"The fact is, treadmill running gives you one of the best indoor workouts in the shortest amount of time," says Shelly-lynn Florence, program director for the New York Road Runners classes and coauthor of The Runner's Handbook (Penguin USA, 1999). "The VersaClimber may be just a little better because it incorporates arm movement, but you probably attain the highest heart rate on the treadmill," she says.

So what can you do to make your treadmill workouts more fun?

Change the pace. Do some fartlek training. Fartlek is Swedish for "speed play" and is a very popular training tool among more serious runners. Florence says even the recreational runner can do it. Here's how it works: You start at a 10-minute pace, pick it up to 9 minutes for a minute or two and then slow it down for the same amount of time. You continue to do this throughout the workout. Florence says this type of interval training can improve your running, giving you greater endurance and quickening your stride.

Move to the groove. When you're listening to an upbeat song, pick up your pace and then slow it down when it's over. This way you have built-in interval training, which breaks the tedium and is a great way to improve cardiovascular fitness.

Use the programs. Many treadmills have preprogrammed workouts that include hills and interval training. The more serious runner can program his or her favorite race course into the treadmill. For example, if you know it takes 5 minutes to conquer that hill, you plug in the time for the hill. The downside: Setting up the program can take a while.

Try visualization. If you can't program the computer or don't want to bother with interval training, you can visualize a running course that you enjoy. Perhaps it begins flat and then it slopes downward for a while. Before you know it, you are coming to a great hill. You get the idea.

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