First run post Graduation.

[serendipitygal]

I think i am more of a tortoise than hare, but I am happy!

I ran 5.01K in 40 minutes, with a pace of 8.08 min/km, so I think I could probably manage a park run now Who'd have thought it 9 weeks ago? ME running 5k Fab!

My aim is to work on increasing my distance rathe than speeding up for a while (probably a long time) as I still found I was breathing loudly BUT i accept not as train like as before lol.

I noticed posts about running to different beats of music. How do you determine that? and where would i find such lists please? I did see a post referring to a site or name of an app but cannot find it now.

Thank you,

Janet x

[useitorloseit Graduate]

People on here have recommended jogfm. I had a look at it the other day. You need first to find out what your comfortable steps per minute is, and then tailor your playlist for that. It all looked to scientific for me just yet ...

[serendipitygal Graduate in reply to useitorloseit]

Thank you. Luckily, my map my run gives me my average km per minute and I now realise what the splits detailed mean so I have had a look and listened to some of the tracks it recommends and I can see they might work- Strangely, my motivational track- Red light spells danger by Billy Ocean is way too many beats per minute compared but it still gives me oomph! lol

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

Try jog.fm. It has music listed by beats per minute but also helps you work out the bpm to suit your current time.

[serendipitygal Graduate in reply to Ullyrunner]

Thank you Ullyrunner, I have had a look and noted quite a few songs I could listen to whilst running.. It's a great site isn't it? I can see quite a few playlists being created- Might even do one with some bursts of interval work when I am improved some more

[Badchrissi Graduate]

That is wonderful! Gives me heart am about to do week 5 run 3 tomorrow...still can't imagine running for 20 mins straight

[serendipitygal Graduate]

Ahh Chrissi, you will do it!

If your heart can conceive it and your head can believe it, you CAN achieve it!

That 20 minute run is awe inspiring as you keep plodding on and suddenly you realise it's all, well alot of, mind over matter most of the time. My graduation run was only 2 days ago and I suffered my very first demons and self doubts. After 9 weeks, I was actually hearing "I can't do this" in my head and was telling myself i could and had to kid myself to go out "for a walk" Yes, I did it. Yes, it was a hard one but we've come this far...quitting is NOT an option

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

An easy way to find out what cadence you are currently running at is to download a simple metronome app from the App Store ( usually free) and play it while you are running. It will take a bit of experimentation for about 30 minutes or so- but simply set any particular BPM and see if you can run to that beat. If it is too slow , increase it a little , etc until you find a BPM that feels comfortable to run to at "your" pace.

I am a fairly slow runner myself - but my natural cadence is quite high - around 180. It is well recognised that many "joggers" run to a much slower beat - this is not necessarily to say that this is bad - but it can be. If your legs are cycling slower ( lower BPM) than they should be, the only way you can run fast is to increase your stride length - Increasing stride length can lead to injury if the stride length becomes too long and your feet are hitting the ground ahead of your hips ( called overstriding) .

I find that I can't/don't like running to music for 2 reasons. First reason was during C25K podcasts - the beat of the music was far to slow for me. Second reason since I made up my own playlist of 180 BPM songs - is that some/many songs ( eg Elton John songs) use varying tempos during them . They may have an overall tempo of say 180BPM - but sometimes slow down many times during the song making them impossible to run to ( for me)

[serendipitygal Graduate in reply to Bazza1234]

Thank you for that info Bazza, although I am slighty confused now so will need to read your post a few times to understand exactly what you mean I think :/

The metronome Ap sounds like a good idea or I could just upload a load of music I like and just run

I didn't realise it was all so scientific what with beats per minute, cadence and stride but i do understand about music changing tempo throughout the song- some songs I thought were quite slow state they are 121BPM.

I think I need to revisit the site and actually read what it says :/ I just put in a song I like running too, and then search under the same speed etc.

Thank you

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

BTW - don't believe what JOG.FM says about pace. They indicate that a certain pace equates to a certain BPM -- this is not true . Pace comes from a combination of BPM and stride length -- I run at a high cadence (BPM) but a short stride length ( because of my personal biomechanics - leg length and muscle flexibility) - hence I run at a fairly slow pace -- eg 180 BPM at 7 mins per klm.

[MarkyD Graduate]

So pleased you've graduated and got out for a run. You could try Laura's C25K+ podcast that aims to increase your speed. I couldn't get on with it tbh be others have used it.

[serendipitygal Graduate in reply to MarkyD]

Thank you Marky, I think I am better off concentrating on stamina for the time being Especially as my main aim is fitness and weight loss, and the thought of being ever so breathless (from running) doesn't appeal at the moment, but i will certainly look them up.