The Best Ways to Find a Treadmill Near You (and a Beginner Workout Worth Trying)
If you want to become a faster runner, you’ll probably have to do a lot of speed work on the treadmill. Or if you live in a hilly area, you might want to have a nice, level path to run on. But how do you find one that is open to the public? It turns out it’s easier than you think. Many public school trails are available for community use.
How can I find a local running track?
I run on the local school track and the route to it was quite easy. I called a nearby high school and asked if they had a track open to the public. They said yes, as long as I came during non-school hours; but they also suggested another school in the district that had fewer evening activities scheduled. This is the route I run on most often these days.
I recently found another trail near me simply by looking for ovals on Strava’s global heat map (which highlights popular running routes). Satellite view on Google Maps is another great way to find nearby tracks. Most standard-sized outdoor running tracks surround a football or soccer field and are usually located at a school or sometimes at a park or community center. They will be oblong in shape, curved at the edges, often with a red rubbery surface and white stripes visible when zoomed in.
Another great resource for finding trails is Run Track Run , which lists trails and running routes across the United States. Some trails list information such as the type of surface, whether it is open to the public, and whether it is free to use.
What are the rules for track running?
First, check for posted rules or hours of operation. School trails are often closed to the public during school hours, but this usually means evenings, weekends and holiday breaks are fair game. However, don’t expect every school’s track to always be open. Private schools may not open their schools to the public, and public schools may still set schedules or close events. If the trail is part of a park, gym or community center, check their website or call to find out who can use the trail and when.
Once you get there, the most important rule is to stay in your lane (if there are marked lanes). Think of them like lanes on a highway: you can pass someone if you give them enough space, and you should always look behind you before changing lanes. Don’t block your lane by stopping in the middle; Find a spot off-piste if you want to sit down and warm up.
Faster people will run in the inner lane, which means if you’re walking or stretching, you should stay in the outer lanes. Also pay attention to the direction; Usually everyone runs counterclockwise.
How to do running workouts on a treadmill?
The track is for everything you want to do, so there is no specific procedure. But typically, you break the work you want to do into quarter-mile chunks. (The innermost strip of the track is 400 meters per lap, almost exactly a quarter mile.)
It’s completely normal to jog the entire time you’re on the treadmill, but it’s more common for people to use a treadmill for interval training. You run quickly for a short distance, then either walk or stand while catching your breath. Then do another quick interval and repeat the process until you’re ready to go home.
Here’s a beginner workout you can do for the first time on the treadmill:
- Warm up by completing four laps of the track (1 mile). This could be a brisk walk, a slow easy jog, or a combination of both. You want to finish this step feeling warmed up and ready to go, not tired.
- Go through the curved part of the track (about 100 meters).
- Run the straight part of the track (this is also about 100 meters). Don’t go all out, just keep the pace strong and fast.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 as many times as necessary. One mile (four laps) will give you eight 100-meter runs, which is a good workout for your first day. You can do more later.
- Run at least a couple of laps to cool down, more if you want.
Runners would call the above workout an “8 x 100” because you’re doing eight 100-meter runs. (Intermediate walking is considered recovery.) Here are the general distances for interval training:
- 100 m (straight part of the track)
- 200 m (curve plus one straight or half course)
- 400 m (one lap)
- 800 m (two laps)
In between the running portions of your workout, you can rest or walk for about the same amount of time as it took you to run. For example, if you run a lap (400 meters) in about two minutes, you will have to rest for another two minutes before running again.