I love running outdoors, but sometimes it simply isn't practical. When I awake in the morning, I get to work almost immediately and work until the children wake up - sometimes even after. The gym gives me the opportunity to run while the children are cared for in a safe environment. I can feel like they are having fun (although the six-year-old is increasingly reluctant) while I get a workout in.
Training on the treadmill is one way to get in training runs, but I prefer the elliptical. I find it is easier to change my pace, which gives me a more "real world" run. Indeed, last year I PR'ed at the St. Louis Rock-N-Roll marathon having trained entirely on the elliptical for all but two runs.
I have done a great deal of research on training on the elliptical vs. the treadmill. What I've found are pros and cons to both. As I said, the elliptical makes changing pace much easier, which is great for people like me who are not good with consistency. It is also easier on knees and other joints than a treadmill. On the other hand, a treadmill does bring consistency, which is something we should all work on. It has also been said that while on an elliptical, the runner can let the machine do most of the work.
Ideally, each run would be outdoors, but barring that, the elliptical is my weapon of choice. What's yours?
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