Music 180

I never listened to musicwhile running. I was not a fan of listening to music while running. I felt that listening to music interferes with your ability to concentrate on technique, pace and running form. However, recently I have heard of a way that listening to the right music can help you improve your cadence.

There are some songs that are written at a beat of 180 and are perfect to help you improve you cadence. 180 steps per minute seems to be the optimal number of steps per minute whether you are running fast or
going for an easy jog. By increasing your cadence to 180 over the long run there are fewer injuries and faster race times. Running at cadence 180 has become so popular that there are websites dedicated to assembling songs that match the beat. You may recognize some of the songs on the Running Music Mix website: http://runningmusicmix.com/180-mix.html.

Jene Shaw’s article in Triathlete Europe http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2011/02/11/music-improve-run-cadence/says that you can improve your endurance up to 15% with the right music and that one time Marathon World record holder Haile Gebrselassie used music to improve his stride. There is quite a few on the Runners World website but I don’t recognize most of them: http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/general-discussion/music/run-beat

Finally, I found one that I recognize:

Running Down a Dream - Tom Petty

Now I think it’s okay to listen to music while running as long as it’s the right music to make you a faster runner!