I’m a casual runner so maybe this is a stupid question, but the more I get into running the more I’m finding it hard to run at any pace other than the one I settled into.

If I run slower or faster, it’s moderated by my stride length, but my feet hit the ground in sync with a 145BPM. If my feet are hitting the ground at anything other than 145BPM it just feels wrong.

I now have a spotify playlist with about a dozen running songs at as close to 145BPM as possible (as little as 2 BPM deviation feels rushed or dragging).

Is this just a mental thing? Is it a bad habit to settle into? Am I alone in this?

  • kakler bitmap@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    It’s what I kind of mentally tagged as my “forever pace” - the pace I can go at steadily for an hour or 2 without having to stop for breaks. I can go slower if I force myself to but it takes a conscious effort and pulls me out of the zone. I’m already at a snails pace (at least it feels like it to me).

    I only noticed the 145bpm thing by accident when I was suddenly stepping in time to one of my favorite running songs (Antireal by Glitch Mob) and realized it would help me keep at my “forever pace” and from straying into going too fast and then getting winded or gassing out, which I would do when I first started going on runs instead of walks. Then it really helped me get into a zone, and it’s been 145bpm ever since lol.

    • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      1 year ago

      Cool, it sounds like you figured out what works for you, I wouldn’t change anything beyond that.

      Preferring a particular pace doesn’t seem weird at all to me, I definitely know when I’m jogging at my own pace, and am aware if I’m going slower or faster than it, even though I haven’t tracked it down to a BPM.