Music

[Pebbles64]

I’m trying to up my speed, I graduated a while ago but wud really like to up my pace, I wondered if there’s any go to tunes for certain paces?

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

Why are you trying to speed up?

[Pebbles64 Graduate in reply to John_W]

Because I feel that my pace hasn’t moved on since graduating & I listen to music & wondered if there was a track that cud set my pace a bit quicker, I currently run just 14 -15 min mile

[John_W Graduate Ambassador in reply to Pebbles64]

I didnt realise you were a graduate! There's no 'graduate' badge next to your name.

There are various phone apps you can download that match the music bpm to your running cadence (steps per minute).

[Pebbles64 Graduate in reply to John_W]

How do I get a badge! How do I know what bpm I’m doing, & steps per minute. I use Strava but don’t subscribe

[Instructor57 Graduate in reply to Pebbles64]

To get the badge reply to the below post and tell them you completed C25K

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Many congratulations on your graduation, fellow runner.

This guide to post C25k running may be helpful healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

To get faster you need to spend up to 80% of your running time at an easy conversational pace, to continue building the solid aerobic base required to run faster and further, as explained in the above guide.

Keep running, keep smiling.

[ArthurJG Graduate]

Here’s the thing: the way to get faster at running 5k is not just to run 5k over and over again. Training is different from practice. Assuming you have decided to prioritise speed over distance (as I wouldn’t advise trying to improve both at once) you might consider following a training programme designed to get you to a faster 5k. Be aware though that as others have said it doesn’t involve running a fast 5k all the time. I found his one pretty good:

edinburghmarathon.com/train...

Also I know you’re a graduate, but for anyone else reading, be aware the above plan is for people who can run 5k already and want to get faster: it’s not for people who aren’t yet covering 5k.

[Frizzbomb67 Graduate]

Try the C25K stepping stone podcasts. One focuses on speed.

[Frizzbomb67 Graduate]

Longer reply this morning. Sorry was tired last night 😴.

I began running to a variety of tunes then noticed 1 matched my pace well. So I googled that tune to find the beats per minute (bpm). Then I googled the bpm and found other tunes with the same speed. There are lots of websites that list music with a specific bpm - like jog fm. Mine was 160bpm. So it would be useful to find your bpm. If you have the tech check your cadence (strides per minute) and that might give you a starting point. It might take a bit if experimenting. To up my pace a tad I’ve been dropping tunes of 165bpm into my playlist to give me a little burst every couple of songs like running intervals. Then again, the C25K + podcasts do the same thing but the music is pants 😂

[Pebbles64 Graduate in reply to Frizzbomb67]

That’s great I’ll try that. What is your pace to give me an idea of working bpm thank u

[Frizzbomb67 Graduate in reply to Pebbles64]

My playlist is 160bpm which roughly equates to 8 min/km. I started with 140 and 150bpm playlists but found they were too slow so it took a while to find my pace.

[Sybilw Graduate]

Once you know your strides per minute (sorry don’t use Strava so cant help) you can use Spotify. I’ve downloaded the free version. Then you can search beats per minute (just enter a number) and you’ll get a random playlist. You can then chose either a steady pace or one that varies - I used one that mixed 160-170. It works well for me but your stuck with tracks you might not/ever normally listen to. 😆 Hope this helps

[chunkypie Graduate]

I use The BBC Sounds app. They have pace setter downloads on there