Get Running Forums

Hi all, I've done this app a couple of times but I have one big problem. I can run all day ( well 45 minutes on average lol ) on the treadmill at around 8kph to 9kph with a 1.0 - 1.5 gradient. However, I can't complete this app outdoors, I really want to do a 5k race but can only manage 15 minutes continuous outdoors before stopping, has anyone got any ideas or possible solutions?

What exactly is stopping you from running longer than 15 minutes outdoors? Is it that you physically can't because you are too out of breath, or is it more of a mental thing like your legs are tired? Because treadmill running and outdoor running are two totally different beasts: I can run for two hours outside on a trail with no pain, but if you put me on a treadmill, I give up after about twenty minutes because it aggravates my plantar fascia so badly. Your form on a treadmill is totally different than when you're outside, which is where a lot of the difficulty comes from. Sure, your cardio fitness is much better, but in all other regards, it's like starting from nothing again. Your best bet may be to redo some of the earlier weeks of Get Running and forget the treadmill entirely until you've built up a good base for outdoor running.

Thanks for the reply, to be honest I have been doing the app again outside ( I'm currently on week 6 run 2 ), I find the readmillmrelatively easy, I guess if I can crack the outdoors the treadmill should be even easier. Going back to the outdoors situation, it's really the legs hurting that's the problem, but I do seem to be out of breath as well. Just seems bizarre that you ran on a treadmill for an hour continuous but outside is a big problem.

On a treadmill, you're simply not working as hard. You are moving, but the ground beneath you is also in motion, which means that you move differently than you would if you were outdoors. Stick with outdoor running for a little while until you get better at it, and then if you find you still prefer the treadmill, stick with that. You do what is most enjoyable for you. Personally, I preferred the treadmill until circumstance elimated the treadmill as a possibility, and then once I got used to outdoor running, I now find the treadmill incredibly boring and hardly a viable option at all. Last week on a 6 mile run, I saw at least three deer crashing through the woods directly to my left. It was amazing! You can see such great things when you run outdoors!

Thanks for that makes sense, did week 6 run. 3 today outside ( the 25 minutes ) I deliberately and consciously reduced the pace and did it. I'm wondering if the pace that I'm running on the tread mill ( around 8.5kph ) is what I've been trying to replicate outdoors and it's to much. Is there anyway of monitoring page outdoors easily?

I have done the couch to 5k app a couple of times. I am currently repeating as I took a 6 month break after running/walking a 10k. Anyway, I hate the treadmill, but am forced to use it due to the weather in CO. You can track your pace through a variety of phone apps. I use runmeter. You can set it to tell you your pace at any given time. Also, I recently got a garmin running watch. However, I haven't been able to use it as I have been treadmill running. There is a piece that you can connect to your shoe that will talk to your watch for treadmill use, but I haven't decided it I want to spend 75 dollars just to have my runs recorded onto my Garmin.