Treadmill Speed and Distance

by Fiona
(Ireland)

Hi there. My name is Fiona and I have started running on my treadmill. I have two small kids so I can't go out running on the road but happy enough with the treadmill.

I really do want to shift a stone weight and I am running in order to do that along with healthy eating.

My question is how many miles should I be doing a day and at what speed or what should the heart rate be.

I'm up to just under three miles and some times struggle to get past that barrier.

It's like when I see the 3 mile mark I automatically give up and find I am out of puff to keep going.

Do you have any tips on how I can stop that and the mileage and distance I should be doing.

Answer by Dominique:
Hi Fiona,
Thanks for your questions about running for weight loss and how to break through barriers.

Regarding weight loss: it is a combination of calories you take in and calories you burn. Whichever speed you run at, you will burn calories. When you run faster, you will burn more calories. However, when you run faster the drawback is that you will not be able to go for as long a time, which negates those benefits.

My Calories Burned While Running Calculator works solely on the distance you run, regardless of speed.

For ideas about running and weight loss, check out my Running for Weight Loss-page.

Regarding breaking through barriers: I recognise the issue. I remember when I first started longer distance running I had a lot of trouble with the 1 hr barrier. I just did not think I could go beyond. But at some point I just kept on increasing my mileage and went over with a few minutes, then the next week I went a little bit further again.

So, the first idea, would be to just go over with 1/4 mile or so. Then the next time go another 1/4 mile further. Just build it up slowly.

Another idea which works quite well for beginning runners is a run/walk approach. Run those 3 miles. Then rest or walk for a few minutes, then run again. That second run does not need to be far, just a few minutes. Just a little bit of extra training. And again, build up slowly. The next time, if you added two minutes of extra running last time, do three minutes of extra running. Build it up.