Why the Treadmill Can Feel so Much Easier Than Running Outside

Is the treadmill harder or easier than running outdoors?

(I promise.)

So why do people who are used to treadmills find that theyre slower when they run outdoors?

If you find treadmill running harder, you probably already know the reason: itsboring.

and with your mindset (especially your ability to pace yourself).

Training both indoors and outdoors will help you to make the transition a little easier.

Lets dig into the reasons.

Physics-wise, running on a treadmill is pretty much identical to running outdoors in the same conditions.

Running is the action of pushing off the ground to move yourself forward.

And thus it would be 2,000 times harder to run west than to run east?

Even on a calm day, your body has to push into the air to keep moving.

Adding a small incline to the treadmill is supposed to mimic that extra effort.

So if youre jogging at 6 mph, you dont have to worry about accounting for wind resistance.

Now that we understand the physics, lets talk about why treadmill runs oftenfeeleasier than outdoor runs.

But outdoors, you just have to run, and then figure out later what pace youre going.

Meanwhile, outdoor runners will develop a sense of pace out of necessity.

It just takes a little practice.

Heat slows us down alot, especially if we arent used to it.

(You dobuild up some heat adaptationthroughout the summer.)

Humidity, in combination with heat, makes this even worse.

Your body cant cool itself as well through sweating, so you get hot and stay hot.

Ice can make you slow down to watch your footing.

Perfect running weather is (in my opinion) around 50 degrees, calm, and overcast.

Hills

If you live in a pancake-flat part of the country, you could skip this section.

But many of us live where there are hills.

Big ones, little ones, maybe some mountains.

On the treadmill, you get to choose what incline to run with.

Outdoors, your choices may be limited.

I live in a hilly place, so even my flat outdoor routes arent entirely flat.

Aregulation running trackis my only truly flat option.

A treadmill only has one surface.

Every step meets flat ground.

Every step is the same softness or hardness.

Outdoors, theres so much more variation.

Your feet have to land and push off just a little differently for each of these.

The important thing is to still run outdoorsat least sometimes.

Get outside when you’ve got the option to.