Sorry Laura

[unfit]

I have not long graduated and was really looking forward to the next set of podcasts as I have no will power and need someone there pushing me along. So last week I downloaded the 3 different ones and decided to start on the "speed" one. However I just could not sync my running with Laura's counting. I even got abit confused. Is the count for each foot eg count 1 on the right foot count 2 on the left foot, 3 on the right and 4 on the left or is it for the same foot for each count? The former seemed too slow but the latter meant I wanted to do 5 steps for every 4 counts. somehow I just could not run to that beat. Two days later I thought I would try again with "stepping stones"but I had exactly the same problem.

However I have decided to keep listening to Laura because I found that the actual counting 1,2,3,4 all the time helped to keep me running to a good beat even if it was a differnt one to Laura's,and also her running tips, like always looking ahead was helpful. I tend to always look at the ground when I run.

[morningglory Graduate]

I had exactly the same issues with both the stepping stone and speed pod casts, I'm pretty sure it is because 150 bpm is too slow for me.

When the pace is increased to 155 or even better 160 I feel a lot more comfortable running. I don't run 5k in under 30 minutes so not sure why they have decided to start them at such a low pace. Would be interested to see how others feel.

[unfit Graduate]

It's good to know I'm not the only one. The 150bpm was more like walking.

[getsetgo Graduate]

Me too! 150 steps felt very slow to me and I thought I was shuffling along. Like morningglory 160 steps felt much better. I know I'm not covering 5k in 30 minutes so it must be the length of my steps - short shuffles rather than giant strides!

[TheEditor in reply to getsetgo]

1 2 3 4 are foot steps. You may also like to think of it as left, right, left, right. Your feet should hit the ground in time with the count. If this is a struggle at first, why not just focus on running to the rhythm of the music as a whole rather than concentrate too much on the beat. You may find you begin to tune in naturally to the music's beat.

[christian1 Graduate]

I also found this one peculiarly slow. Even the walking pace was much slower than I normally do.

When I blogged about it someone said I should take longer steps so I would go faster, but like getsetgo I do short shuffles

[magicfee23 Graduate]

I've just done stepping stones for the first time and completely agree. Speed felt quite slow too me too. I graduated a few months ago and although I knew I'd got faster (5k time down from 36 to 32.20 mins) I was completely stuck and have seen no improvement for the last month or so and I thought this might give me a push.

On the plus side I now realise what I have actually achieved in the last few months which might encourage me to push myself on again. I've looked at Audiofuel in the past but was a bit baffled about bpm and which one to go for but now I have an idea I can go ahead and invest and know I'm getting the right one for me.

It is lovely to hear Laura's tips again though andshe has made me concentrate on my form in a way I haven't for ages- no more slouching!!!!!!!!!