I have harped on about Marathon Talk countless times in this blog. Having picked up on it at it’s launch I have listened to almost all of Tom Williams and Martin Yellings thoughts, ramblings and musings on running.

Martin Yelling is husband of British Olympian Liz Yelling. He is a coach and is very very passionate about running and getting people into running. To add to the YellingGlobalRunningDomination™ he has added an Audiofuel Interval training design to his arsenal.

Following the same principle as the other audiofuel tracks the bpm derives your footfall and by adjusting this value it’s possible to simulate faster running. It adopts the same concepts as a Spin session at the gym. Martin has introduced his ideal 3 minute pyramid session. The track I have hits 180bpm but pyramids from 160->170->180 TWICE. Talking the runner through the session with verbal hints it forces you to push on where possibly you would give up.

I highlighted the word twice during the previous paragraph as when I did it, it was the second time that pushed me hard. Giving all I had in the fastest 3mins at 180bpm I only had 3 minutes to recover and go round over again – this time knowing exactly what to expect!

18 minutes later I was jogging back to the flat, exhausted and covered in sweat. I didn’t really fancy going out for a run beforehand but when I returned I was buzzing and I had only been out for a relatively short time!

Love these audiofuel tracks, they are great for individual training as I tend to get bored of my standard playlists and these offer a unique edge to what you would expect. Can’t wait to get my hands on the hardest bpm track although will make sure the hospital is on speed dial on my phone before going out on that one!!

Rock on with the next track AF, or maybe I should just stick to the current ones a few more times!

N

A few months ago I purchased the Long session Audiofuel track to use during my marathon training. I really liked the idea and think it worked pretty well. I actually used the track on my Silverstone Half and achieved a PB.

The concept is simple, using tracks with different bpm the pace can be altered by landing your feet on the beat. Much like with spinning classes you are in essence moving to the music. The long run session sets off at a slow pace and injects different bpms throughout, all with the intention of keeping you alert and pushing you through pain barriers. I didn’t realise how much a beat in a song affected my stride and cadence until getting this track.

I decided to then download a few of the other tracks and last week I used the intermediate interval coaching session. I loved it. I have never been a huge fan of intervals, finding them repetitive and dull. The track turned the session into something much more enjoyable. It was a pyramid interval track going faster and longer and then reducing after meeting the peak of 75seconds at maximum effort or 180bpm.

The songs are all unfamiliar but that didn’t seem to bother me. I’m starting to wonder how unhelpful some of the tracks on my iPod may be. If the bpm is low perhaps I’m slowing without even knowing!

The tracks remind me a bit of the Nike+ training tracks which used to be aligned with the footpod. However, Nike appear to have given up on this approach as I haven’t seen any new ones in some while which is a shame. The Nike ones tended to involve songs you would know and coached by big names like Serena Williams, the band OK Go all adding power and credence to the tracks but the marketing, at least in the uk has been poor.

Why not check out the tracks, if you run on your own but with an iPod I think most would like and benefit from them.

Click here for the Audiofuel website.