UKC

After years of running with a cadence of 130-150 I’ve upped it to 175 (on recommendation of physio/running coach) but without headphones and a metronome playing I struggle to keep this cadence up. Even with the metronome I find myself naturally slowing without realising and it seems to be, partly, this slipping of technique which is aggravating some injuries.

I could do with a new watch and thought I would check if any smartwatches have a metronome feature which would mean I don’t always need to take my phone (which doesn’t fit in my shorts pocket…).

I know you can get a music watch which vibrates to a tempo, but it doesn’t offer running features. I thought it would be worth asking in case anyone knows of a way to do this - a quick google didn’t yield any results. 

If not I’ll try and get the tempo firmly lodged in my head, but as soon as I start getting a bit tired, technique slips…

My Coros Pace 2 has a metronome that can be set to vibrate, beep or both. Don't think it can connect to headphones though? 

Lots of running watches will measure your cadence and display it on the screen, if that's enough feedback for you. I'm not aware of any that will actively beep/vibrate to a target pace. If you went for a running watch that can play music (various available), you could play a special track on repeat that just consists of beeps at the pace you want. Or find some music that happens to be at the right tempo, which sounds much more pleasant to me.

Edit: I was wrong about metronomes not being a thing on running watches, as Nutty pointed out before I even posted. Here's a list of Garmin watches with the feature: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=SU00CbtfCN0VViH8XIDFK7

Think I'd still rather listen to music at the right tempo. This website lets you search for music by tempo: https://tunebat.com/Advanced

Garmin Fenix 6 has a built in metronome (so, no app required), seems a lot of Garmin watches do

https://support.garmin.com/en-IE/marine/faq/SU00CbtfCN0VViH8XIDFK7/ 

Thanks for the responses. I’d been googling “smart watch metronome” and just got results relating to music watches. Putting “Garmin” in there would have given the right results!

That’s great to know though - now to choose a watch!

I have tried music but I’ve generally gone for Spotify playlists that are for a specific BPM, but actually having a beat clear enough to be useful isn’t always the case. I’ll give the website you mentioned, Luke, a go and try to curate my own playlist with better song choices. Though in the short term I think the metronome is needed until I get this injury under control. 

What was the reason for wanting to up the cadence? 

My running style was pretty bad. Long, slow steps and always heel striking. The guy i saw said a lot of my injuries were probably down to this.

So to avoid the heel strikes i needed to start upping my cadence and completely change my style.

Google "music beat 175 BPM" and you'll find various collections of music around 175bpm for people to run to. 

I got rid of heel strike pretty quickly by doing barefoot running (as in bare feet, not minimalist shoes)

About 8 years ago I got a cheap metronome designed to be clipped to a lapel or music stand for this purpose. I think it was £8. It only took me a few sessions with it for my cadence to change

This is a good plan - cheaper and louder.

If you choose the most annoying beep sound as well it adds extra incentive to learn quick so you don't need it!

I have several metronomes (I am a musician)- one goes in your ear like an airpod and another clips to music stand/clothes. Either would be a basic, loud and cheap option for you!

I remember seeing an article that said there are playlists that exist with the BPM you want, I'm sure there's one for 175!!

Here's the article: 

https://www.minimal-list.org/post/cadence-and-barefoot-running-everything-y...

I picked up a second hand Garmin Forerunner 245 music last week. Battery has deteriorated a bit but it will still be more than ample for anything I might want to do in the next few years. 

It’s nice to fit a bit more data on the main screen when running (HR Zone, Distance, Time and Cadence on one screen) and the metronome is perfect for me. 

It’s nice running without a phone but still being able to track things.

Also the best thing is that it’s saying my runs are longer vs. My old watch. My partner is using that now and on the same run together I’m getting about 10% extra distance (over a 3-4km run). Who’d have known a new watch was all I needed to increase my pace?

Thanks for the help and advice!