Whether it is a friend or a partner/girlfriend/husband/wife, running with someone else brings a social aspect into what otherwise is a solitary activity. The challenge arises when the person that you want to run with is slower than you are. It can be easy for you to get frustrated because you are running too slowly, while at the same time, your partner is over-exerting themself to the point where the run is no longer enjoyable.
The way to run with a slower partner is to either add distance to your run or add efforts that will tire you out quicker. Another common way to slow you down enough is to do a hard interval training session immediately before your run with your slower partner and practice running on tired legs.
Let’s take a closer look at different ways that you can structure the workout so that both you and your partner get the maximum benefit from your run without getting frustrated from being either faster or slower than the person you are running with.
How To Run With Someone Slower Than You
If you are a faster runner, it is easy to become frustrated when running with a slower runner unless you are clear about your differences in speed and fitness so that you can both enjoy your run and get the maximum effort. If you know how much slower your running partner is, then you can adapt your run to still have a great workout.
For instance, when I did track workouts with a slower running partner, I would run in lane 8 and they would be in lane 7 or 6. My partner would run at their comfortable pace and I would need to constantly surge around every bend to keep up with them. We would easily run together for 45 minutes to an hour. Not only would I be running further, but toward the end of the workout those surges would start catching up.
Another way I would run alongside my slower running partner out on the trails or even on the road, is we would pick the days when I was on a recovery run but it was my partner’s day to do their tempo run. Not only did that put us at a nearer-to-equal pace, but I could use the opportunity to encourage them to nail their target splits for their tempo run. I was the one checking my GPS during each tempo interval and all my partner needed to do was stay on my shoulder.
If my partner and I are running a very scenic trail together, maybe a trail that we haven’t done before, I sometimes do a kind of tempo session myself. I’d double back down a hill that we had just climbed and redo the hill as hard as I could. I would then catch up to, and pass my partner on the downhill and scan the landscape to set up for a spectacular photo – before repeating the process on the next hill. Having someone to chase when pushing hard up a hill would absolutely smash my legs and give me an excellent workout.
How Do You Run With A Slower Partner?
One way that I am able to do a trail run with my slower running partner is that we run together, slowly, on a downhill. When we almost reach the bottom of the hill, I’ll turn around and run back up the hill as hard as I can for between 5 and 10 minutes depending on the length of the hill.
I’m now between 5 and 10 minutes behind my slower partner with a downhill and another hill between us. I then try to close that gap as quickly as I can, before repeating the process at the bottom of the next downhill. I get a really good workout and my partner doesn’t feel like they are slowing me down.
Once I catch up, I adjust my pace to whatever pace they are running and use that as my recovery pace before repeating the effort.
How Can I Run Slower With My Girlfriend?
Both of the examples that I mentioned above can work for running with your girlfriend or wife. Know that you don’t run at the same pace and that trying to run at the same pace fight feels frustratingly slow for one of you and an over-exertion for the other.
One of the positive aspects of running with a girlfriend or wife is that it can be that extra bit of motivation to get out the door and start your run. However, once you are running, both of you will get the maximum benefit from running at your own pace. What you can do is pick a route that is out-and-back rather than a loop.
Agree on the turnaround time so that both you and your girlfriend turn back at the same time rather than at the same distance. Doing this means that you will run most of the first mile with her as well as the last mile and finish together.
An alternative is to run with your girlfriend/wife after your interval workout. Make sure that your interval workout is at your absolute maximum effort and leaves you exhausted at the end. Then go for a run with your girlfriend/wife. Your shattered legs will slow you down to potentially slower than her pace. It will be good training for you to keep going even when your legs are tired.