Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Hella Sound!



I was the lucky winner of a running track from Hella Sound through Racevine's summer giveaway.

The right music can make your run.
Stay motivated. Run faster.


Hella Sound offers custom running tracks, synced to your pace. Each track is offered with preset rates (beats per minute) to match your stride.

I received a $5 voucher, good for one 30-minute track. I decided to go with 160 BPM (cadence of 80). I have a long stride/low cadence, which is something I am trying to work on. I hoped that using music geared toward a shorter stride could help with this. A shorter stride can improve running efficiency and reduce the chance of injury. See these Runners' World articles for more information:


The track is called How To Turn Around A Bad Day and is described by Hella Sound as "indie rock, funk and jazz." I took it out for a spin during my short run on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised by the sound. It had a great beat and I really enjoyed the funky tunes. I even caught myself smiling like a goof and bobbing my head.

I settled into my stride with ease. It came naturally and didn't take any concentration. Throughout the run, I counted my steps for one minute several times and my cadence was exactly 80 each and every time. I conducted a little experiment and shut off the music to see how my natural cadence compared. 78. It would typically be slightly lower, so I chalked it up to my legs 'remembering' the rhythm from the running track. When I tried again after stopping for a minute and it was down to 77. I turned the music back on and checked again; back to 80!

The music is fun and I believe that using this track once or twice a week will help me 'learn' an improved cadence.

Thanks Hella Sound and Racevine!

***

My two swims on Sunday seem to have really helped my legs recover. Lingering soreness and fatigue after the 20+ miler were minimal. (To compare, last year after running that distance I needed two days to recover!) Hubby and I went out for a hot & sticky 10K after work today. it felt pretty good, but I am so ready to be done with this weather.

25 comments:

teacherwoman said...

Congrats! That's cool!

Erika said...

Cool! Too bad I don't like listening to music when I run...

Glad your recovery went well and I totally agree about being over this weather.

MCM Mama

Unknown said...

Running to something with a beat that matches your cadence seems to be a good thing to do.

Glad swimming worked out your leg soreness. Swimming Sun & Mon was good for me too!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

it's surprising how much music helps me move, great job! Sounds like a very neat concept :)

Felice Devine said...

How cool! Congrats!

RoadBunner said...

Congrats!!

I love HellaSound, too! I've listened to their first song 30+ times already. LOVE it for tempo runs. I just bought the second release. It has a different feel than the first song, but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Anonymous said...

congrats on the giveaway win! :)

this is interesting - I've never counted my steps during a minute. hmm, I have no idea what my "cadence" is. would you use this for just easy/moderate short runs, or could it be used on a long run too?

great job with the 20 miler!!! I love the swimming post-run idea. just gotta find a pool that I can hop in and out of ;)

joyRuN said...

Awesome - congrats!!

I've been tempted to take my hub's metronome on the run to make sure my cadence is in the 90 range, but never follow through. Even better idea to do it through music.

Anonymous said...

Very cool about the music track. I can totally see how that would keep a nice pace. Congrats on the win.

Boris T said...

Congrats sounds cool.

Lindsay said...

very cool about your cadence! that track seems like it'll turn around a bad day and make you faster, i'll take it :)

Anonymous said...

I'm SO over the weather too! Bring on cooler temps!

Jen Feeny said...

That's really neat! I'm going to have to check them out!!!

J said...

that sounds like a totally awesome thing to win for a giveaway. I think that would make it so much easier to increase your cadence! i am glad the recovery from the 20 miler is going well! i am sick of this heat too!

TNTcoach Ken said...

20 milers, swimming, hot 10ks..... You're an animal, it must be the air in Canada.

No Longer Using said...

this is awesome!!! so neat you go to try it. i TOTALLY agree-- music really changes everything for me. even when i'm not running it can lift me out of a bad mood and get my blood going- give me energy. and thanks for the links, too!!

are your arms sore after swimming?? i'm glad your legs have completely recovered! that's awesome!! i agree about the weather. it's brutal here, too!

Anonymous said...

Glad the swimming is helping! I need to get back to it!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

Amazing what the right music can do.. Have you ever tried aquajogging? I did that a lot in college when recovering from my knee surgery. GREAT workout with little impact on the joints. Some pools have the joggers..

Denise said...

I never heard of that...pretty cool! Might need to check it out.

John at Hella Sound said...

Thank you so much for the awesome write-up! You totally made my day :)

Jess said...

That sounds cool; I've never heard of it before.

Patrick said...

Nice I will have to check these guys out!

I am a bit of an idiot-- I first thought you meant you won an entire running TRACK when I read your first sentence-- wow! It's been a rough week.

Toni said...

I've heard that the right music will help but I haven't tried it before. I usually listen to podcasts but will have to try the music sometime.

Being Robinson said...

wow that's pretty amazing! and i'm with you on being SO over hot and humid. ugh!

Irish Cream said...

Awesome, I will definitely have to check this out . . . thanks for the tip! And yes, please make the heat and humidity go away! I WANT FALL WEATHER ALREADY!!