Feel better/less injuries running with faster cadence

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2 years ago 04/13/2023 7:51pm EDT

I'm a new runner and have mostly been doing 10-11 minute miles. Yes, I'm slow. I just got a Garmin watch and saw that my cadence was around 158 spm.

I just did a 3 mile run at a slightly faster pace of 9min/mile and a cadence of 174spm and felt way better. My knee didn't feel sore, the outsides of my feet (peroneal tendons) didn't feel strained, my ankles felt great. Obviously I was tired and my quads/glutes are more sore than usual, but it's muscle soreness, not joint/tendon discomfort.

I have trouble getting my cadence to the 175-180 range unless I'm doing 9 minute miles or faster. Should I just stick with those and ignore the whole "run super easy and slow" advice? I figure that even if I start running 9min miles now, it'll eventually get easier and my HR will come down.

2 years ago 04/13/2023 10:00pm EDT

re: newb runner

2 years ago 04/14/2023 9:56am EDT

re: newb runner

180 is the cadence to go for on easy runs.

Download some techno music that is 180 bpm and run to it for 2 weeks, hopefully you have learned by then to run 180 automatically. If not you need to endure the techno until you do...

2 years ago 04/14/2023 10:20am EDT

re: newb runner

OP, how tall are you?

Cadence isn't everything. My cadence is 165-168 from easy to marathon pace. It begins to climb when going faster than that. 180-185 would be around 5k pace for me. It goes higher as I speed up. My stride also opens up a lot as the pace quickens.

I'm ~6'0" tall and it's true that sometimes doing a slow shuffle isn't good biomechanically. It's just too choppy on the knees. However, if you're not super fit, doing a slow shuffle on most days is all your body can handle.

2 years ago 04/14/2023 12:53pm EDT

re: newb runner

Sacrilege to suggest this on here I know…but you could use a run / walk approach, which would mean you could do the run portions faster, while the walking keeps the whole session relatively easy.

Then over time just alter the run / walk ratios as you get fitter.

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Feel better/less injuries running with faster cadence

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