think i should be able to give you abit of advice on this as i was in your exact situation about 12 months ago.

I started running June 2011. I did 1550 km on the treadmill between June 2011 and May 2012 with 0 runs outside. Im May 12 i was running about 21min 5ks on the treadmill.In May started running 1x5k a week outside and did my first 5k race the end of june in a time of 20:02.So running on the tm and outside were very similar and outside was probably easier as the house used to get really hot over the summer months for working out.

Since then i am up to about 3000k done since june 2011 but alot more of my training is done outside.I run about 50k a week and about 30 k of that is done outside.I ran sub 18:30 in my last race before xmas so all that training on the tm has payed off.

You will have absolutely no problem with a 5k road race at the moment just dont go out too hard i would imagine a finish between 19:30 - 20:30 depending on the course