Yeah, I’ve spent a lot of time turning tree rings and river bends into a beat sheet. If you run at 180 steps a minute, the trail’s natural rhythm can push you toward a 5:30 mile. Just keep a metronome on your phone, match your cadence, and tweak stride length until the rhythm feels like muscle memory. The forest’s own beat is a stubborn drummer, though—sometimes you’ve got to out‑beat it, not just follow.