I am not a huge fan of running on the treadmill. An hour can feel like two (three?) when you’re on the tread. But it has it’s value. Case in point: Thursday’s workout. I’m officially naming it the best treadmill tempo workout.
The treadmill is a necessary evil
Jog with me for a minute here. I woke up Monday with a stiff right knee. I felt like a case of IT band tendonitis was taking hold. All day I’d walk fine and then… a lightning bolt of pain shooting into my knee. Monday AM I took an hour and put myself through a complete Z health joint mobilization routine and some yoga. I mobilized my hips and knees then dug into some deep twists (crescent lunges, twisted triangles, half and full pigeons).
The knee felt great. I hopped onto the treadmill. It was time to give the knee a running test. I chose the treadmill bc if my knee acted up I could step off. Run done. No cold, frustrating walk home. I have injured myself at the most distal point of a 14 mile run. That was not a pleasant 7 mile walk.
:30 minutes later I stepped off the treadmill; relieved.
That lasted another hour until, while teaching yoga of all places, the knee twinged again. Twice. Too much. I took Tuesday off. I did the same warm up routine and hoped for the best.
The Best Treadmill tempo workout
Weds I’m back for another treadmill session. This time I was going to push myself (and the knee). I broke out an old favorite. A workout that I find myself doing mainly because I find the treadmill boring (but hey, it’s necessary) Here it is for you to enjoy (or merely finish). Running this workout I burned 700 calories in just over :30 minutes.
The recipe for the best treadmill tempo workout
Start by picking a treadmill pace that’s close to where you’ll feel maxed out. I know I can run a 5 minute mile (12 mph) but that would be near my present max, so I back off a little. I select pace of 5:27 (11 mph). Close to all out, but not quite. 11 mph is my pace in the final minute of the workout.
I subtract 3 from my final pace to arrive at my starting pace. 8 mph.
Start your playlist, set your starting pace and let’s go. What next you ask?
Every minute for :30 push the pace by .1.
I created this workout because, as I stated above, running on the treadmill is boring: time stands still. This way I have something to do every minute i.e push the pace. You can make it harder or easier by adjusting the length or the start finish speed.
It also reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from ‘Without Limits’. That is the classic Pre vs George Young sequence. ‘Wear him out. Descending series. Negative splits.’
Is Without Limits the best movie ever? The best Track movie ever? Both?
So I start at 8. Then gradually get a little faster. The change in gears (.1 mph per minute) is so incremental and subtle it allows me to really hammer the pace in the last 7-10 minutes.
In my mind I’m Pre. For the first 10 minutes this run is a walk in the park. I’m setting the pieces on my chess board. Then I’m inching towards 9.0; I’m sweating through my jersey; I feeling the consequence of each move, but the increase in pace has been so gradual I’m unconcerned by the effort. I’ve shifted gears smoothly and allowed my body time to adjust to every gear shift. Self talk becomes important. This time I just kept telling myself that I’ve been here before. The treadmill can feel claustrophobic but that is all in the mind. I focus on breath; I focus on form; I thought about my knee and how good it felt after the stretch and rest.
Your body will follow two things: Your eyes and your attitude.
If you’re skiing and you look at the tree, sorry to say but that’s where you’re heading. If you’re running and you’re beating yourself up, saying you’re not fast enough, not strong enough, then you’re right.
You know what your negative statements will be before you ever step on the treadmill. Script an answer ahead of time and push through.
This week it felt just right. The last ten minutes were a shift into sub 6 pace, a territory I haven’t been spending enough time in lately. I left George Young in the dust. I built myself up with tough talk about how easy it felt. The gradual increase in pace put me into flow. I finished the :30 without too much difficulty. Average pace was 6:22.
I pushed this workout onto my Tempo run class on Friday but I added a 5 minute warm up and stretch. 10 people bravely took this on. Some played it just right, for some it was a learning experience (they went out too fast) and for some I saw an increase in self confidence. They pushed through in the last :10 and went even faster than they originally planned.
This workout is a great way to train for negative splits. If you play it right you can experience that subtle transition from medium to fast (the body LOVES subtlety). You’re so smooth on the approach that sometimes you feel like you can keep pushing, keep increasing, keep getting faster.
I hopped off the treadmill. My knee felt fine. The twinges gone.
And most importantly the time flew by.