There’s an article in the NY Times today about the efforts of athletes driven out of wintery conditions to replicate their outdoor training indoors.
It’s an interesting enough read, although I think it muddies the waters a bit by mentioning indoor running, indoor cycling and indoor rowing all in one conversation. It’s widely agreed that the difference between indoor and outdoor cycling is more pronounced because the effect of air resistance is more important at cycling’s much higher speeds, and the difference between actual rowing and rowing machines is more pronounced because of the very different emphasis on technique. Perhaps discussing it in the same conversation as those two activities might lead one to overstate the indoor/outdoor differences in running as a matter of association.
I’ve always contended that a workout’s a workout, and in the absence of a bib and a timing chip it’s less about the measurable “performance” and more about the exertion and physical adaptations. If I get on the treadmill and a given pace feels too easy for the type of workout I’ve chosen, I’ll just dial up the machine’s speed by a half mph or run for 15 minutes longer. As long as I’m conscious of the situation and I don’t start to believe that I’m becoming Kenenisa Bekele, I don’t see it as a big deal. And as Brian Sell mentions in the Times article, beyond comfort there are practical reasons to take a workout indoors. Slipping on ice and bashing my hip, or getting smoked by a car that didn’t see me in the shortened daylight can really hamper a workout. I have yet to be hit by a Mustang at the gym, though I have been hit on by a Cougar. Hey-Ohhhh!
(Sorry I don’t have a handy internet link for you, but for those of you who own Dr Tim Noakes’ encyclopedic Lore Of Running there’s a good explanation of research relating to the effects of wind resistance on runners of different speeds on page 58 in a section called “Environmental Conditions”. It might be a handy reference next time someone tells you to set the treadmill incline at 1% to compensate for a lack of wind resistance indoors.)
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There’s no substitute for getting out there and pounding the pavement. The gym is definitively not my preferred option, especially for 2 or 3 hour runs. I much prefer to enjoy the scenery, regardless of how cold and snowy.
When non-runners (who want to get started) ask me questions like, “What’s the best way to train?” my answer is always the same: Do it the way you want to do it, that way it is more likely to get done! If you’re a weather wimp, nothing wrong with hitting the treadmill on crappy days (rather than doing nothing at all).
Running on a treadmill (or riding on a trainer, or doing elliptical or the rowing machine) might not be AS good as “the real thing” but it’s better than skipping the workout altogether. And in some cases, the treadmill or bike trainer can provide a safe, controlled environment to get some key workouts done where paces, times and HR are important and you want to be able to control them.