Just FYI, if you are a runner, and like myself want a metronome to help keep your cadence, I would recommend this little product:  Crystal Metronome.  It’s a very simple little app that lets you set a beats per minute (bpm) rate.  You can then output it to an MP3, drop it on your very small MP3 player/IPod, and set it to repeat.  For running I set it to 180 bpm.  You can also select from some different sounds for the beats like a high-hat or wood block.  A lot of Pose or Chi runners will use these little clip-on metronomes that cost ~30 bucks and don’t even have earphones.  This is way better.  Plus when you’re sick of the metronome, you can switch to some music for a bit.

Brief explanation: Elite runners tend to have a stride rate of 90 or more full strides (a step with each leg equals my definition of a full stride here) per minute, hence the 180 bpm, or one beat per step.  Faster distance runners actually take very efficient fast strides while slower runners take less (around 70 per minute) which tend to be much less efficient.  In fact, if you increase your stride rate by matching a metronome, you are kind of forced to take more compact and more efficient strides.  Combine that with barefoot running, and it won’t be long before you have halfway decent running form.  I’ve always been a relatively fast runner, but also an over-strider and heel-striker (those tend to go together).  This wastes a ton of energy and results in heavy body impact, so the course I’ve taken is just that: Metronome + Vibram Five Fingers.

If you ever want to watch the distance runner with the most awesome form of all time, YouTube a video of Haile Gebrselassie breaking the world marathon record, 4:44 per mile for 26.2 miles….unreal.