Takin' it to the Streets

After months and months of indoor treadmill running, I have decided to enter my first official 10K race!  I think my body is going into heavy hibernation mode because of the change in weather and the increased darkness, because all I want to do lately is eat and sleep . . . I can smell bad things happening if I don't get my act together quick.  So, in order to kick myself in the butt, I need a major event to get me refocused.

I am running 4 - 5 miles fairly consistently on the treadmill at about a 9 minute mile pace (no incline) on weekdays, with some 6 milers on the weekends occassionally.  BUT, I have not done any running outside.

Any advice from all of you experts on how to break myself out of the comfort of indoor running and into an outdoor training program for the 10K???  The race is in early November, so I have a few weeks to train.

Thing I found when I did this
1.  The asphalt of the road is softer than the concrete of the pavement.  It hurts less to run on the asphalt.
2.  Either the asphalt or the concrete is much much harder than the treadmill and it is tougher on the knees and legs in general
3.  I tend to run faster on the street than I do on the treadmill, I think it's because I'm able to take a natural stride instead of some shortened stride I have to do on the treadmill.
4.  It is harder to run for distance physically on the street for me than it was on the treadmill, but the treadmill is mentally more draining.  All I keep thinking on the treadmill is "am I done yet"
5.  Find a safe comfortable place to run and start off slow.  Maybe do half of what you are doing in the gym for the first couple times to get the feel for it and make sure you are comfortable.
6.  Good shoes are much more important because of the hardness of your running surface. 

Those were the obvious things for me when I switched to the road from the treadmill.

Good luck,

Scott

Thanks, Seht!

I've got a very good pair of Pearl Izumi's that I love, so we'll see how they hold up outdoors.  Thanks for the advice on the asphalt, I am going to get outside this weekend and map out a 3-4 miler to start.  I haven't needed to invest in any kind of pacing device until now, since I haven't needed it, so I am going to have to do it the old fashioned way.

Good job! At 9 miles per hour you should win the race. Best of luck! The best advice is just to get out there and do it. Get used to running oudoors, and break up the routine....

Sorry, I was rushing . . . I meant a 9 minute mile ( I don't go above 7MPH on the tread!).

Was gonna say, dang woman, help a brutha out with some speed work! 9 minute miles are nothing to shake a stick at, thats moving pretty good! Keep up the good work and you will do fine out in the streets!

Yeah, well I'm a pretty competitive person, so when I heard that one of the guys in my office was running a 9-min mile, I had to prove to myself that I could do it, too.  Now, I need to get myself out on the streets to prove that I am a true runner . . . hopefully, I don't hurt myself trying!!