In this brief article we chat with Todd Lange, creator of the “Running Mate” podcast.
Todd recently started producing his podcast which features a mix of high energy music, together with encouragement and training tips to help you during your workout. It’s like having your very own running coach, giving you words of wisdom and motivating you as you train.
Nigel: Todd, thank you so much for taking some time out to answer some of the questions I have about the Running Mate. I recently posted the Running Mate podcast up on the Running Podcasts directory and was fascinated by your style of running podcasts. I was wondering where you came up with this unique approach?
Todd: With regard to my unique approach to running podcasts, I wish I could say that I was the first to brainstorm the concept of creating a coached running podcast set to upbeat music. In truth, I received most of my inspiration from listening to similar podcasts that have been on the market for years. There are some great podcasts from much more well known celebrity types like Lance Armstrong & Serena Williams that I’ve used off and on when I’m looking to spice up my weekly runs with a little interval training. However, these workouts are a bit expensive and generally better suited for the more advanced runner.
Nigel: Can you tell me a little about what inspired you to put together this great series of podcasts?
Todd: My true inspiration for the 5K 101 program came from several years back when I made a commitment to myself to get back into running after a long hiatus. The most popular training program at the time was the Couch to 5k (or C25K for short) written by Josh Clark and published online by coolrunning.com. Shortly after starting that program I stumbled onto the now very popular series of podcasts that compliment that program created by Robert Ullrey.
It was a good series, and in the end, the podcasts got me to my goal which was to be able to run a full 5K without rest, but throughout the entire series I couldn’t stop thinking how much better the whole package could be. I’m certainly not discounting Ullrey’s efforts, that program has helped thousands of people & he even says plainly in each episode that he created the podcasts for himself, so you can’t really criticize him on quality. But as I’ve progressed as a runner and gotten more involved in podcasting, I’ve developed a passion for combining these two hobbies and I decided my first project would be to take what I liked about the Ullrey series and implement a handful of improvements. Just to name a few, I’ve tried to make the series much more encouraging & upbeat…the way I would want to be coached if I hired a professional. I’ve also inserted several additional markers into each workout to keep the listener well informed of their timing; thus reducing the need to follow a stop watch.
This is still somewhat of a work in progress and I have a large team of listeners who add valuable feedback as they progress through the 5K 101 podcast series. As the feedback rolls in, I go back and create new & improved versions of the series that can be enjoyed by newcomers as they take part in the challenge.
Nigel: So, who do you consider to be the target audience for your podcast?
Todd: My target audience for the 5K 101 series is much the same as it is for the C25K program. These are people who have made a commitment to themselves to take charge of their own health & fitness goals and have chosen running or jogging as a way to keep score. My hope for them is they will successfully complete the program and once they’ve proven to themselves that it can be done, they will continue to enjoy the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and raise the bar by progressing to 10K’s, Half Marathon’s, Marathon’s and beyond. To help symbolize their accomplishment, we also offer a signed certificate to each participant that completes the program. This is something they can frame as a reminder that they can achieve their goals if they’re willing to put in the time and effort.
Nigel: The music featured in the podcast is very energetic, upbeat music. Where do you source it from?
Todd: Music selection for these workouts is probably the most difficult challenge for me as a podcaster. It’s absolutely impossible to provide background music that every listener can agree on. We often try to mix it up between workouts by providing selections from a range of genre’s like rock, jazz, techno, trance, electronic, and even the occasional reggae track. For the most part however, we typically settle on electronic music because it’s usually upbeat and great for setting tempo for the runner. Plus, it doesn’t require a lot of attention so the runner can “zone out” and just enjoy their run. For the majority of our music we go right to the source. There are many talented mix artists who will gladly allow podcasters to use their derivative works as long as you provide a link back to their website. Most of the larger podcast hosting websites have numerous mix DJ’s posting their works. I post my episodes @ www.podomatic.com so most of the music I get is from there. I also pull from www.magnatune.com which is another great resource.
Nigel: Looking around you website, I see you have a commercial element to your endeavour. What type of commercial content do you currently offer?
Todd: As I’m writing this, we currently do not have any commercial offerings associated with any of our general Running Mate podcasts. We may look into selling them down the road, but we’re not exactly sure what direction to go with it yet so, for now, we’re perfectly content to offer it free of charge. The numerous positive emails and postings we get from listeners on our Facebook page & Twitter are great compensation for the time being!
We also provide custom coached cardio workouts for health & fitness clubs, non-profit organizations, and retail fitness stores for a fee, and are also in the development stages of creating an Apple iPhone application made to compliment the 5k 101 program which we hope to have available before the end of the year.
For the time being, our only objective is to build a following and help as many people as we can reach their fitness goals. What started out as a coached running workout has quickly flowed into other fitness areas as well. We get emails and wall posts on our Facebook page all the time from people who have injuries that won’t allow them to run, but they follow our 5K program when they walk, ride the road bike, and even the elliptical machine! Anyone interested in joining the challenge can find the free program on our website @ www.5k101.com and join our Facebook page under Running Mate Media.
You can find out more about Todd’s excellent running podcasts by visiting his web site at : http://www.runningmatemedia.com/.
