This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Training on the Treadmill

A personal view on building speed and endurance

My goal: to run the Peachtree Road Race on the Fourth of July. 

My previous running experience: The Aids Walk Atlanta 5K last October.

Conclusion: I'm pretty much a running novice.

Find out what's happening in Virginia Highland-Druid Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I am no fan of cold temperatures. I know hard core runners will hit the streets in all kinds of winter weather, but I took a warmer way to prepare for a race.  

I learned the gym treadmill can be your best friend.

Find out what's happening in Virginia Highland-Druid Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

First, the warm up — hitting elliptical equipment for up to 15 minutes.  The equipment warms and stretches the muscles you will need.  

Next, the treadmill and the real work out.

When I first started out, I had a lot of questions about myself and what I was doing. 

How much time to spend on the work out? How fast do you run and for how long?

A friend who’s experienced in racing plus a little research through runner websites gave me suggestions on how to start.

The treadmill provides a safe way to test what works as you build your endurance. It can help you avoid mistakes that could create injuries.

There are many views on timing and how to divide it.

The common objective: increase your overall workout time.

You want to increase your running speed and time you spend at it while decreasing your slower “resting” motion. The information in front of you on the treadmill will help.

An acknowledged beginner’s training time on the treadmill and eventually the street is 30 minutes. There are various settings on the treadmill to take you through different courses such as hills or even a 5K.

I set the treadmill for manual and 30 minutes.  I change incline and speed as needed.

I start at 3 miles per hour on an incline of 1.5. I check my blood pressure at that point. The treadmill shows a graph indicating maximum blood pressure for your age and whether you are going for endurance or athletic training. Remember this is a guide. Make sure to check with a doctor on your personal limits.

After my BP check, I crank up the speed.

Again, the objective is to increase speed, lengthen the time at that speed and reduce your slower “resting” time. I’ve found three to be my fast walk speed, four is a jog and 5 and up, a run.

Initially I could do the run for only a couple minutes. Heavy breathing told me to cut back my speed and check my blood pressure. It wouldn’t take long into the 30 minutes for me to reach my max on the athletic training scale. I would sometime need to drop to a slower walk.

Since February I’ve upped my running speed to a six. I’m doing that for two minutes. I divide my time between pushing the running speed, jogging and fast walking. I see my endurance growing. Hot and sweaty, I rarely drop below a fast walk now.

There are rough mornings now and then. A late night with a lot of time standing may have my feet screaming “slow down”. Normally I ignore that cry. Occasionally I give in.

Coming up, the game changer. 

As the name says, The Peachtree Road Race is far from the controlled settings of a treadmill. I’ll fill you in on what it takes to hit the streets.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Virginia Highland-Druid Hills