W9R2! And I tried something different! Podcast instead of music, but it really hurt my pace!

[Catwise]

Has anyone else compared their pace when running with music vs running with a podcast or audiobook? Up until today I have been exclusively running with the NHS podcasts, with Laura's coaching and her music (which I like, by the way, I know I'm in the minority there!).

Today I listened to a great podcast, it kept my interest the whole time, I found my run easier than the last one, and I was very pleased with the experiment. I love the idea of listening to something interesting, entertaining or educational while I run, but I was afraid it would be too hard for me to keep going. My runs have never been easy and I tend to focus really hard on the beat of the music just to keep myself moving. I was a bit anxious about trying this, actually, because I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep going. I was prepared to swap back to Laura's podcast if I needed to.

So I got through this run easily. I enjoyed it, I was entertained, I smiled frequently and I even laughed out loud a couple times! Fun! But then when I checked out my stats, I had run a FULL MINUTE slower per mile! That's a big difference! Not that big a deal, I know, not enough for me to put away the podcasts and use music exclusively, but at least it's something I now know I'll want to keep an eye on.

Has anyone else noticed that?

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Not me... but then when I do run to music it’s ridiculously fast and loud, not cadence matching stuff 🤣

What I did notice today was that I was more than a minute a mile down, and my heart rate was up... both of which I was expecting, it’s significantly hotter than my last run.

[Beads Graduate]

Hubby once said to me 'why do you want to be faster?'

Why are we obsessed with speed? You went out, on a really hot day, you found it much easier than normal, you enjoyed it, you ran, you laughed, you had fun. That's what this is all about! Ditch the music, listen to your podcasts (I struggled with audiobooks as I'd zone out and get to the end of the run and wonder when that person died or how they found that piece of evidence etc), go and enjoy your graduation run!

There's plenty of time for upping your pace, alternate your runs (mine these days are all slow runs, whether long or short) with fast/music and slow(easy, recovery, term it what you like)/podcast/enjoyable. Do your graduation run and then check out the speed, stamina and stepping stones podcasts, they go at different cadences. If you find yourself running to the beat of the music (lots of us do, whether consciously or not) you can download music with specific beats per minute, faster tempo usually = faster runs. Mix it up, easy tracks interspersed with faster ones. Just beware of tracks like Ballroom Blitz!

[Bracken2018 Graduate]

Thanks for your post re running to music with a beat or a post cast story.

I graduated April 17 and since saying goodbye to Michael I decided to try PODRUNNER (currently 148). It keeps me at a steady pace however, I have seriously thought of trying the radio or a drama .

You have given me the push , I’m now going to give this a go. thanks again 🐾

[Rudie]

I agree. I tried it once and i didn’t concentrate on my running and I was much slower than when I listen to music. With music I tune in and out or my running but with an audio drama I only concentrated on that.

[IvyMB Graduate]

Interesting. Thank you for the post. My last two runs were with podcasts and I really enjoyed them. I only occasionally time my runs and the last time I did it was at the beginning of June for my last run of C25k. I know I don’t run anywhere near as fast as that last timed run where I managed 5.05 kms in 30 minutes but then it took me a long time to recover. Maybe I should go back to Stamina in C25k + podcasts or at least mix it.

[Nadpri]

Also trying to find the best podcasts etc to listen to whilst running. Any ideas?

[Catwise Graduate in reply to Nadpri]

The podcast I listened to yesterday was called “You’re Dead To Me”. It’s history for people who hate history. They take famous events/people/things that you’ve heard of and give you all the details but in a funny way, with a comedian and a historian as guests of the show. Very funny. I’ve also listened to “My Favorite Murder”, which discusses serial killers in depth. Pretty interesting although it is very irreverent in the way they joke around about the topic. Dear Joan and Jericho is a really funny take on a write in advice show. I’ve had recommendations for the following but haven’t listened to them yet: Revisionist History, Tides of History, The Fall of Rome.