How I Became Chief Rocker of RockMyRun

I love my job. Really, I do! I look forward to getting to the office and knowing that my actions from that day will ultimately help people lead more healthy, active and fit lives.

But, when it comes to actually working out myself…well let’s just say it wasn’t love at first sight.

You see, as a kid I was into computers and gaming—which is a nice way of saying I didn’t lead an active lifestyle and was (as much as I’d like to deny it) a chubby kid. In fact I remember clearly my first mile time in high school: 15:27.

So how did I transition from a chubby kid to the founder and Chief Rocker of a fitness and music app?

After college, I spent years as a club DJ, traveling around and witnessing first hand the powerful effect music – the right music! – could have on people. Eventually the party life wore on me so I went back to school and threw myself into earning an MBA and by 2006 was working at Qualcomm a Fortune 500 technology company. I tried to stay active, but like many people was plagued by a lack of motivation. So in 2008, I decided to kick start my fitness and signed up for a half marathon.

Just as I expect you do, I relied heavily on music to keep me motivated, distracted and moving forward mile after mile.

However during my training I found myself increasingly frustrated by the lack of enjoyment from my running music. Randomly getting a slow tempo song on Pandora or from my own playlist was a motivation killer. Plus the intro and tail of each song felt like they each lasted hours and dampened my attitude.

I thought: There has to be a better way!

I reflected back on my time as a DJ, and how over the course of night I could build the crowd up into a frenzy, by playing the right song at the right tempo at the right time.

So I decided to put my DJ skills to work and for the actual half-marathon, I crafted a DJ-style mix. Every song flowed seamlessly from one to the next and because I had a goal time in mind and I knew from my training when I would need an extra kick of motivation, I tailored my mix with so that it would match how my body would feel.

The mix worked like a charm, and as I crossed the finish line to “All I Do is Win” blasting through my headphones, I felt invincible! I never would have thought that the chubby computer-nerd kid who had a 15+ minute mile time in high school could run a 1:50 half-marathon.

It was that moment that spawned the RockMyRun you know and love today. The idea that the right music, at the right time, played the right way, can help people accomplish goals they never thought possible is what drives me every day.

Well, that’s my story… but I want to leave you with one final note. Whether you’re a 10x marathoner or this is your first day working on you, it’s never too late to start enjoying fitness more. That’s our aim with RockMyRun and we’re excited to join you during your next workout!

Do you have a story to tell? I’d love to hear it and so would my team. Send it to adam@rockmyrun.com. We’d love to know more about your journey.

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