Running outside...

[QuickLittleLizard]

...Is MUCH harder!!

I'm at week three with the C25K program and on the treadmill I found it very doable. I decided to celebrate my 36th birthday with a run outside.

Holy $#@*!! I thought my lungs were going to explode! It's a different set of muscles you're using, more thighs than shins, I found. I also started the first half going up an incline while dodging snow and ice.

Go big or go home. But it was gorgeous and sunny. I dressed well and had my tunes.

I was coughing for a few hours afterwards, almost as if the last bit of my preivous smoker's life was being ejected. LOL! (I quit in 2005.) Is that normal?

Last night we went out for martinis (where we know the bartender) and I wore heels so I am hurting in six different ways today.

Treadmill lovers be forwarned! Ouside is a different world! HA!

[abhainn]

...Is MUCH harder!!

I'm at week three with the C25K program and on the treadmill I found it very doable. I decided to celebrate my 36th birthday with a run outside.

Holy $#@*!! I thought my lungs were going to explode! It's a different set of muscles you're using, more thighs than shins, I found. I also started the first half going up an incline while dodging snow and ice.

Go big or go home. But it was gorgeous and sunny. I dressed well and had my tunes.

I was coughing for a few hours afterwards, almost as if the last bit of my preivous smoker's life was being ejected. LOL! (I quit in 2005.) Is that normal?

Last night we went out for martinis (where we know the bartender) and I wore heels so I am hurting in six different ways today.

Treadmill lovers be forwarned! Ouside is a different world! HA!

Yup, I found this out when I started my learn to run with the running room. I had only been running for a little while but could do 3 & 1s on the TM no problem. First day out with the group we did 2 & 1s (2min walk, 1min run) x 6 (I think) and I thought I was going to pass out for sure. It takes awhile to get used to the transition. This spring, after spending the year prior running on the TM I started outside again. It was a bit easier than the first outside run had been but still a learning curve. My shins hated me for about a week

I don't cough after but my sinuses produce copious amounts of mucus. I can usually go through a box of kleenex after an outside run in the summer. I tend not to run outside in the winter, combination thin blooded southern california girl and not wanting to risk my knee on ice or snow.

[ultraslacker]

yep I remember making that transition. I found it really hard but I also found that I ran faster outside. And it's waaaaay more fun. So keep at it and your body will adjust. :)

[Jwolf]

It shouldn't really be different muscles-- chances are you're naturally going a bit faster outside than you're used to on the treadmill. The surface is a bit more forgiving on the treadmill, but this is not usually something you notice in your legs on just the first run. Try slowing down to a conversational pace, and you should be good to go.

I do about half my running on the treadmill, half outside, and don't notice a huge difference as long as the pace is similar.

Good luck and I hope you're enjoying your outdoor runs soon. At least when the weather improves.

[abhainn]

It shouldn't really be different muscles-- chances are you're naturally going a bit faster outside than you're used to on the treadmill. The surface is a bit more forgiving on the treadmill, but this is not usually something you notice in your legs on just the first run. Try slowing down to a conversational pace, and you should be good to go.

I do about half my running on the treadmill, half outside, and don't notice a huge difference as long as the pace is similar.

Good luck and I hope you're enjoying your outdoor runs soon. At least when the weather improves.

It may just be because I have week shins from my surgery but I can definitely feel it after running outside the first few times, though no where else. It's not so much the surface but I think running outside makes me lift my toes more than on the treadmill and so the muscles get a different kind of workout.

[QuickLittleLizard]

It shouldn't really be different muscles-- chances are you're naturally going a bit faster outside than you're used to on the treadmill. The surface is a bit more forgiving on the treadmill, but this is not usually something you notice in your legs on just the first run. Try slowing down to a conversational pace, and you should be good to go.

I do about half my running on the treadmill, half outside, and don't notice a huge difference as long as the pace is similar.

Good luck and I hope you're enjoying your outdoor runs soon. At least when the weather improves.

I swear I was going slower than on the treadmill - but it's hard to tell of course. Would the different muscles be pushed harder because I was going up an incline as well?

[abhainn]

It shouldn't really be different muscles-- chances are you're naturally going a bit faster outside than you're used to on the treadmill. The surface is a bit more forgiving on the treadmill, but this is not usually something you notice in your legs on just the first run. Try slowing down to a conversational pace, and you should be good to go.

I do about half my running on the treadmill, half outside, and don't notice a huge difference as long as the pace is similar.

Good luck and I hope you're enjoying your outdoor runs soon. At least when the weather improves.

I swear I was going slower than on the treadmill - but it's hard to tell of course. Would the different muscles be pushed harder because I was going up an incline as well?

I feel like I'm slower outside as well.

I'm just wondering if Jennifer's experience going from TM to outside is seemingly so different from ours because she is much farther along in her running than we are?

[klc]

You could have been using different muscles if the footing was slippery at all, as it was most days last week. I noticed it in my shins and my calves after my run in the snow last Thursday.

[Kelodie]

Good job on running outside!

I coughed a lot yesterday after my outside run too! You are not alone.

[Jwolf]

I'm just wondering if Jennifer's experience going from TM to outside is seemingly so different from ours because she is much farther along in her running than we are?

To be clear-- when I was a less experienced runner, I used to run on both the treadmill and outside. I started both at essentially the same time. Therefore, I never noticed a huge difference, likely because I was always going back and forth between them. For people that start running exclusively on the treadmill, the transition is often difficult, but it's almost always because they tend to go too fast without the forced pacing of the treadmill. Once they slow down, they find that it's not that different.

QuickLittleLizard-- if it felt like you were going slower outside, then it might be worth measuring a set distance outside to see how fast you are really going. Perception is a weird thing if you aren't used to actually moving forward while running. It might seem like you are going slower (but you're not), but to compensate you try to speed up. If it's not the speed that's making it difficult, then I can make a few other suggestions (maybe the footing, etc.), but USUALLY it's the speed that's the problem.

[DougG]

You could have been using different muscles if the footing was slippery at all, as it was most days last week. I noticed it in my shins and my calves after my run in the snow last Thursday.

I can certainly relate to that.

[QuickLittleLizard]

Depending on the weather, I might try outsie again today.

I figured since I'm only at week 3, I can alternate indoor/outdoor and catch myself from the beginning as well. It'll be hard this winter, but I'd like to keep both up. I've done the treadmill since Saturday and it was so much easier, I could talk and even sing during my last cooldown walk (rather than gasping) LOL! If I do go outside, I have a different route with less of an incline so I'm curious to see if I last a bit longer.

How do you measure your distance? Drive your car along the route afterwards? I have no nifty gadgets at this time.

[Doonst]

How do you measure your distance? Drive your car along the route afterwards? I have no nifty gadgets at this time.

Try this: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3369065

[ultraslacker]

or www.runningmap.com

[VeloCarrie]

Google Earth has a mapping feature also.

[QuickLittleLizard]

HAHA! Those are awesome!

But the runningmap doesn't have my street on it yet. I like the elevation that it shows. I went from 327m up to 340m! No wonder I was out of breath half way when I was getting to the highest point!

But the Gmaps has a complete there and back button. And my street is on it. If only I could merge the two!

Thanks so much for the links! Now I don't have to be a dork and drive the route to find out!

(Edited to add: Found the elevation with Gmaps! Not as easy to read, though.)

[PJC]

hah, I try to avoid the treadmill for that reason.. it gives me hopes that I'm this amazingly fast runner

then by the time I get outside I'm suckin' wind like no other and moving slower than a turtle

I only seem to cough after winter runs, maybe from the dryness in the air ?

[QuickLittleLizard]

I've tried going outside again, just recently actually. I have to stick to the treadmill most of the time because I sneak in my runs while the babies are sleeping and I can't very well take off around the neighbourhood. With that said, I got a lucky weekend with gorgeous weather and a better route that wasn't AS uphill.

I DO run and walk faster outside! It was the first time I reached 3.5K in 30 mins! (With warmup, cooldown and one 2 min walk break) When I came back in and tried to match the pace on the treadmill, I went up to 5mph instead of 4.5 and walk from 2.5 to 3mph pace and whaddaya know...

I think the first time outside was a shock to my system, having not run much (let alone outside) in 20 years. My cardio is better with much less coughing and gasping, and I think my legs are stronger. I'm taking care of a lower back issue, still, and the twins are almost two. My RMT told me that I "Lead with my right" when I run and after a few months my left leg feels heavier or dragging. Apparently leading with your strong side is common? I'm trying to be more aware of pushing equally with my left when I run now, and he gave me stretches to help out the balance. Who knew?? (Okay, probably half of you out there knew, but I didn't. LOL!)

[Kelodie]

Sounds like you're doing well. Keep this up! Now that Spring is upon us, you will probably start to enjoy your outdoors runs more.