Fast tip #2 Cadence

Gratuity: Warm Gloves

Goal Work - In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away - shing xiong

Well I read about how the best runners average 180 steps per minutes; that is 90 steps per foot.   I guess they maintain the same cadence if they are going fast or slow.   They go faster if they take a longer stride.  I tried concentrating on taking quick (in my case short) steps and it really did make me go faster with less effort. Less effort is the operative word.   In the past when I wanted to go faster I would power run trying to heave myself forward.   I like this method better.    So I started counting steps in my head and was about to shoot myself after a mile of that.    I downloaded a metronome to my ipod and that helped a bit.    The first time I used it my running really picked up while doing my speed work.    My 10K run was also improved, but I still wanted to shoot myself after the run.    I then looked for music with a higher BPM (beats per minute) and totally overhauled my ipod and intersperced metronome beats with the music.

•    I added Eminem's "Lose Yourself"  at 171 BPM. 

•    I also added Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire" which is a bit slower at 148 but good enough for me to start to acclimate to the higher cadence. 

•    I added Black Eyed Peas 158 "Pump It", 

•    I added Outkast's "Hey Ya" at 160 BPM, 

•    I added  My Chemical Romance's "I'm not okay" at 180 BPM.  

•    I added Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca" at 180 BPM

This Sunday when I ran my 10K with the music my times were a little down, but I don't think it was statistically much different so I want to give them a little more of a chance.   I decided today to do my speed work with no music at all .  It was a complete failure.  I just need music when running around and around an oval.

While looking for the BPM of songs, I came across a number of sites including this site which lists  music with different BPM's    This is something I may soon be putting on my ipod.

I still have not yet decided if I will run the Lighthouse 10K with or without music.   No matter what I will be concentrating on getting my foot out quicker.

P.S. What are your favorite running songs?


Awaken: 08:15AM
MIT: Working too much - Try to do some house cleaning