Keeping Easy Runs Easy

Run more mileage.

Run more mileage wrote:

Run more mileage.

What.

don't look at your watch. if 6;50 doesn't feel that hard and it feels natural then don't worry about it. Run by feel.

Run more mileage wrote:

Run more mileage.

+1

whatswrongwithmee wrote:

Run more mileage wrote:

Run more mileage.

What.

Try running 150 miles a week all at a 6:50 pace.

whatswrongwithmee wrote:

How do I keep my Easy runs easy? I always start out at about 8:15 pace and then somehow make my way down to 6:50 pace by the 3rd mile. It doesn’t neccessarily feel THAT hard but it doesn’t really feel like recovery. Any suggestions?

Are your "E" runs also your "L" runs or are you more generally referring to your shorter easy/recovery runs? I know you mentioned that it doesn't feel like a recovery run, so I suspect this is more about those sessions and not so much your long run sessions. Is that correct, or is it both E/L and recovery?

just relax wrote:

don't look at your watch. if 6;50 doesn't feel that hard and it feels natural then don't worry about it. Run by feel.

Exactly. I'm not sure what's up with this new obsession about forcing easy runs to be slow. Easy runs should feel easy. End of story.

deleuze wrote:

just relax wrote:

don't look at your watch. if 6;50 doesn't feel that hard and it feels natural then don't worry about it. Run by feel.

Exactly. I'm not sure what's up with this new obsession about forcing easy runs to be slow. Easy runs should feel easy. End of story.

Nothing new, Dr. Van Aaken (starting in the 1940s I believe) said to do easy runs at 130 BPM.

Run HARDER workouts. You should be so beat up from them that you don't even want to do anything more than a very easy jog on recovery days.

Kenyans run so slow not because they think it's fun, but because they do very hard workouts and need to recover from them.

If you drop down to 6:30s at your level your workout the previous day likely wasn't hard enough to build maximum fitness for your level.

LateRunnerPhil wrote:

Run HARDER workouts. You should be so beat up from them that you don't even want to do anything more than a very easy jog on recovery days.

Kenyans run so slow not because they think it's fun, but because they do very hard workouts and need to recover from them.

If you drop down to 6:30s at your level your workout the previous day likely wasn't hard enough to build maximum fitness for your level.

Yesterday I did 4x300, 4x200, 4x100 (1 minute rest between reps, 4 between sets). It felt pretty hard at the time but I could have went harder I guess

ghost_coach wrote:

whatswrongwithmee wrote:

How do I keep my Easy runs easy? I always start out at about 8:15 pace and then somehow make my way down to 6:50 pace by the 3rd mile. It doesn’t neccessarily feel THAT hard but it doesn’t really feel like recovery. Any suggestions?

Are your "E" runs also your "L" runs or are you more generally referring to your shorter easy/recovery runs? I know you mentioned that it doesn't feel like a recovery run, so I suspect this is more about those sessions and not so much your long run sessions. Is that correct, or is it both E/L and recovery?

My easy recovery shorter runs (3-4 miles). It adds a little to the mileage but it’s definitely not a long run

Crazy German doctor wrote:

deleuze wrote:

Exactly. I'm not sure what's up with this new obsession about forcing easy runs to be slow. Easy runs should feel easy. End of story.

Nothing new, Dr. Van Aaken (starting in the 1940s I believe) said to do easy runs at 130 BPM.

Got it. But how easy should it feel. Whenever I run I’m able to speak sentences but I have to pause occasionally to breathe.

Try this read.

http://www.logicoflongdistance.com/2013/01/what-is-easy-run.html

There are a ton of training philosophies out there for obsessive runners that prescribe, for example, running at 130 beats per minute for easy runs. But an easy run can be (and should be) many many things. It can be recovery. It can be a base-building run. It can be a jaunt with friends. Cut through the noise: the most precise measure of an easy run is the feeling of it being easy. The pace of this will depend on where you are in your training and what you've been doing before in the week and whether you have a race in a couple days and what mileage you are running.

whatswrongwithmee wrote:

Got it. But how easy should it feel. Whenever I run I’m able to speak sentences but I have to pause occasionally to breathe.

Generally, if speaking about RPE (1 - 10 perceived exertion scale), you're looking for something in the range of 6-7 of 10... you know you're "working" enough to get your HR between 65-75% (>120, likely

post got cut off at the bottom (WTF Wejo?)

anyway... likely less than 150 (thus more than 120, and less than 150), and you should feel fully recovered after 60 minutes. If you're still feeling your workout after 60 minutes, you went too hard.

How? Think about how much you will suck from running easy days too fast.

You are running medium, consistently running medium = mediocre results.

Win races, not easy runs.

You put in some characters that caused your post to be truncated. I hate that.

ghost_coach wrote:

post got cut off at the bottom (WTF Wejo?)

anyway... likely less than 150 (thus more than 120, and less than 150), and you should feel fully recovered after 60 minutes. If you're still feeling your workout after 60 minutes, you went too hard.

The “less than” sign causes your post to be cut off.

This has been a problem not fixed in the last 10 years since I’ve been reading here and probably much longer

peekay wrote:

The “less than” sign causes your post to be cut off.

This has been a problem not fixed in the last 10 years since I’ve been reading here and probably much longer

Because Saint Pre said to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice a gift.