I tend to go through phases on whether or not I like to listen to music while I run. I’m sure others can understand — for me, I spend the entire day from 7:30 AM to at least 4:00 PM hearing my voice, some odd twenty students voices, and my co-workers voices. Not that I don’t enjoy it all, but this girl needs some peace and quiet sometimes. There is only so many times I can hear voices in a day without going crazy. Is that weird? Probably.
Usually in the morning when I work out, I run sans iPod and just watch the news (without volume on the big TV’s at the gym). The only time I listen to music is when this one particular guy gets on the treadmill next to me. I don’t put on my iPod so I can avoid speaking to him or anything — I get to listen to music because his music is so stinkin’ loud. Thanks, but no thanks mister. Turn it down.
If I run outside for any distance in between three and five miles, I usually leave the music at home. I use that time to think, reflect, plan, and just be quiet with myself. I love that time by myself, so I don’t think I can see myself pulling out the iPod anytime soon for shorter distances.
I do, however, need music in a bad way when I do my long runs. The music keeps me entertained and keeps my mind off the fact that I have to run for about an hour and a half (gosh, that sounds crazy). For instance, yesterday during my run I spent at least six minutes listening to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” twice so I could change the words and giggle to myself like a fool.
Last week during my long run, I used my music in a different way. I have always noticed it is easier to run to some songs than other based on the beat, but didn’t really know much about it. I noticed a few songs that were easy for me to run to:
- Edge of Glory — Lady Gaga
- Dynamite — Taio Cruz
- Party Rock Anthem — LMFAO
- Born this Way — Lady Gaga
- Moves like Jagger — Maroon Five
I didn’t really think much of it until earlier this week when I got an uncanny e-mail. Chris from RunHundred contacted me about his website, a free service that pairs music up to the BPM (Beats Per Minute) songs have. This helps runners/athletes to continue pacing themselves based on the beat of the music they are listening to.
I really enjoyed searching through the archives to see how many BPM the songs on my playlist already have.
- Edge of Glory — Lady Gaga (140 bpm)
- Dynamite — Taio Cruz (120 bpm)
- Party Rock Anthem — LMFAO (129 bpm)
- Born this Way — Lady Gaga (128 bpm)
- Moves like Jagger — Maroon Five (128 bpm)
Then, I found myself wondering what this all means. How do those BPM match up with my running pace? That was something I couldn’t find on RunHundred. It would be really beneficial and helpful for people who are just starting out with learning about BPM and pacing to have a guide to figure out what BPM matches up with certain paces. I did, however, find a great explanation from Run2R.
What I found out is that the music I am listening to is too slow for my current pace. I usually run anywhere from 8:45-9:00 miles, sometimes quicker on shorter runs — and I should be listening to music that at least has a BPM of 140 to go along with my pace.
I found this to be so interesting, and I think using BPM for pacing would be extremely helpful for people who are looking to quicken their pace. To get started, you could use the start up tips from Run2R and then search for music on RunHundred.
Question: What do you know about BPM and running pace?
I was contacted by RunHundred and was not compensated for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
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