Snow in the forecast — again — forces an evaluation of whether weather will allow a safe run, outside.  I usually enjoy the chance to run in a little snow.  Being the first to leave prints in a few fresh inches.  Sometimes, though, it’s too deep or to slick to go out.  That’s when it’s nice to have access to a treadmill.

Treadmill running offers a chance for some hill training, if you take advantage of the incline feature.  That can also be helpful, if most of your outdoor running is done on flat ground.  With a little research, you’re likely to find advice to use a slight incline — 1% or 2% — to compensate for the natural resistance of outdoor running.

Heather Fink, Assistant Director for Educational Services at NIFS, suggests using caution on the incline.  She says bodies that are accustomed to flat terrain might find it challenging to run uphill for an entire workout.  So, she suggests using the incline “for small portions of a workout, but not the entire session.”  

Heather also advises using a heart rate monitor.  She says that “can be the best way to equate outdoor workouts to indoor training.  The pace set on the treadmill might be different than your typical pace outdoors, so using the heart rate monitor can give you a better indication of your effort.”  I know my treadmill time rarely matches my pavement time.  It seems I can cover a course outside faster than I can run a comparable distance inside.  

Heather says it’s best to run or walk outside to get accustomed to the weather and to the pavement.  It prepares the legs for the real thing at race time.

Something else to remember: treadmill calorie counters are not the most reliable measures of what you burn.  So don’t gauge your post-run eating by those numbers