Hey Maria...
Several schools of thought on this.
Some folks think TM's are worthless. I used to be one of those.
Others think it's a great alternative to constantly pounding yourself to smitherines on the road.
first...TM's can be pooly calibrated and be off in distance and speed. I talked to the TM mechanic at my gym and he agreed,but said the differences were not great.
Second...Increase the incline to .5 or 1.0. This mimics outdoor running.Less than that and you are essentially running downhill.
The treadway of TM's are flexible and give much more than road and trail, and so are more forgiving on the knees, hips and what not. VERY important for someone my age who has been running for 35 years. Young folks just don't quite understand that...but they will one day.
Training for the Goofy Challange last year I did my long runs on the TM (with some back to backs) to get ready for the Florida heat. (Joke on me..start times temps in the 30's!). Use manual settings..it lets you control where a hill may pop up...or you can stay flat and thus copy the run course you are training for.
You are still running outside during the week so you are still staying in "road shape."
If it makes you happy Maria and you get the results you want...It's all good.

Hello and thank you for the great advice. I did my long (16 mile) run on the treadmill yesterday and it felt good. Like you said, Anton, young people just can't understand that for "old" bones like mine, (wink, wink) the punishment of the roads is hard to take. On my short runs during the week I do go outside but for the long ones I rather do this indoors. Yes it is a bit booring but I have a tv. in front of the treadmill and I watch the Food Channel or a movie or the Soccer games of the World Cup and this makes the time go faster. I run with an incline of 2 to 2.5 and it feels good. So I will keep my long runs indoors and the short ones outside to save my joints and legs for race day. Thanks guys, very much.
Maria.

Maria...never pegged you as a world cup girl!
Deutshlend uber alles!

Good job on the TM...

I agree a TM is a great training tool, and good for minimizing joint impact, etc.

However, at the same time, I would be cautious about using it for all long runs... you are doing an IM... there will be a long run, and it will be outside. If you only ever run 6-8 miles outside, those extra 18-20 miles on roads will feel like A LOT.

Also, from what you said, it sounds like the hills are one of the main reasons that you want to do your long runs on a TM. Umm... there will be some hills at IM WI. Also, if you are going to do an IM, I would say having harder, hillier runs would be better, since then you will be used to having your legs hurt and keep going. They will in WI ;) I'm not sure what you mean by "getting a good pace going" (ie too slow, or just no good rhythm), but a slower-than-normal long run can be a good thing.

I'm not saying TMs are not a good training tool, and great for joints, etc. But just to make sure what your motivation is in using it, and make sure that you will be fully prepared for IMWI. In your situation (if I could run that long on a treadmill, and outside runs were just burning me out) I think I'd go to alternating... one week do the long run outside, and the other inside.

Best of luck with training! :)

I agree with the above posts, the TM can be a great training tool. I enjoy interval speed workouts on the TM during the winter. It really makes monitoring speed, time, and distance (even if it is not accurate) of each set much easier than on the open road.

I will add one significant point (in my opinion) not mentioned above. When running on a TM the belt carries your foot from the initial contact point through the end of your stride as it moves. In comparsion, when running on the road (a static platform) you must recruit your muscles to achieve this part of the running motion. So, running on the road can aid in the endurance and strengthening of those muscles.

With that said, I do think it is an effective tool, but I won't be substituting 2-3 hrs. on the TM for long-runs on the road or trails. As a side note, I've found running off pavement (trails or gravel) to provide as much relief from impact as the TM. Plus it seem to be much better for build running strength.

Hello dear Tri friends: Yesterday I went for a 6 mile run outside.... Pushing my 3 year old, 33 lb. granddaughter on a stroller. Yikes!!!!!!!! what a workout!! I don't know how much the stroller weighed, but this things are not light. I had to do this run but I was babysitting and the day was so beautiful that I just couldn't go down to the basement and run this on the treadmill. It was fun and a good, hard run, but she made it so much fun, talking to me and sitting there "helping" me on the hills. She would say: "Gramy, here comes a hill" and I would say: "Ok, honey, help gramy, ok?" and she would lean forward on the stroller, laughing all the way, specially when we were going down hill. She kept pointing out to me that my face was "all wet" and then she would give me my towel to dry it, such fun. I will do this every chance I have.
Just so you know, I do run outdoors up to 10 miles but for this past 16, I chose to do it indoors, just to give my almost 55 y/o joints a break. I want to arrive at Madison, with no aches or pains because I know that, by the time I am running that Marathon, I will be experiencing some but, I am not worried, this comes with the whole IM experience. I want to thank all of you for your comments and your advise.
Oh, and I am a BIG World Cup Fan, Anton. My heart is divided in 2 right now. GO USA!!!!!!!!! GO MEXICO!!!!!!!!! I am recording all the games, every day, so my husband and I can watch them when he comes home from work. Also, I wanted to say that he came home the other day with a brand new pair of wheels for my bike and a beautiful Tri Suit for this upcoming race season. Remember my "rant" a few weeks ago? Well, I don't know what happened but he told me that he IS goint to Wisconsin to see me race. He will leave Friday afternoon, after work, so he can be with me all day Saturday to "help" me relax. Well....this is an offer I can't refuse, Je, Je. Hummmmmmm, I think my girls have something to do with his sudden change of mind, but I really don't care, he is going and this is what matters most.
Thanks again to all.
Maria.

wonderful! :)

JohnieTri - If you don't train on the treadmill very often, then you won't be able to maintain the same pace when you do get on it. The opposite is also true. Too much treadmill time will make it hard to keep the same pace outdoors. As has been stated before, running on a treadmill is biomechanically slightly different then running outdoors.

I split about 50/50 between treadmill and trails. I spend the weeks living and working in downtown Chicago, so a TM run is much easier to fit in. Occasionally I will replace a treadmill day with a road day. I have found that my treadmill pace at 1.5% incline translates almost exactly to what I can run on a flat road course. I usually train with a 1.5% incline. My TM days are usually shorter (6-8 mi) interval days.