Go slower than you think

Almost everyone starts out running faster than is good for them. Not out of vanity: at an easy pace it feels like you’re doing nothing at all. And that feeling lies.

The talk test

There’s a way to know you’re going right with no watch, no heart rate monitor and no knowledge of physiology: try talking while you run. If you can say a whole sentence normally, you’re at the right pace. If all you manage is three words and a gasp, you’re overcooking it.

This isn’t a homemade rule. The talk test has been compared against the first ventilatory threshold — the point where breathing takes off — and it lines up rather well: the last stage at which you can speak comfortably falls very close to that threshold. It’s listed as a valid method of prescribing intensity in the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines.

You can sing Too easy

You can talk Here

Short sentences Hard

You can't Maximum

Why it matters so much at the start

Running easy does two things at once. It builds the aerobic base, which is what will let you go further later. And it keeps the load low, which is what stops you getting injured in the first weeks, exactly when you’re most fragile.

Going fast on easy days gives you the worst of both worlds: not enough to improve your speed and too much to recover properly.

What to do tomorrow

• Start slower than your body asks for in the first two minutes.
• Every few minutes, say a sentence out loud. If it doesn’t come out whole, ease off.
• If you have to walk in order to talk, walk. Nothing breaks.
• Long run days are the most important ones to go easy on, not the other way round.

Most of the validation of the talk test has been done in healthy adults and cardiac patients, not specifically in beginner runners. Even so, it’s the most reliable tool you have without spending a penny.