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Marathon Training Tip – Running with a Metronome – Great for Beginners and Advanced Runners with Coach Steve Mackel
Training Tip – Learn to Love Your Metronome
Whether you are new to running or a seasoned veteran, using a metronome can help you in many ways. As Danny Dreyer says, “Start out focusing on your form to build a strong running foundation.” Well, your running form is partially dependent on your cadence. Unless you have perfect rhythm, let a metronome set your cadence (how many times your feet hit the ground per minute).
A metronome is objective. It doesn’t lie and doesn’t get tired.
For the beginning runner, the metronome can help set up good running form. Using a metronome usually helps a new runner keep their strides shorter, making it less likely that the stride will lengthen in front of their bodies setting up a heel strike. The metronome can also have cardio-respiratory benefits. When you move your feet and legs faster your heart rate tends to rise. If a beginner can be patient and work in the 170 – 180 strides per minute (SPM) range , after several week the body tends to adapt to the legs and feet moving at that speed and the heart rate and breath rate begin to adjust downward. In the adaptation phase, the new runner should expect to take frequent walk breaks when heart/breath rates rises. A benefit with be breaking a sweat and burning more calories. As the beginner adapts to the metronome they will enjoy the benefits of less braking, better form, and will burn a bunch of calories.
For the seasoned runners a metronome can make you faster. Remember speed is a mathematical formula: Stride Length x Cadence = Speed. Read any long distance running book and almost everyone agrees that 180 SPM is the gold standard. But running at 180 SPM for hours takes training. It took me almost a year to run an entire marathon at 180 SPM. The fact is, most people run at much lower/slower cadences. Imagine if each of your strides were 3 feet long, taking just 3 more strides per minutes would add 9 extra feet of road covered each minute. In 10 minutes you would cover an additional 90 feet, and in 1 hour 540 additional feet. This translates into speed, and by only taking 3 extra steps per minute.
Plus, the metronome helps you pay attention. I know it sounds tedious and many of you would rather run with music but remember, each song has a different tempo or cadence. Yes, there are websites that say they mix their music so each song has the same tempo but it is pretty difficult to keep the songs sounding good as the pitch is increased or decreased.
Every race that I have set a personal record has been while I was using a metronome. When I get tired it reminds me to keep my feet moving to it’s exact cadence, rather than my foot turnover slowing down . It also reminds me to check in with my body and focus. It is a great tool to help you with your ChiRunning®. Give it a try.
Train Focused, Steve Mackel – Senior ChiRunning Instructor
Danny Dreyer, ChiRunning® Founder – Free Talk in Long Beach Thursday, Feb. 7, 6:30 – 8 PM
Don’t miss Danny Dreyer’s FREE Talk next Thursday, Feb 7, at the Alpert Jewish Community center at 6:30 PM. Reserve your seats at: Reservations@SoCalRunning.com I’ll be posting some nuggets from that only I have on video over the next 5 days. Check this one out and keep coming back.
Listen Focused,
Steve Mackel, Certified ChiRunning®/ChiWalking Instructor
Founder – Coach Steve
Running Shoe Store of the Month – Jan/Feb 2017
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