How Grand Moff Tarkin Influences My Running

15th of March 2017

I couldn't tell you how I first got into running. I can tell you that when I first thought about times and how fast I would go, you know, in miles per hour format. Going as fast as I can just wouldn't help me enough. That's what most people do when they first start, but we beginners finally realize that method doesn't work. With all the technology today, it's become easier to keep track of the pace a runner goes during the race or workout. FitBits and other devices help along the way. They measure everything from the heart rate, steps, distance, flights of stairs climbed and much more. That can be cumbersome when I'm trying to run. I like to keep my attention on running itself. That way, I don't run into anyone or anything.

I've loved music all of my life. I've studied it in school, and I've played instruments growing up. In doing such, I've been able to get rhythms down. I can tell the time signature of the music just by listening. Well, it's not really that hard.

Sound is a great tool to help me through many things. Workouts is one of those things. Some sounds become so constant, it becomes a time signature to me. I start to make it into a little song in my head. None of them are memorable, but it does get me through. What I noticed was my step pace at the speed of the treadmill. I envisioned it as a percussion line which basically what percussion does. It keeps the rhythm of the song. I noticed it getting so constant that I made it part of my routine to use that beat on every run to know how fast I'm going. In addition to the beat, I added words to it. Again, not memorable. However, one time on the treadmill at the gym, Star Wars was playing on a channel, and who shows up on the screen? His name is in the title: Grand Moff Tarkin. I added his name to the beat in staccato fashion. So when I'm on the treadmill or on a run, I know how fast I'm going and when I'll finish just by saying Grand-Moff-Tar-Kin. I say it at the beat according to the lowest speed I want to go on the run. I don't want to go too slow, and this is what I came up with to fight going too slow when I'm on a run. Repeating Grand-Moff-Tar-Kin keeps me on pace throughout the run, and I know I'll at least make a decent time. Now to find a name for the faster speeds to go faster on the runs. Thanks, Peter Cushing.