Ok, so after three weeks of sulking (you may have noticed the silence) I have worked out I can run on a treadmill pain free. So two sessions in, I’m feeling determined again. I say sessions, the first one lasted 5 minutes, the second lasted 7! If your used to running out doors, which, lets face it, is 100% more enjoyable, treadmill running does not really come into training schedules.  However, it can be useful for a few things. Firstly, Always remember to increase the gradient to 1% so that your hamstrings are used to help mimic outdoor running, otherwise there is very little benefit that can be crossed over.

Treadmills can be useful for interval training, hill climbing sessions and speed work. It can take a lot of the stress out of certain types of sessions if used correctly.  It also helps make twenty minutes pass much much quicker. Play about with the programmes as its not just about running 5k on the machine, try and make it more enjoyable by putting a bit of speed work in it, or 5 mins of hill climbing. It’s still better than swimming!