Winter Running Workouts: Track, Treadmills and Ellipticals.

Who likes going to the gym in January?  If you raised your hand, seem professional help.  Some people say February is a little better but we have this odd effect in Minnesota of the cold weather keeping gym numbers artificially high that month too.  The other hard part of working out inside is knowing how to design a good running workout indoors.  Please, I don't care that the windchill is -19*, just let me go outside for a run.  Here's what I've learned so far.

 
The Track is for speed workouts.  By 'speed' I mean "it's really fast for me" and I walk in between running laps.  (Most track workouts will have a "rest" period, I just walk because stopping on a busy indoor track isn't always the best option.)  I tend to do workouts where I can count laps instead of worrying about distance or time. Workouts in 1/2 mile or mile increments, or ladder workouts all work well on this track..
Workouts that are done in times (run 2:00, walk 0:30, spring 1:00) don't work so well on the track for a few reasons.  There's a couple spots on the track where I can't see a clock.   Anything that's not a specific distance gives me a hard time counting my total miles.  (I need to know!)  And, I don't like to stop and start at odd places on the track because I don't like people running into me. 
The track is not for running long distances, at least for me.  It's fine for me to spend a long time on the track, just not continuously running in circles. There's a reason I call it the pit of despair.  

The Treadmill is good for pacing workouts because the machine does the thinking for me on the pace.  The treadmill is known to give me panic attacks so I don't get on it very much.  When I do, it's usually because "I want to know what it feels like to run at such and such a pace".  Like the track, I tend to do speed or interval workouts on the treadmill because the only thing that stops the panic attacks is knowing I'm going to get to slow down soon.
For other oddball human beings, the Treadmill is for long runs in the winter.  I've never met one of these people in real life, but I know they exist because I read this one girl's blog...
Treadmills should typically be set to a 1% incline to mimic the friction and resistance of running on concrete.  Also, don't try to stop or stand on the treadmill, it will only lead to comedy and error. 

The Elliptical is for long steady workouts.  At least for me.  I typically select a pre-programmed routine that looks fun, set the goal time to 60:00 and turn the music up loud. At my gym the ellipticals also face some televisions for an added distraction. 
Ellipticals tend to come in a few flavors.  Some work arms and legs, some work just the legs but the incline of the elliptical can be adjusted to simulate hills, and some of the newer ones have an adjustable incline and still work arms and legs. Ellipticals also have a lot of flexibility in how much resistance they offer.  Too much resistance is hard on the muscles (and you will pay for it).  Too little resistance and I feel like I'm going to hyper extend my knees.  The up and down arrows were invented for a reason.  Use them to find the right setting.  I use a higher setting for shorter workouts and a lower resistance for longer workouts.