How do I politely decline running with a slower runner?

What sort of 10K time do you run? 32? 35? 40? Depending on how much faster than him you are, maybe you could combine part of your long slow day with his hard threshold-type-tempo run. That way you don't have to train at his level, you don't need to look for a way out if he is a friendly guy, he gets someone to help him along through his most difficult run of the week and you get some company on your most boring run of the week.

Or you could just explain that you're not sure you two would train together well because of different goals and expectations and you're afraid that one of you (really could be either one--your case is obvious--he might get annoyed if you seem restless for a run and keep picking up the pace only to realize you'd pulled away and then stop to wait) would start getting frustrated and you wouldn't want that.

My wife is about a 54-55 min 10k runner. I used to think there was no way I could run at her training pace (9 min +/-) even for a mile or two. But nowadays, I actually run a lot of my easy runs with her. We both enjoy it a lot.

Mind you, if I want her to sleep with me, I have to compromise somewhere along the line. ;-) I take it you're not sleeping with this dude, so the whole dynamic is a little different.

Still, try running with the guy a couple of times. It won't hurt your race performances to run some of your easy days at what seems like a deathly slow pace. Honest.

Pete wrote:

Mind you, if I want her to sleep with me, I have to compromise somewhere along the line. ;-) I take it you're not sleeping with this dude, so the whole dynamic is a little different.

Haha, very true

Take him out on a few hard runs, he´ll soon get the message.

I've used this one, and had it used on me:

"I do work on . Usually X miles at Y minutes per mile. The pace might seem a bit quick if you're not used to it."

This is good, becuase it makes it very clear that you plan to get a specific type of work done on a given day. The last sentence suggests leaves the door open for them to try, but saves you both the potential embarrassment of them doing an impromptu 8k race to keep up with your tempo run. It also suggests that you would be open to them joining you later, when/if they are up to it.

That said, I run with my jogger roommate all the time, and he is not at all fast. His twice-a-week hard runs work just fine for my easy runs.

Don't ever think you are to good that you can't take one day out of the seven and spend some time giving this "slower runner" some advice or just go run some intervals together. Of course he will run them at his own pace. Again your not all that.....your not running 27:10's are you? no I don't think so....be a friend.

a nice, well done powerpoint presentation is probably the best way to let him know.

If he's a friend and not a pest you should do some easy runs with him but let him know it's easy. I do that with a few of my friends who are less competitive. They like it because my easy pace pushes them. If he's a pest than you should meet him once and crush his hopes, dreams, goals, ambitions.

Tell him to stay away from you because he sucks, he should get the hint then.

OK, I have the solution to your dilemma, seeing that I was on the other side of the coin not too long ago.

I work with a guy who runs 80-100 miles per week. I wanted to run some with him. His reply was, "Sure. I love to have someone to talk to. I train at a 6 minute per mile pace, a little slower on other days. You aren't going to run faster than that, are you?"

He wasn't being rude at all and kindly let me know I was out of my league.

Try it.

This person could open doors you did not know existed.

Give him/her a chance.If it does not work out so be it.

By the way,I enjoyed your Boston thread.Have just been accepted for N.Y. Maybe we could start one for that Marathon later on.

There's nothing wrong with stating what your easy pace is and letting the other person know what the deal is. Most runners don't want to slow someone else down, either.

The sex comment is funny. I always say that when you see a guy and a girl running together, and the guy is obviously capable of a much faster pace, there's only one reason they're running together. Not that it's not a good reason, but it's a pretty obvious one.

I guess it depends a bit how serious you are. A lot of posters seem to be saying that you shouldn't think so much of yourself, and that you can spare a day or two a week to run slow. Well, if you're really serious about racing, then you can't really spare days.

When I was competing seriously, I would usually just smile and nod at the first request or two. "Sure, that would be fun to run sometime." Because most people are more talk than action anyway. But if they persisted, I would say something like previous posters suggested. "Well, I do hard workouts on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. But on the other days I usually go around 8 miles at between 6 and 7 minute mile pace. Would that work for you?"

Now that I've stopped competing seriously, I'll occasionally run with friends who aren't fast. Sometimes it's painfully boring to run that slow, but for the most part it's a pleasant social occasion. But I'm at a stage where I only run 3 or 4 times a week, so a super-slow doesn't replace one of my real runs.

hold the phone wrote:... if you're really serious about racing, then you can't really spare days.

This is a misconception. Nothing wrong with going real slow a couple days a week. Fast "easy" days don't make you faster. The workouts and races make you faster.

Of course, I expect to get flamed for stating this opinion. Bring it on fellas...

On the flip side, as a female, guys I work with always want to run with me. They think that because they're a guy, they'll easily be able to keep up with me. Then they say something like, "so, you're racing a mile this weekend, what are you trying to run? Under 6:00?" When I respond with, "well, I'd like to run under 4:50," they are kind of baffled. They have no clue.If they want to run with me I usually tell them that I'm meeting a friend of mine to run, and that he's welcome to join us, and then say something like, "we usually run around 7:00 pace, so you should be fine." That usually scares them enough to keep them away. I have suffered through a few runs with guys I work with, and honestly, running 8:00 pace and running 9:00 pace achieve about the same result. They also usually get more excited about running, too.So, suck it up and do a few runs with the guy. Hopefully he'll know if he's holding you back, and not ask to run with you too often.

idealist wrote:

There's nothing wrong with stating what your easy pace is and letting the other person know what the deal is. Most runners don't want to slow someone else down, either.

The sex comment is funny. I always say that when you see a guy and a girl running together, and the guy is obviously capable of a much faster pace, there's only one reason they're running together. Not that it's not a good reason, but it's a pretty obvious one.

What I meant to say was, "the workouts and races, supported by plenty of aerobic development..."

even a 31 minute guy can run his easy days at 7:30s occasionally. but you need to set the terms for when you run this pace -- you don't want to start on a midweek 15 miler knowing youll be running much of it a 6:30s, then feel as though you're stuck at 7:30s or 8s. Best to pick select though butt dragging 7 milers where you are less likely to end up in a progression run frame of mind.

"Best to pick select though"

I have no idea what this means. I think I meant to say: "best to select those ..."

Just show him this thread, that should make him change his mind on wanting to run with you and hopefully show you the back of his heels in a future race.