Failing the Talking Test

One should be able to converse, the conventional wisdom says, while running at a moderate pace, however that's defined. But this is something I've never been able to do comfortably, no matter what my speed. There's also the issue of talking with others while running or working out - it feels rude, like chatting someone up in the gym while he or she is doing dead lifts. One of the few people I do talk with while running is my brother, and even then I keep my few expressions limited to quick, one-breath quips. I thought about this while on the treadmill today. I finished 3.5 miles at a 7:16 pace, way faster than I really should have run. Towards the end I was struggling to breath and would be lucky to spout anything as eloquent as a grunt. Maybe I should slow it down. But if I did, my inner eight year-old would wonder, what's the fun in that?