How fast is 5K pace on treadmill?

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Treadmills aren’t just for running beginners. Olympic middle-distance competitors including Kara Goucher, Amy Begley and Shalane Flanagan fine-tune their training on the moving belt, more forgiving on the joints than racking up hard miles outdoors. While you may not throw down a world-record 14-minute time in your 5K, treadmill training can help you channel your inner speed demon.

The 6 Mph Threshold

A 5K equals 3.1 miles. You can warm up with a brisk five-minute walk on the treadmill and, if you are new to 5Ks, track your distance and time on the treadmill readout to get some idea of how long this distance takes you to walk, jog or run -- or a blend of all three. While the point is somewhat debated, 6 mph is typically accepted as the difference between running and jogging. So if you plan to really run your 5K, you’ll need to set your treadmill speed at 6 mph, which should have you wrapping up 5,000 meters or 3.1 miles in 31 minutes.

Faster or Slower

You can set the treadmill speed to line up with faster or slower goals than 6 mph and 31 minutes. If you want to finish a 5K in 45 minutes, set the treadmill at 4.1 mph, essentially a brisk walk. For 40 minutes, enter 4.7 mph; for 30 minutes, 6.2 mph.

You can calculate the needed miles-per-hour setting on the treadmill for any time goal by dividing 3.1 miles by the minutes divided by 60. For example, if you want to finish your 5K in 30 minutes, divide 3.1 by 0.5, which equals 30, and divide that by 60, for a result of 6.2 mph. Applying the same formula to complete a 5K in 25, 20 or 15 minutes, set the treadmill speed at 7.4, 9.3 and 12.4 mph, respectively.

In Practice

In reality, your training will be far more effective if you mix up your speeds and inclines to get ready for the starts, uphills, downhills and finishing kick of a 5K road race. For example, Portland, Oregon-based triathlete coach Jeremy Hyatt suggests that you design a 5K workout based on your top speed, say, 9 mph, and take 2 mph off this figure to set your starting pace. Run an easy half-mile warm-up on the treadmill. Follow by a half-mile at, for example, 7 mph, 0.4 miles at 7.5 mph, 0.3 miles at 8 mph, 0.2 miles at 8.5 mph and 0.1 mile at 9 mph, followed by a half-mile at 8 mph. Carefully -- very carefully -- grasp the side rails and hop off the moving belt for 0.1 mile between each speed change to recover briefly and to reset the treadmill speed.

Variations

Those speed and incline buttons on the treadmill dashboard allow you all kinds of latitude to custom design your 5K treadmill training. As you get more experienced, you can program in a tempo run -- 20 minutes of steady running at about 75 to 90 seconds slower than your 5K pace. Or, program in hill repeats -- gradually building up to 20 30-second incline runs -- to prepare your lungs for an undulating 5K course.

While some runners dislike running on the so-called "dreadmill" during the more inclement months of the year, others look forward to it as a way to be able to work out indoors when the wind is blowing and the children need minding. Whatever your take on the treadmill, you can use it to train for a 5K, long before the weather warms. The key is to figure out your ideal speed, and then to use that to increase or decrease your intensity based on your 5K training schedule.

Timing

To determine the speed for your treadmill run, you'll first need to establish a baseline for your 5K. If you've run a 5K recently, note your finish time in minutes and seconds. If you haven't run one recently -- or ever -- run a 5K at your racing speed and time yourself using a stopwatch or a regular watch with a second hand. Better yet, time yourself over the next few 5K runs to get an average run time.

Calculations

Once you've established a baseline for your 5K you'll need to determine your racing speed. Divide your average race time by 3.1 -- which is the length of a 5K in miles. If you ran your last 5K in 27 minutes, for example, divide 27 by 3.1 to get a miles per hour speed of roughly 8.7 mph.

Set Treadmill

Now that you know your average race time in miles per hour, you can set your treadmill to the correct speed. If you've run 5K races before, chances are you're working to beat your personal best -- so that means doing some practice running your 5K at a faster pace than you've run it before. Using the 8.7 mph example, set your treadmill at an 8 mph pace and then work at keeping up that pace. Most treadmills allow you to set your speed in miles per hour, as well as setting your total time. Even if you can't keep up that faster pace, try to keep it up as long as you can.

Intensity

If you look at training programs in magazines such as "Runner's World" or Running Planet, they typically don't involve running a 5K at 5K pace every day of the week. Typically, there are days of rest, and days of easy running -- as well as days of intense training. One benefit of the treadmill is that you can add in hill workouts or interval training just by pressing a button. If you're serious about training for a 5K, consider starting a training program that includes running 5 miles with 3 miles at a race pace once a week, running easy 5Ks three times a week, a 6 mile or longer run once a week, and two rest or cross training days. Knowing your race pace -- which you established at the outset -- will help you set the right pace for the various training days on your program.

References

Writer Bio

Nicole Vulcan has been a journalist since 1997, covering parenting and fitness for The Oregonian, careers for CareerAddict, and travel, gardening and fitness for Black Hills Woman and other publications. Vulcan holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and journalism from the University of Minnesota. She's also a lifelong athlete and is pursuing certification as a personal trainer.

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