Treadmill vs Outdoors Debate - New Thoughts for Runners

OK, no one told me when I got to Nova Scotia that the roads around here can resemble skating rinks (elles sont comme les patinoires, to use a phrase from my Canadian Forces French that I'm currently taking). Since I'm getting over an ankle sprain in November I don't want to do anything crazy, and so I've been running the treadmills at the CFB Greenwood fitness centre when I get tired of running their little 200m indoor track. I have been feeling guilty about running the treadmills - is it really doing me any good? And so I was heartened to come across Alex Hutchinson's article in last Friday's Globe and Mail. Here's an excerpt:

THE QUESTION

Is there any difference between running on a treadmill and running outside?

THE ANSWER


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Running on a treadmill is a bit like making bread with a bread machine: Purists say you are missing the essence of the experience by taking technology's easy way out, while pragmatists say the convenience and results speak for themselves.

Even critics have to admit that running indoors on a treadmill has plenty of benefits, such as controlled temperature, good footing, even pacing and perhaps a big-screen television nearby. But if you're using the treadmill over the winter to train for a 10K road race in the spring, it's important to know whether you are working the same muscles you would if you were pounding the pavement.

Read the whole article.