Turning the 'Dreadmill' into the Treadmill.

So we have no choice, there is a major snowstorm coming and a deep freeze, and welp, we have to use a treadmill. And we hate the treadmill. This is why we call it the "dreadmill" right?

There are some things treadmills do better, but I think a few guidelines will make it a much more useful tool:

Split workouts in two. 
Need to do 12 miles on the treadmill? Do 6 miles in the morning and do 6 miles in the evening, or 8 in the am and 4 in the pm, Make one of the workouts a tempo or interval run, add hills. Use the other run for recovery. Mileage is mileage. Doing two-a-days will keep you sharp and break up the monotony. Treadmills are poor, poor analogs of long distance running. Don't waste your time trying to make it one.

Your Treadmill run should always be in a hill program.
Forget getting on the treadmill set it at 1.5% grade and set it at at 9:09 mile pace. Your are wasting the treadmills' potential, and destroying your own morale. Running a standard set grade, just adds to the monotony, and does nothing to add to the experience of running outside. It's like driving a Ferrari to a grocery store. Sure you can do it, but is that really the best use of a Ferrari? Put the treadmill on a hill or random hill mode, adjust the intensity, and use that as a base running mode.  Not to mention this is Chicago, and we have no hills, and since every freaking race on the planet earth has hills, then you might was well train and prepare for them. Make hills your friends. The resistance and variable pitch to running on a treadmill on hill mode, makes you a much better, faster and comfortable runner on the flats.

Adjust your pace.
It's same thing for speed, you have the opportunity to run at a faster pace, than you would on the road, this makes it a perfect opportunity to work on leg speed and running efficiently at a faster pace. Change the pace after you warm up after a mile or so, and do progression runs, increasing the pace every mile. Or run tempo at your goal pace or faster than your goal pace. Test yourself to the limit. This is the perfect opportunity to do so. Time flies when you're kicking your own ass.

Happy Running!! Stay warm!!!