A walk to nowhere

Why do some people find it harder to run or walk on a treadmill?

...the most likely explanation for any drudgery associated with treadmill exercise is psychological. Treadmills are indoor machines, and many studies show that people generally prefer outdoor workouts. In various experiments, people have reported experiencing less fatigue, more vitality and greater pleasure after walking outside compared with on an indoor treadmill.

Also, treadmills typically provide a walk to nowhere, which may be demoralizing. In a study published last year, volunteers who set out to walk a course that had no clear finish line felt more fatigued afterward than when they covered the same distance with an obvious finish line ahead on which to focus.

So the lesson may be that, if you can, find a treadmill with a monitor and video programing showing an outdoor walking course with a beginning and, most important, an end.

Still, "the nectar is in the journey" - not the destination. The trouble with treadmills may simply be that they lack both. It's not so much that they go nowhere, as that they don't go at all.