holding a conversation whiles running long distance

Hi, first time posting on this forum would be grateful if someone could help me with a question I had. Which is when doing long distance runs are you only supposed to run at a pace you can hold somewhat of a conversation at?

To give some background, I have been training for the past 9 months where I weight lift 3 times a week and I try getting in some cardio on a treadmill, so I train on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Monday and Wednesday, I normally go for more high intense short runs where I try running a 1km in around 4 minutes. The treadmills speed ranges from 0 to 20, so for me to get 1km in 4 mins I tend to go for a light jog on speed 10 for a minute and then for last 3 minutes I run on 17 and then last 30 seconds this is increased to 18 or 19. I try doing 2 rounds of this with 3 minute breaks in between so getting 2km in total.

On Friday I go for a longer run where I run for 65 minutes in total, my personal best so far is running 13.83km. To achieve this, I start on speed 15.5 for 20 minutes, and then 14 for 20 minutes and then 13.5 for 20 minutes. For the last 5 minutes I try getting in 4 minutes on speed 16 and 1 minute on speed 14.

To give some further background to my training, I have been doing cardio on and off for years now but have made it consistent in the last 2 years mainly for fat loss which was highly successful, so this included jogging outside and doing HIIT at home. I suffered a knee injury whiles running last year where I fell and injured my knee. This wasn’t much of a hinderance and since I have lost a lot of weight, so I decided to start going gym to add some muscle.

So, since I enjoy cardio I decided to keep it going whiles at the gym in the form of running on a treadmill. Having trained both cardio and weight lifting I enjoy both a lot but generally prefer cardio, as exercise for myself has always been about pushing my mind to its limit which cardio provides.

So, my 65 min run on Friday is generally my favourite day of the week since there isn’t a second that goes by that I don’t feel like quitting and it tends to crush me for the rest of the day where I feel broken and sore! But having lurked on forums like this I always read that when running long distance, you should only run at a speed where you can hold a conversation at.

I understand I think why you should run at a reasonable pace and the reasoning behind it which is firstly to avoid injury and secondly, I think I read its hard to keep making long term progression going for broke all the time. So how do I exactly implement that into my 65-minute run? Since the only way I can hold a conversation whiles running would be on speed 12 which would feel way too easy and would kind of go against why I love cardio which is it pushing me to my limits.

Thank you for making it all the way to the end! Would appreciate some advice, thanks.

Best Answer

  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
    If you want to build a good aerobic system and improve your endurance then 80% of your weekly mileage should be at easy/long run pace.

    If you want to know what your training paces should be then us a training pace calculator, several on internet.

    If you only want to run fast all the time you will never reach your full potential but of course that's your choice.

    Why don't you run outside?  I wouldn't really call 65 minutes a long run, although I realise that's a long time to run on a treadmill.  

Answers

  • <blockquote class="Quote">
    <div class="QuoteAuthor"><a href="/profile/SHADES">SHADES</a> said:</div>
    <div class="QuoteText">If you want to build a good aerobic system and improve your endurance then 80% of your weekly mileage should be at easy/long run pace.

    If you want to know what your training paces should be then us a training pace calculator, several on internet.

    If you only want to run fast all the time you will never reach your full potential but of course that's your choice.

    Why don't you run outside?  I wouldn't really call 65 minutes a long run, although I realise that's a long time to run on a treadmill.  
    </div>
    </blockquote>
    Thanks for the reply and advice and yes I know 65 mins isn’t long when used in the context of running especially when the spectrum ranges from 5ks to ultra marathons, but I meant relatively. 

    The reason for not running outside currently is because of exams but will hopefully make the transition in 5 weeks. Thanks again 
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Will be nice when you can get outdoors for your runs, especially at this time of year.

    Maybe enter a couple of races?
Sign In or Register to comment.