Any runners out there?

Sorry, I can't do treadmills.  I vary my speed so much that everytime I try to run on a treadmill I wind up pulling a muscle. 

I have my mp3 player when I run.  Sorry I am not much help.

I actually prefer the treadmill, too. I can turn my brain off and just GO without having to dodge tourists and worry about weather and risk getting hit by a bus. But I also need to run outside to prepare for races. The good news is, you're already running at plenty enough incline (I always run at .5% incline and my treadmill vs road times are identical)!

Do you have music? I find I just cannot run without my iPod, and I also find the Nike+ to be really motivating for letting me know how far I've gone (and how much is yet to go!). You can also try setting goals using sites like www.mapmyrun.com to set out your route and then increase it by a km or two a week.

Thanks for the link. I think part of the problem is that a lot of times when I try to run outdoors I'm totally aimless, so this would definitely help.

But I think the main problem is that I don't know how to regulate my speed. I must be going a lot faster than I think I am because I feel out of breath and tired a lot quicker than when I'm on the treadmill. Any tricks or tips?

I just got one of those tiny clip on ipods as a gift, so that should help, as it's not as bulky as my old one. I do sometimes use my IPod on the treadmill, but I actually do better when there is something to watch on one of the tv screens at the gym as I can get lost in it pretty easily, and stop looking at the darn timer on the treadmill.

Thanks again.

The nice part about running outside is not having the damn timer in front of you. The bad parts are all the other things you've mentioned. I find the music REALLY helps, as does having the route mapped out. I used runlondon.com, I think, when I lived there.

But I think the main problem is that I don't know how to regulate my speed. I must be going a lot faster than I think I am because I feel out of breath and tired a lot quicker than when I'm on the treadmill. Any tricks or tips?

Yeah, I still struggle with finding my pace outside, too (I went waaaaaaay too fast at the beginning of my race because my perception was skewed by the thousands of superfast runners around me!).

Two things that help me: hitting the centre button while the Nike+ is going brings up my current stats, including a time per km speed, which helps me to know whether I'm going too fast or too slow compared to what that stat speed is when I'm on the treadmill. And the other big thing is that I found a song I love that has a steady beat that's EXACTLY my "golden pace", so I've set that as my Power Song (or you can space it evenly throughout your playlist and just skip to the next track once you've reset your pace if you get sick of it).

I actually find the song helps a little more than just the speed announcement, because I have ~3min to get my legs going at that pace and it's easier for my body to remember without having to get my brain involved.

Great tips. Thanks, everyone. Will look into the Nike +...sounds like what I need.

ooh if anyone else has a Nike+, I was just turned on to a really good site: http://www.runnerplus.com

It uses the data from Nike+ or Garmin units and has a huge community around it, and doesn't have a terrible interface like the official Nike site.