What Is An Easy Run?

Every training programme is built around ‘easy runs’. But what does that really mean? And how easy should an easy run be?

WHAT IS AN EASY RUN?

Put on your running shoes, head out the door, and just run at the most comfortable pace you can. Try to maintain an easy effort, where if walking is an effort level of one out of 10, then this run should be three or four out of 10, and within what we call Zone 2 (jump below for more on that!). Keep this run to 60 minutes or less. This is an easy run. 

During an easy run your breathing should be controlled, your heart rate should remain low relative to your usual HR, and you should be able to have a full conversation with a buddy if you’re running with someone.

WHY IS IT CALLED AN EASY RUN?

It can be a misnomer for runners who don’t find any runs ‘easy’, but an easy run is what we call the regular slower runs that we do in a week. The word ‘easy’ differentiates them from other runs like tempos, intervals and long runs, and also reminds us that we aren’t supposed to be running fast. 

If it helps you to think about them with a different name, then go with something like ‘chatty pace’, which is the idea that you run at an effort where you could have a conversation. 

WHY SHOULD YOU DO EASY RUNS?

Easy runs are essential to any running plan because they help to build up our fitness and resilience to running. The more easy running you can do, the fitter you should become. And adding more easy miles is the best way to increase your overall volume.

It’s important to know that an easy run isn’t a set pace or speed, it’s more a level of perceived effort level – if you’re feeling fresh and rested it may be quicker than if you’re tired. 

Alongside easy runs you’ll do faster runs like tempo or intervals sessions. These are great for building strength and speed, but running faster puts more stress on your body, which can increase injury risk and requires longer to recover. We can’t just run fast all the time and hope to get really speedy – we improve as runners by the balance between slower and faster running. As we’ve discussed before, running slow helps you to run faster. 

The great benefits of easy running are that they are less physically demanding on the body so they come with fewer injury risks, and they help you adapt from harder runs while also building up more general fitness.

EASY RUNS AND ZONE 2 RUNNING

Easy runs are in what we’d call Zone 2. That’s a reference of your effort correlated with heart rate. Roughly, Zone 1 is the easiest jog, and a warm up pace; Zone 2 is your easy running pace; Zone 3 is faster, something like a Tempo pace or the effort in the first part of a half marathon or marathon; Zone 4 is Threshold, or the effort of a 5km or 10km (or end of a half marathon); Zone 5 is a short but very hard effort which results in you approaching or reaching your maximum heart rate. They overlap with your heart rate during these efforts.

Zone 1 is 50-60% of max HR
Zone 2 is 60-70% of max HR
Zone 3 is 70-80% of max HR
Zone 4 is 80-90% of max HR
Zone 5 is 90-100% of max HR

For your easy runs, you want to try and stick within 60-70% of your max HR. So if your maximum HR is 180 then Zone 2 for you is 108-126.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE GOING TOO QUICKLY? 

If you’re on a run and your breathing is heavy or your heart rate is higher than the Zones above, then it might be a sign that you’re not running easy enough – try slowing down slightly to see if it feels more manageable. 

Likewise, if you finish a 30-minute ‘easy’ run and you’re feeling exhausted then you might be going too fast (or you might need an extra rest day). 

But it’s important to know that easy pace is relative, and it can differ for you day to day. Listen to your body and don’t try to stick stubbornly to a certain pace if your body is feeling more fatigued. Go by effort more than pace. 

EASY RUN PACE IS RELATIVE BUT CAN YOU RUN TOO SLOW?

If you follow any elite runners on Strava you’ll see them doing their base runs at paces most of us would consider a sprint.

‘Easy’ pace is relative to your fitness, and as you get fitter you’ll naturally see your easy pace get quicker – you run with the same effort and HR as before, only now you’re faster.

There is no ‘too slow’ for an easy pace, though the exception would be if you cannot maintain good form while you run. If you’re shuffling your feet or running in an unnatural way, then that might not be beneficial and you may be better off walking fast.

But there is such a thing as too fast. Going too fast can increase the stress you put through your bodies. There’s a good saying: easy days easy, hard days hard. Keep the two separate and don’t get stuck in the middle in the ‘junk miles’ pace. 

IS THERE AN ARGUMENT TO RUN EASY DAYS A *BIT* HARD?

Actually, there is. But this is more for faster and well-trained runners who are able to handle higher volume. 

If you see a runner at marathon pace and then at a slower pace, they run with slightly different mechanics. By pushing a little more effort on easy runs (five or six out of 10), these more accomplished runners can maintain better form and also feel more of a training effect than if they run much slower than their race pace.  

But each runner is individual here, and as we’ve mentioned, ‘easy’ is an effort or feeling, not a set pace. 

REMEMBER THE 80/20 RULE

This is the idea that around 80% of your running should be at an easy conversational pace, and around 20% can be faster.

Some people only run at their easy pace, and that’s absolutely fine. You don’t need to do faster runs or intervals, but even adding just a few faster reps or strides can improve your overall running fitness. And by doing more easy runs, you can theoretically handle more faster running.

Think of training like a pyramid. The easy miles are the big section at the bottom, with tempo runs as the middle section and intervals and sprints as the top section. Run more easy miles and the base of your pyramid increases in size, and that means you can probably tolerate more faster running as well. Just make sure your pyramid is balanced.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN EASY RUN AND RECOVERY RUN?

These runs are similar, but a recovery run is done at a slower pace and is often shorter.

More importantly, easy runs are a way to build your fitness, while a recovery run is there to help you feel better in the day or two after a harder effort – by going for a short, slow run you’re increasing blood flow into your legs, which can help you to recover quicker.  

Photo by Rinke Dohmen on Unsplash