i ran at arkansas in the 90s, and our easy days (weights and eight, or ten for the true distance types) were entirely up to the individuals discretion (in most instances). our fastest xc runner, you may remember him, in the fall of 97 (who ran in the 13:20s) ran his easy runs SLOW - i mean really slow....with the 800m guys, without a doubt over 7min. pace.
does this mean everyone did? no. does this mean it works? yes. for everyone? no - not necessarily. We had others, who ran close to that fast on the track, that would run 42 min eight milers on a regular basis – there is no clear cut, cookie cutter way to run your easy days….it depends on what you have done in the previous day, week, month, year, etc. and what makes your body run it’s fastest. unfortunately, most of us never find out truly what type of training is best for ourselves – the ones that do, and have a little talent, are usually the stars.