“Sorry.” “Bike up.” “A little slow.” “Last mile.” “Pervert.”
These are the scintillating bits of conversation I am capable of uttering during a ten-mile marathon pace run. If you like to pass your tempo time with witty repartee and fascinating tête-à-tête, I am not your gal. It’s all I can do to muster an apology for elbowing Elda, warn of an approaching missile on wheels, nudge us to pick up the pace, and prod us to a blisteringly fast finish (7:11 pace mile 10!).
Oh, and grace Ken with the admonishment he was hoping for after commenting on my shorts. Having spent the warmup and first several miles being entirely and uncharacteristically too appropriate, Ken needed assurance he hadn’t lost his touch. (No, not that kind of touch. Especially during a grueling tempo.)
I’m always in awe of people who can chat away during faster running. Tempo pace is always defined as “comfortably hard,” or as “a pace where you could carry on a conversation, but you don’t want to.” That last descriptor suits me: I can always listen really well, and grunt a two-or-three-word answer to a query, but when I’m running harder than easy pace, I can’t really focus on much more than my breathing, leg turnover, arm swing, and posture. I’m always amazed, and jealous, when our group (Group 4 Shout-Out!) passes another group, and folks are having a grand ol’ time laughing, teasing, discussing the business section of the WSJ, etc. I say to myself, “If you can do that during tempo, it’s time to move up into a faster group.”
Invariably, though, another thought always sneaks in: “If they can chat comfortably during a pace run, why can’t I?” Maybe I’m working too hard for my abilities. Maybe I should be able to formulate complete sentences and hold a soirée on the fly. Maybe everyone else is normal and I’m a freak.
So I’m throwing this question out there: where do you fit?
a. I can and do chat comfortably and easily on a marathon pace run. I like my peeps!
b. I chat, but only because everyone else does, and I don’t want to seem antisocial.
c. I can eke out short sentences.
d. I want to strangle people who chat during pace runs.
I’m a “C.” I like it when Ken/Steve/Brian/Lauren carries the group through a grinding workout with stories galore (“Did I tell you about my last 50K in Montana de Oro? No? Well…”); philosophy 101 (“Why are endurance runners so obsessive?”); shopping (“Where do you buy your shoes? How much did you pay for them?”); and geography (“there’s a steep short hill coming up, then it’s flat for a while, then a long-ass hard incline, so get ready…”). But I don’t like to come up with fodder myself, so I’m grateful for the “A’s” and “B’s.”
What are you?
Hi Maggie,
I’m a C and like when most A types join along.
Great job on Saturday, looking forward towards a repeat next weekend.
Elda
I am an “a” or “b” for the first few miles and then for sure with the “c” when the pace and effort picks up. And sometimes I just gotta learn to shut up and run.
But, I usually think about that AFTER I have said something dumb.
This has long been a subject of interest-mostly because i am the “offending party” Interesting choice of word there dont you think? “offending” hmmm… I get chatty in tempo/ track group for several reasons. One is that you peeps are my social contact. Another is more of a knee jerk reaction in that when it gets tough-like saturday’s 10 at hard pace- i start talking to distract from pain! The last is more my hang up and that I associate silence with displeasure…if you aint talking to me then you dont like me!
In my long career of chating, I have noted various friends reaction to this. I have run with Elda in track/ tempo longest. I have learned she will talk first lap and then goes quiet…she will then listen but not comment until after we stop. She probably knows more about me than anyone! Nichole, Susie and Brian are the chattiest…non stop banter! On the other hand dont even bring up talking with Brooke, Clair, Tamara and Maria…they tell me to shut the f— up and run. I dont think they like me…
I miss chatting, or at least listening to Kim’s chatter. My current group seems awfully serious and doesn’t chat much on fast tempo runs. A notable exception is Chrystee (when she runs with us), she can sing, opine and tell stories at our pace (which isn’t exactly her pace). As for me, I’m running faster than I’ve a right to and it’s all I can do to keep focused on Jill’s bouncing ponytail and try to keep up. Hopefully this week’s pace will actually be MP and not the MP – 10 seconds we’ve been running. (I seem to have an affinity for parenthesis today.)
I’m definitely a “c” but I’m afraid I come off as a “d”. I just can’t chat during.
Sounds like you all did great yesterday!
and I just read Ken’s comment, thereby confirming I come off as a “d”. Ken it’s not intentional, I’m just usually sucking wind or concentrating so hard. I like you! I really do like you!
I’m either an “a” or a “c,” depending on how fit I am and how hard I have to push to keep up. Typically, if it’s only “marathon” pace, I can chat it up; when we move up to “tempo” pace, I start out chatty and then go quiet — except to chastise the rule-breakers in my group. What? Someone has to tell the group to go single-file for passers-by, Susie to slow down and Brian to quit cutting the tangents!
Ken, we weren’t kidding last weekend when we said we wanted to steal you away for our group. We were all working hard and wished we had you there to chat us up as a nice distraction. I also love (and now miss) having chatty Susie around on the hard runs. (Has anyone else noticed that she’s started to pipe down now that the boys are making her run faster?)
Joe, I’ve tried to keep up with Jill before — I don’t think I can even eke out a grunt during those workouts.
I think that my ability to chat depends on the company. When I run with Kary O’B. , we solve the problems of the world and it’s easy to talk. I chatted the whole way up the hill during Pier to Peak last year which means maybe I wasn’t running hard enough. Glad you weren’t asking about bra sizes.
Definitely a “D”. If people try to mess with my laser-like focus I try to shush them as quickly as possible.
Me: Knock, knock
Them: Who’s there?
Me: Sh!
Tempo run I can chat (though I rarely have anything to say) for about a mile. Marathon pace about 4~5 miles. Of course it depends on how tired I am to start with…
I also tend to feel that if someone can chat they aren’t working hard enough…