Three treadmill workouts to help you keep up with your 10-K training, half-marathon training, or marathon training

As the temperatures drop and the snow piles along the sides of the roads grow, that treadmill in your basement is looking pretty darn good as a means for continuing your 10-K training, half-marathon training, or marathon training. Of course, some treadmill haters argue that treadmill running is easier than running outdoors, hence not as effective. But research has shown that while heart rate is slightly lower at any given pace on a treadmill than it is outdoors, the difference is very slight and you can counteract it by running at a 1 percent gradient on the treadmill.

Of course, most of the workouts you do outdoors can also be done on a treadmill. But the treadmill is actually better suited than the outdoors for a few specific types of workouts. Here are three such sessions:

The Endless Hill
One of the favorite workouts of many Kenyan and Ethiopian runners is to run from the bottom to the top of a mountain and back down. This very effective workout is difficult to do if you do not live near a mountain, but you can do the climbing part of it on a treadmill. As a substitute for a regular weekend long run, hop on a treadmill and run for the same duration on an upward gradient. You can choose a steady gradient of 6 to 8 percent or make it more interesting by changing the gradient periodically, even going up to 10 to 15 percent for short periods.

Marathon-Pace Run
Warm up with one mile of easy jogging, then run anywhere from four to 12 miles (depending on where you are in your marathon training program) at your ideal marathon pace. Doing this workout on a treadmill enables you to lock right on to that pace and stay there.

VO2max Test
The workout format that exercise physiologists commonly use to determine VO2max is also useful as a powerful (albeit painful!) fitness-boosting workout. Start by hopping on the treadmill and running easy for 5 to 10 minutes. Next, increase the belt speed by 0.5 mph and run for one minute at that speed. Now increase the belt speed by another 0.5 mph, hold the new speed for another minute, and continue in this fashion until you feel unable to run any faster. Reduce the belt speed and cool down. Note the maximum speed you attained and try to beat it when you repeat the workout in three or four weeks.