When I first started running, I was in the military so I didn’t have a choice but to run outside. It didn’t matter what the weather was like, we ran. This prepared me to be able to run in all kinds of weather and early in the mornings. I would also run in the gym on the treadmill in the evenings where I could time myself to help improve my 2 mile finish time. After I got out of the military, I really didn’t see much of a reason to go outside to run. After all, there was no one yelling at me telling me to run faster so where was the motivation?
When I began running again, most of my first couple of months worth of runs were on a treadmill. I trained up to 9 miles on the treadmill in my basement. I thought this was fine until I decided to go outside and do my 10 mile run to see how I felt before my first half marathon. I was pretty shocked that I was so sore afterwords. I spoke with my sister, who used to be a personal trainer and running coach, who informed me that running outside actually used more muscles. The reason behind this is that you don’t have the belt underneath you helping to move you forward, so you pump your arms more and actually engage your core more.
There are benefits and set backs to both. One of the benefits to running on a treadmill is being able to set a specific pace with an incline or decline to get your body used to running at that speed for a race. Its also super handy if there is bad weather outside. I don’t like running in the rain or snow, not that there is much snow in Georgia, but there is a lot of rain. The heat here is miserable and can be dangerous to run in if you don’t go very early. This is likely the best way to catch up on movies or tv shows as well.
There are a lot of set backs as well to using a treadmill. It can get very boring. I have binge watched many shows on Netflix to try and stay on for my longer runs. I find it best to watch movies with a lot of action to help keep my adrenaline pumping. It also isn’t very social, unless you are at a gym with a friend. I think it is usually too hot to run on a treadmill at a gym and most gyms limit the time you are on the treadmills due to the volume of people wanting to use them. As I stated earlier, you don’t use all of the muscles you use when running outside.
Running outdoors is now my favorite way to train. There is always something to look at and is seldom boring. Hills outdoors are continuously training different muscles, so you burn more calories and get an overall a better overall workout. It can be more social if you have a friend or two to run with.
Some of the things that aren’t all that desirable about running outside is running in bad weather of course. I have been stuck in a big rain shower before and although it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to me. I was more upset I didn’t have a towel in the car to dry off with.
As a female, you have to think about being safe when you are running outside alone. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in. When I go on my long runs, I bring plenty of hydration with me along with a pocket knife and a pepper spray both easily accessible to me. I also wear my Aftershocks headphones so I can listen to music and hear what is going on around me. The last big con of running outside, and being alone is getting hurt and being vulnerable by yourself. This has happened to me and I was lucky to have a few wonderful people get me back to my car so that I could get home.
I still prefer 10 miles outside to 10 miles indoors on a treadmill any day!
