I used to refuse to talk on runs…
Back when I started running just over 3 years ago, there was only one thing I hated more than running – that was talking while running… 😂
I just saw talking while running as something that made running feel difficult.
But I completely missed the point.
Easy running was meant to be so damn easy that you could have a full blown conversation while you run.
And that completely shattered my egotistical ways of running an ‘easy’ pace that was way too fast to make any meaningful aerobic gainz.
It’s safe to say, I’m now more than happy to have a chat on a run.
Before I get onto how good or bad your conversation ability should be at other paces, let’s take a quick detour to Kenya…
The Kenyan Key to Performance
There are two ways of determining how fast your sessions should be run at:
- Using exact paces
- Going off of ‘feel’
Want to take a guess at which system elite Kenyan athletes use (including the 🐐 Eliud Kipchoge)?
Feel.
This is something that most Kenyan runners have mastered – their ability to ‘run to feel’ is exceptional.
They know the desired outcomes of the workout and what intensity to train at in order to achieve those outcomes.
If altitude changes or if running on a particularly hilly route to last time – effort and intensity remain the same.
The same goes for temperature changes – what matters is the effort levels that go in, resulting pace is just a byproduct of your effort PLUS environment.
A big caveat first – these athletes know their bodies inside out and are very dialled into what ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ should feel like.
However, there is logic in here to prove how improving running performance actually works.
And the best thing is, you can implement it too.
How to Tune Up Your Running Paces Using FEEL
If you’ve ever wondered how fast you should be running or have worked with a coach, you’ve probably stumbled on a ‘running calculator’.
You enter a recent race time and it spits out recommended training paces.
It may sound like I’m going away from ‘feel’ but it will give you a good starting point.
- Enter your details into a running calculator
my fave running calculators:
https://www.mcmillanrunning.com
https://runfastcoach.com/calc2/index.php
- Test out those paces
- Tinker with them to align with the pace zone descriptions below
Here’s a range of different paces and how they should feel:
| Pace | Convo ability | Feel | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | Paragraphs | Feel refreshed at the end | 20-60 mins |
| Long | Paragraphs | Like easy but leggy after | 90 mins + |
| Tempo / Half Mara | Sentences | Comfortably hard | 20-45 mins |
| Threshold / 10K | A few words | Like tempo, just a bit more uncomfortable | 5-15 min intervals |
| 5K pace | A few words | Legs should start to hurt around halfway | 1-5 min intervals |
| Speed | A word or two | In the proverbial bin | 1-3 min intervals |
| Sprint | Weird sounds 🤪 | Everything hurts | <30s intervals |
Take the Talk Test 🗣️
Where keeping your conversational ability in check really matters in on easy effort runs – short and long.
This is to make sure our aerobic system is staying in ‘zone 2’, the magic zone where endurance building is at its most efficient.
This is usually slower than you think.
I want to share with you a little trick on my easy runs I use to help me know I’m still in zone 2 – that is a simple talk test.
I say this sentence every kilometre or so:
“Hi my name is Lawrence and today I’m running at a lovely easy pace”
If I can say that sentence calmly, with every word sounding distinct, without pause for breath, continue at that pace.
If it comes out too quickly, slurred or have to pause for breath, then I slow down.
Give this test a go next time you’re out on an easy run and you might be surprised.
Of course, replace my name with yours in the phrase and embrace all of the weird looks people will give you 😂
The FEEL System works differently for everyone
While the ‘feel’ system may seem like a great tool for determining effort/pace for everyone, it comes with this caveat…
The more experienced an athlete you are, the greater your pain threshold is.
What this means is that a more experienced athlete may tend to run their hard sessions faster than they should, just because they are able to deal with pain better than less experienced athletes.
And so, everyday athletes tend to run their hard sessions slower than what they’re capable of because they haven’t yet built the mental resilience.
As much as anyone can teach you about the science of running faster, at its core, running is a mental sport.
Or as someone once put it to me:
“Running is 90% mental, and the other 10% is in your head”
General advice for the everyday athlete:
Slow down your easy running, push harder on your sessions.
I hope you found this useful!
Drop it a share on some socials or DM it to a mate if you did 👊
Lawrence x
BONUS: Something extra if you like a graph…
I was trying to rack my brains around the concept of why using ‘feel’ (perceived effort) may not see less experienced athletes perform at their potential.
From coaching and personal experience, it’s often only a little extra effort beyond what the athlete thinks they’re capable of to return an even higher return of performance.
The graph below visualises how performance benefits are realised in ‘hard’ sessions (threshold, speed).
Numbers here are pretty arbitrary but you can see that performance adaptions only really happen at the sharp end of perceived effort.
Because of how adaptions are heavily skewed, we see close to no benefit with 40% effort, but all of the benefit at 80%.
The less experienced athlete may tap out at 60% effort, but not realising that giving just a little bit extra in effort, pushing through their perceived pain barrier, returns a vastly greater performance benefit than the effort they put in.
This is illustrated by the small arrow increase on the perceived effort axis, leading to the big arrow increase on the performance benefit axis.
The small arrow increase in effort may seem like a trip through hell but the big arrow increase is a surprising newfound confidence in ability.
