There are times during your training that life gets in the way and you find you don’t have time to complete your training run as prescribed. That’s where having a decent treadmill at your disposal is a huge saviour.
My wife and I made the decision at the start of the year to invest in a good quality treadmill, something similar to what you would find at your local gym or health club. For us, it gave us the flexibility to run either early in the morning or late at night or when we are short on time. The convenience of just heading upstairs is amazing. No more excuses!
I sometimes find myself doing my tempo runs or even hill training on the treadmill. Anyone that’s been to Amsterdam will understand that the place is flat, very flat. So hill training is near impossible, so an adjustable treadmill with incline is a great substitute.
Today’s tempo run was a 40 minute tempo at a steady pace. I managed a reasonable pace of 4:37min/km (7:26min/mi) which on the treadmill, I was happy with. I always find it much harder running at speed on the treadmill. Recently I learnt that you should always run on a 1° incline as this simulates the wind resistance you get from running on the road or track. However, it also changes the strike angle between your foot and the running surface, so for me I find I get a slight ache in the tibialis anterior muscle. That’s the muscle that runs down the front of the shin and is responsible for flexing the foot up towards the shin.
Treatment for me usually consists of using the foam roller on it twice a day to massage the muscle. After about two days I am usually completely fine and can run without any residual discomfort or fatigue.