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Marathon Training On A Treadmill: Our Expert Coach’s Top Tips

If your stuck indoors, never fear, we'll help you master your marathon prep indoors

Training for a marathon almost entirely on a treadmill likely sounds unappealing — if not nearly unthinkable — to many runners. After all, the treadmill has earned its now-familiar nickname, the “dreadmill.”

Even if this tongue-in-cheek moniker is said mostly in jest, the undeniable fact is that many runners find treadmill running to be painfully boring and prefer running outdoors. 

Multiply that boredom by the day-in, day-out repetition of a 16-20 week marathon training program and the length of marathon training long runs, and it becomes clear why training for a marathon on a treadmill can sound nearly impossible.

For my very first marathon, I had to train through a tough Boston winter, and the treadmill was my only option. I remember it well.

From this experience, I can admit that training for a marathon on a treadmill is feasible, and you can run a successful race with this training method.

So, whether it’s the weather, the safety or logistics of running outdoors, your schedule, or simply your personal preferences, keep reading for our tips to ensure you have the most successful race prep and get to the start and finish lines feeling fit and strong.

People running on treadmills.

What Are The Advantages Of Training On A Treadmill?

It’s natural to think of only the challenges and potential downsides of treadmill marathon training, but there are also a lot of potential advantages, including the following:

  • Convenience: train anytime, day or night 
  • Weather conditions: no need to worry about heat, snow, sleet, or wind resistance
  • Access to the bathroom, fluids, and fuel at all times
  • Safety in dangerous areas
  • Consistency with your workouts 
  • Easier to compare one workout to the next and chart progress without confounding factors like weather, different courses, traffic, and pacing issues
  • Easier to hit your pace in your interval training workouts, tempo runs, and marathon-pace long runs
  • Easier to practice and get comfortable at your race pace
  • More cushioned running surface than cement, concrete, or asphalt, which may reduce joint pain or stress injuries 
  • Easier to multitask and catch up on TV shows, audiobooks or podcasts, watch your kids, or even take business calls
  • Easier for hill training for mountain races or hilly courses if you live on flat land
  • Builds mental toughness
  • Can train side by side with a running buddy at very different speeds without compromising your training paces
People at the gym on treadmills.

9 Tips for Marathon Training On a Treadmill 

#1: Use an Incline

Running on a treadmill reduces the relative energetic cost of running outside in air resistance, and the belt pulls you along rather than your own body generating 100% of the energy required to move forward. 

While this may not accumulate to a significant difference in energy requirements for shorter runs, if you’re training for a marathon on a treadmill and doing all your mileage, including all your long runs there, what may seem like minute differences can really add up.

Research suggests1Jones, A. M., & Doust, J. H. (1996). A 1% treadmill grade most accurately reflects the energetic cost of outdoor running. Journal of Sports Sciences14(4), 321–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640419608727717 that setting the treadmill to a 1-2% incline best replicates the energy and metabolic demands of running outside. 

Therefore, setting your treadmill at a 1-3% grade is the best way to minimize the easier metabolic cost of running on a treadmill versus outside. Some running coaches recommend overshooting to prepare you, even more, to crush it on race day.

(The incline is also a great tool to get your hill workouts in!)

A person on a treadmill.

#2: Always Warm Up

As with running outside, don’t go from 0 to 60 (or 0 to 8mph on the treadmill!) for your run.

Warm up before your training runs with a few minutes of brisk walking or slow jogging before getting into the meat of your workout.

#3: Follow a Marathon Training Plan

No matter if you run outside or do all of your marathon training on the treadmill, following an appropriate training program is advisable to help you prepare for the race.

Different treadmill workouts, such as speed work sessions, will also break up the monotony of the machine and improve your fitness. 

Once you have a training program, you should be able to replicate all the workouts on your treadmill. Of course, listen to your body. If you need a rest day, take it. If you can’t hit your running paces, don’t sweat it.

Check out our library of downloadable free marathon training plans!

#4: Don’t Race Yourself, Pace Yourself

Because every step of every run on a treadmill is recorded with the treadmill speed and pace right in front of you, it’s natural to have a tendency to always race yourself and try to beat your previous performances.

However, recovery is a crucial component of marathon training, and not all of your training sessions should be at race pace. Focus on effort or heart rate, rather than pace, if you have a tendency to push yourself too hard or compete with your stats.

People at the gym on treadmills.

#5: Fight Boredom During Long Runs

Arguably, the hardest part about marathon training on a treadmill is fighting the boredom of the monotony of mile after mile on the same machine. Getting through long runs can be especially arduous.

Create a motivational playlist, or share your indoor running workouts with friends on side-by-side treadmills. Catch up on that program you’ve been watching or a podcast you enjoy listening to.

Find ways to distract yourself and have the time fly by.

#6: Use Good Running Form

Even if you’re hunkering down for a long run on the treadmill and planning to binge-watch Schitt’s Creek on your iPad for 18 miles, it’s important to always run with good form.

Make sure that any entertainment you’re looking at is at eye level so that your head is level and your gaze is forward rather than hunched down at the console (especially if you are tall).

Keep your chest up, shoulders down and relaxed, core engaged, and torso upright. Do not hold onto the handrails; swing your arms naturally along your sides. Most importantly, use the safety strap in case you lose stride, catch your foot, or veer off the belt.

#7: Quicken Your Cadence

A treadmill is a good tool to improve your running cadence and stride because you can see and hear yourself run with the use of mirrors and awareness.

Listen to your footfalls. If it’s more like a “slap, slap, slap” than a light and quick “tap, tap, tap,” work on quickening your running cadence to increase your turnover and land on your midfoot rather than heel.

You should aim to be light on your feet.

People at the gym on treadmills.

#8: Use the Incline

Don’t just set the incline to 1-3% to compensate for air resistance and leave it there eternally.

Mixing up the incline adds variety, prepares you for hills, strengthens your glutes, calves, and hamstrings, boosts your cardiovascular fitness, and reduces the risk of overuse high-impact injuries like shin splints and patellofemoral pain. 

#9: Befriend Your Machine

Sometimes, it’s all in your attitude. If you want to train for a marathon and a treadmill is your only option, do your best to embrace the treadmill as your training buddy and enjoy the journey.

As you can see, it is possible to train for your marathon on a treadmill; good luck on your journey!

If you are looking for marathon training plans, look no further, as we’ve got what you need:

References

  • 1
    Jones, A. M., & Doust, J. H. (1996). A 1% treadmill grade most accurately reflects the energetic cost of outdoor running. Journal of Sports Sciences14(4), 321–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640419608727717

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Amber Sayer, MS, CPT, CNC

Senior Fitness and News Editor

Amber Sayer is a Fitness, Nutrition, and Wellness Writer and Editor, as well as a NASM-Certified Nutrition Coach and UESCA-certified running, endurance nutrition, and triathlon coach. She holds two Masters Degreesโ€”one in Exercise Science and one in Prosthetics and Orthotics. As a Certified Personal Trainer and running coach for 12 years, Amber enjoys staying active and helping others do so as well. In her free time, she likes running, cycling, cooking, and tackling any type of puzzle.

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