Running to a Beat

Initially appeared on vox.com 3/29/2009.

(DISCLAIMER: Although i run for sport and pleasure, i do not consider myself a "runner."  I realize that my times and speeds are laughable for some; the observations and analyses herein are made for my own benefit and for whoever may be interested/entertained.)

Normally on my regular runs i just listen to podcasts - TWiT and Engadget being my two favorites.  However, a recent issue of Runner's World referenced a study wherein music improved runners' performances.  So, on a whim, i decided to make my own "running mix" to help with the 10k. 
I decided to go for a range of 140-180 beats per minute (bpm), which i felt roughly corresponded with my strike rate.  Of course i didn't want to exhaust myself too quickly, so i started slow at 140 and built up to 174 at the end.  Not wanting to spend any money, i just raided my hard drive for old mp3 files and used an online beat counter to determine suitability.  Interestingly, out of the hundreds of songs i have stored, less than twenty were usable.  I eventually ended up with 16 songs with a total time of 58:20:

*Tuloy Pa Rin Ako - Side A Band	140
Mr. Jones - Counting Crows	142
Lump - Presidents of the United States of America	142
*Prinsesa - Teeth	145
DOA - Foo Fighters	145
Roll to Me - Del Amitri	150
Run-Around - Blues Traveler	151
Hey Jealousy - Gin Blossoms	152
Animals – Nickelback	154
Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins	157
The Middle - Jimmy Eat World	162
All My Life - Foo Fighters	168
Take on Me - a-ha	168
Basket Case - Green Day	170
Vasoline - Stone Temple Pilots	172
Footloose - Kenny Loggins	174

* OPM or "Original Pilipino Music." 

(I of course was going more for rhythm than "inspirational value," which is why "Eye of the Tiger" (110bpm) and "We are the Champions" (65bpm) did not make the cut.  I did toy around with putting "Livin' La Vida Loca" (178bpm) at the end, but arrogantly thought that i wouldn't need it.  Pfft, shows how much i know!) 

One important observation is that i only really start "hitting my stride" when "Animals" starts blaring out (at 30:58).  Somehow the opening riff seems to suck all the weariness out of my body and makes me feel like the start of the race all over again.  From there, the tempo just keeps picking up, helping me ignore the beginning soreness in my legs and control all my huffing and puffing.  This corresponds to how my splits played out: by the end of mile 3, my pace had dropped down to around 9:54, but at the end of mile 4 it went back up to 9:36.  By the beginning of mile 6 ("Basket Case"), i had already overtaken 5 people (who seemed like they were beginning to slow down - maybe they were listening to Air Supply?) and was coasting along at roughly between 9:10 and 9:20.  I admit that near the end my legs were almost dead - but Kenny Loggins just wouldn't let me quit! 

Does that imply that i should have started with a more upbeat tempo?  I guess i could have finished faster if i did, but i could also have "hit the wall" early and just crawled to the finish. 

When i finally throw my hat over the fence for that half-marathon, i think i'll have to drop some money and come up with a 2-hour mix.  At that point i think i'll need to start at 150bpm though, as my target time of 2 hours requires a 9:09 pace. 

Someone who's not interested in trying to figure out bpms for himself could just go to a website like this one.  There's a ton of resources available on the internet for running music.