Running 2+ Miles on Treadmill Every Night
I haven’t stepped foot on my beloved elliptical machine in over a month.
I’ve been addicted to running and keep pushing myself more and more to see what I can handle. Currently, I’m following the 2:30/2:30 ratio. Simply put, that means I walk briskly (3.6 mph) for two and a half minutes, then run (5.0 mph) for two and a half minutes, repeat 6 times (30 minutes) on a 2.5 incline.
That’s an improvement from the 4/1 ratio I was doing in June.
With this current ratio I can run over 2 miles in 30 minutes. To put that into perspective, to pass the physical fitness test and become a South Carolina State Trooper you must be able to run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes.
I plan to start running outdoors more and more to train for the Cooper River Bridge Run. By the run on March 27th I hope to have long-since abandoned the 5-minute ratio system and be able to run a solid two miles continuously without slowing down or running out of breath.
Not bad, considering walking two miles in January was a stretch.
With that being said, spending 30 minutes on the treadmill isn’t my only daily cardio at the gym. I also spend 10 minutes on the StairMaster after every running session and burn around 100 calories climbing 30 flights of stairs.
I wouldn’t exactly call it a cooldown, though.
Would I recommend this cardio workout routine to someone just starting their weight loss journey? Absolutely not, I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do it 9 months ago, let alone 3 months ago. But, as you become faster, more agile, and more physically fit, you will realize, just as I did, that you have to stay ahead of your body’s resistance level to keep burning calories.
Unfortunately, the days when I could just hop onto the elliptical for 20 minutes and lose 5 pounds a week are long gone. I have to earn every pound these days.
Hopefully, pound number 121 comes tomorrow.
I’m going to be running the bridge in Charleston too next spring! You should all get a bunch of readers from the blog together and run the bridge as a pack. We could get some food and drinks after the race too.
Hot wings and beer at Wild Wings, woop woop!
So great to hear about your running. I am currently training for a half and then hopefully a full marathon with my local Galloway Training program. Jeff Galloway is a firm believer in walk breaks to help you remain injury free while still enjoying running. It’s a great program and I would very much recommend it.
Best of luck on your run in March! Can’t wait to hear the results.
Keep up the good work, Tyler. And keep posting about your running progress! I’m working on my distance and it’s so hard sometimes, but reading this post inspired me and I’m ready to run and feel good about it!
I have an elliptical, but it got out of the grooves of the flywheel back in August, and I haven’t taken it apart to fix it. Luckily, we had a very mild summer here, so I’ve been able to walk extensively. I like to feel like I’m going somewhere, so I don’t like treadmills or walking laps at a track.
I use mapmyrun.com to plan out 3-4 mile walks around my neighborhood, and last month, I’ve added weekend hiking as well.
I remember in July feeling totally spent after a mile around the neighborhood. Last weekend, I did a 3-mile walk Sat. morning and then a 10-acre corn maze with my 70lb son on my shoulders (now that’s a workout!) in the afternoon. The next day, I did a 3-mile trail hike with a couple of hundred of feet of rapid elevation changes. I’m loving it.
I started on July 14th – the day of your 100lb weight loss post at consumerist.
You are the man.
I am just glad to walk 10,000 steps a day. Hopefully by spring I can be running. Baby steps..
Not “unfortunately”! The fact that you have to work so hard now is because you are so much healthier than in January.
Duude, I was just talking about the stair mill today. That thing is NO JOKE! Good for you for running, I saw almost that same running schedule in my Health magazine this month. It was recommended for losing belly fat if you did it 4-5 times a week for 6 weeks. You would supposedly see a remarkable difference. Good for you Tyler!
Once running becomes fun, it’s a whole new game. I started running in mid-August (weighed 217 lbs at the time) and I couldn’t run for more than two minutes without feeling worked-over. But I kept at it. Just two months later I’m running two miles per night with ease; my best distance without stopping is seven miles (though that was an anomaly, I was in a ridiculous groove that night). Two weeks ago I ran my first 5K and placed seventh in my age bracket (30-39) with a time of 28:50. That’s a 9:12 pace per mile. My pace just a month ago was around 12 minutes per mile.
All of this hard work, along with a healthier diet, has resulted in 25 lbs lost. I’m at 192 lbs right now and aiming. My goal is 175 and it’s totally in sight — except I’m with you, Tyler. My plateau has arrived and I have to fight for every pound I want to lose now. But it feels good when I see a lower number on the scale, and in the meantime I feel good. I’m eating better, my endurance and stamina have improved, I’m leaner, my posture is straighter, I discovered my jawline again, etc.
Keep it up! Running’s great fun, especially if you find a running buddy.
Running is a great workout, but I think for the time being I enjoy the idea of it more than the actual process. Maybe once I am more fit and everything squishy on me (gut, manboobs, etc…) is not flying in every direction, I’ll like it alot more
Amen and halelujah, Steve. When I run on the tread, I’m convinced that my butt cheeks are bouncing and hitting the ground with every step. But hey, I’m in my house and no one can see and it’s good for me, so who cares?
T, you big ol’ stud. Can’t wait to hear you talking about running two continuous miles.
Good for you, bud! Can’t wait to hear how you’ll like running outdoors. I think it’s really addictive. And, boy, what a sense of accomplishment to hit a longer distance or faster speed. The challenge (and reward) of pushing yourself is awesome.
I like pushing myself. I’ve never had such good competition.
Or five, even. That’ll be nice.
Story of my life.
Two months later and running two miles a night with ease? That’s impressive. Congrats on the 5k.
Yes, this plateau is tough. 10 pounds lost in 2 months is absolutely no fun, but the other “side effects” of losing weight are certainly apparent, even if the scale doesn’t think so.
It is absolutely no joke, I agree. I keep using it, but I can’t seem to build up any stamina on it.
Good call.
You don’t really need to run to lose weight, but it sure is fun. I didn’t get on the treadmill for the first 70 pounds lost or something like that.
That’s a plan! I love Wild Wing Cafe downtown, I’d love to have some lemon pepper and ginger wings after the race.
That sounds like a good program. I’ll have to read up on it sometime. I like running, then slowing down to gain composure and recharge. I suppose that might change as I progress, but we’ll have to see.
I’m glad, Leah! That’s what I post updates!
mapmyrun is neat, thanks for the tip. I’m looking into a similar program with Nike+, where it tracks your progress (it doesn’t outline it, obviously) and lets you know how far you’ve gone, how much you’ve burned, etc.
I guess it’s nothing like mapmyrun, but in any case, I am looking into tools to help track my runs.
That’s great! There’s a USMC prep workout that basically changes the ratio by 1 minute every week until 5 mins running then it skips to 7/3 and changes by one minute until 20 mins running with a 5 min warm up and cool down. Then it works on time to get under the BT entry requirement. I think if you pushed yourself you could do 15/30 second ratio changes per week. I believe (when my brother took it) the USMC standard is 1.5 miles in 13:30 to join and 3 miles in under 30 mins to pass after that. I think you can do it.
Also there was some sort of server error message earlier? You broke the internet with your awesome.
Tyler, you’re doing so great. I just started running in January and finished my first marathon about two weeks ago.
I second the Jeff Galloway approach. When (not if : ) I) I do it again, I will do intervals running for four minutes and walking one – as it was I got so swept up in the race I ended up running 10 miles and thinking to myself, “10 miles already??” I didn’t start running my intervals until mile 13 or so and it caught up with me at the end. Yes, you can keep up a slower pace for a longer period of time – but you can keep up a faster pace with the brief recovery time. At least that’s the way I seem to roll.
Oh, and track your miles on your shoes. You’ll want to replace them after 400 miles or so (some people seem to go through them faster) to prevent injury. I saw you’re looking for ways to track mileage – I like Nike+ but I find it occasionally “loses” miles and will sometimes inexplicably pause during a run. Very frustrating. I would use a separate online journal like mapmyrun or DailyMile.com.
All to say you are doing AWESOME! Great work!!
I just found your blog. It’s very inspiring. I like your idea to break the 2:30/2:30 ratio idea. I’m going to give it a try. I always tried to do a treadmill session all at one pace after a small warm up.
I think I could make it farther doing it this way.
Your story is really inspiring. My goal is to lose 70lbs in 2010. I go to the gym religiously. My strength and stamina have really increased but with little weight loss ( so far only 25 lbs in 9months). I run continuously for 1.5miles at btwn 5.4 – 6 spd at 0.5 incline. I am hoping to get to the 3+ mile by this time next year. Thanks and keep us all motivated!!!
My husband and I have been trying to have another baby for three years. We have done so many medical tests on me/husband and nothing is wrong. It was suggested that I should loose some weight. I am running 2.55 miles a 7 days week now with no results on tradmill. I started this 2 months ago. I stepped on the scale at 219 pounds, and today my weight said 215. I drink 8 glasses a day, take prenatal vitamins, I stopped all the fast food, desserts, I do not know what else to do. 4 pounds in 2 months and I have completely changed my life style. What else can I do?
good for you man i just read this and can somewhat relate went from 215-220 to 145-50 but enough about me … that is truly inspirational and keep going buddy that is so good to hear your weight loss journey! That just comes to show that people can perservere through determination and there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!! good luck with everything and keep hitting the ground running my dude