Some days, your legs feel like lead and your feet like bricks. On those days, pop in your ear buds and crank up the Podrunner app.
Created by Steve Boyett, a Los Angeles-based DJ, the app features an extensive library of Boyett's upbeat tracks, each one mixed for a specific beats-per-minute tempo. Boyett's techno/house/funk-based mixes (each one is about an hour long) range from 130 to 180 BPM. So, if you're feeling like you need an easy day, queue up a track from the lower BPM side, and if you're looking to pound out some intense miles opt for one several at the 180 BPM level.
I find that my running cadence corresponds with the beats per minute of the podcast, which passively makes me ramp up the intensity of my runs. The fine people at Runner's World wrote that "Researchers have determined that most elite distance runners have a stride rate of about 180 strides per minute." While I'm slow as mud certainly never going to be close to an elite level, I have noticed my speed creeping up as my stride rate increases.
My biggest complaint is that I like to listen to my music loud. For the most part the tracks' volume is consistent, but a few times Boyett will add spike in volume so big it'll have me ripping out my ear buds. Some of the podcasts also get a little monotonous, but it is a great tool when you need to break out of a workout slump and just get moving. I've been using the podcasts to get out the door and into a good stride rhythm, then switch to my usually playlist.
The Podrunner app is free (download it here from iTunes), and for $1.99 you can upgrade to Beat Shift, which allows you to change the BPM of your favorite tracks on the fly, as well as skip Boyett's sometimes very lengthy intros.
The podcasts are released weekly, and if you're not a smartphone user you can download them individually as MP3s from his website and play them on whichever device you want. Choose from regular mixes or the recently added interval workouts.
Sara Davidson is an ultramarathoner and our resident women's gear destroyer.
