Anne and Colin talk about how you can make sure you stay Chatty if you run with a partner or in a group.
Running Chatty with others should be a perfect way to train. You would think that staying Chatty on a run would be easy when you have someone to talk to. But it’s not always the case. You may feel pressure to run faster so that you can keep up with your partner and worry that you are too slow for them. You may not realise that it is possible for your faster partner to slow down for you and still be running at a Chatty pace that is ideal for them.
Here’s how you can work this out and be reassured that you are both running at a pace that will make you fitter.
Using 5km times
Compare your recent regular ParkRun or 5km times. Not your best ever times, but what you have been running regularly. As long as your times are within a 4 minute range of each other you will be good training partners. If you usually run 5km in around 32 minutes you can run with someone faster as long as their 5km time is not quicker than 28 minutes. The 28 minute runner could team up with a faster runner as long as their 5km time is no quicker than 24 minutes.
Using minutes per mile or km.
Another way to calculate this is to compare minutes per mile/km times. If you work in miles your partner needs to be running within the range 1 minute 20 seconds faster or slower than you. If you like to work in kms then it’s 50 seconds per km faster or slower than you.
As the slower runner, make sure you look after yourself and stay Chatty. If you are the faster runner look after your slower partner and enjoy a run, perhaps a little slower than you usually do but one that will still be great Chatty paced training. It may be especially good for you if you have a tendency to run too fast on your own, as many people do.
Running with others in a group.
We have come across many runners who struggle when out running with their clubs or groups for these reasons.
- The group is too fast for them and they end up hanging on to the back, worrying about getting lost.
- Run leaders and other runners think that they are being helpful by encouraging the slow runner to push on with comments like “Keep going to the next meet up point- you can do it!” They probably believe that ‘hard work is best’ and you will thank them for pushing you.
What can you do?
1. If a group is too fast for you, be brave and move down to a slower one. It’s likely that there are others struggling like you so you could persuade them to try this group with you.
2. If there isn’t a slower group, spread the word about Chatty running amongst the group/club. If you put the case for creating a slower group you might find quite a few people keen to support you. You could even train as a run leader and create your own Chatty Sparkly group.
Find out more about the ‘no pain no gain’ idea here.