There are many reasons why a runner may have spent several months on a treadmill.
You could live in a very cold climate and don't like the cold - so you have been running indoors.
Also, if you live where the roads are continuously slick and icy in the winter - it is also smarter to run indoors on the treadmill.
Another reason may be due to injury.
If you have an injury - it is sometimes best to run on a treadmill while you are recovering.
The track of a treadmill is softer and a more forgiving surface.
This will allow you to still run - without the hard pounding of the roads.
Whatever the reason is that you may have been running indoors - when you are ready to return to the roads, you need to do so cautiously.
You want to just head out and go as far as you can.
But, that lead to injury as it can be a shock to your body.
You want to ease back into your outdoor workouts slowly.
Running outside is actually different from what you do indoors on the treadmill.
The first week that you start outside - start by only running outside one day that week.
Also, during this run - you want to run/walk.
Run for one minute and then walk for one minute.
The rest of the week - do what you've been doing on the treadmill.
The next week, add another run outside and also increase your run/walk to two minutes running to one minute walking.
Keep increasing your runs outside and decreasing your runs indoor until you are doing all your runs outside.
Also, keep increasing your run/walk ratio until you are running for the entire time of your workout.
Here's another important tip for when you return to running on the roads.
Make sure that for the first few weeks - your long run of the week is not your outside run.
This can also lead to injury.
There are many reasons to run indoors on the treadmill for an extended period of time.
It's easy to want to just go back to running the same outdoors as when you left off - but resist the temptation.
Always run smart and listen to your body! Your body will thank you for taking the time to get used to running outside again.