Re: [Phys-l] treadmill vs open road

[Marty Weiss <martweiss@comcast.net>]

	This may not be relevent, but I believe in the psychological effects  
of outdoors vs indoors walking or running.  If I walk briskly outdoors  
I find I can go much further at the same speed as on the indoor track  
or treadmill. I greet people, observe people's gardens and lawns, and  
see the vehicles roll by.  To my surprise I notice I have gone several  
miles and it's time to turn around and go back, often by a different  
route where there are different neighbors, cars, and more flowers and  
birds to gawk at.  Compare that to the indoor track or treadmill (or  
even the high school track nearby)....... boring  (even with the tv's  
they have in the gym)!   I go around the track a few times and I am  
bored;  not tired, not winded, just bored.  The only way I can do the  
same indoors as outdoors is if a friend or two walk alongside.  Then,  
at least, we have a spirited conversation to keep us going.   That's  
just my own personal view.  There are people I know at the gym who can  
go two or three miles on the track, walking or running  (12 times  
around = 1 mile) with little boredom.  I guess they get into the *zen*  
of it all, something I cannot do indoors.
	Now, let's take up biking!    indoors vs outdoors.....??  nothing  
like a nice bumpy outdoor mountainbike trek through the park, dodging  
trees, rocks, and bushes (not to mention the occasional dog)!  Sure  
beats the stationery any day!   Opinions on this anyone?

Marty



On May 9, 2008, at 9:19 AM, Rick Tarara wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Hugh Haskell" <hhaskell@mindspring.com>
> > I'm not a runner of any sort, but I have used a treadmill on occasion
> > for walking exercise, and I find that I can sustain a considerably
> > higher rate of "motion" on a treadmill than I can when walking, even
> > on a level path. On a treadmill, the "normal" walking speed of about
> > 2.5 mph seems quite slow, and I can easily maintain a speed of close
> > to 4 mph--one that would leave me panting and exhausted after a short
> > time on a walking trail.
>
> Strange...I have the opposite experience with a home elliptical.  We  
> walk
> extensively (100 km during a 10 day trip to Florida at Xmas, and  
> average at
> least 3 miles a day in decent weather at home).  But on my  
> elliptical (if I
> believe the calibrations at all--which I don't), I can be panting and
> 'exhausted' doing a mile at a 3 mph rate.    I think the elliptical is
> measuring the distance from the rotation of the resistance drum or  
> from the
> linear motion of the foot pads, but this doesn't seem to correlate  
> well with
> actual walking.  Anyway--doing a mile on the elliptical seems  
> equivalent to
> 2-3 miles walking--to me!
>
> Rick
>
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