how slow do elite runners do their recovery sessions..?

I only keep close tabs on the training of some marathoners. The vast majority of them are doing their regular old easy days at 6:30 to 7:00 a mile.

I would imagine quick, miler/5000 types are doing a few less miles overall and probably run their easy days a bit faster. But maybe others know for sure.

Sub 14' 5k guy in my group runs the recoveries at 4'45/km when he is really tired.... a low 15' guy runs at 4'25" rain or shine.... guess who's right..... Recoveries need to be done at whatever pace is right for the day which i'd say 95% of the runners out there fail to do. Then you wonder why they tend to underachieve....

I’ve seen many average around 7-7:30 per mile on easy runs and then bump it up to 8+ after hard workouts, and it also varies by conditions. (temperature, elevation, elevation change, etc.) It depends on the person and how they feel that day, same as you. There is also a lot of variability in approach where some refuse to go 8+ ever and others just choose a day to go ultra easy; there is no single answer.

7:30 mpm or slower.

I spent a weekend with some Kenyan runners who were training in the US to pick up prize money. They were more in the 2:10 - 2:20 range, so maybe more sub-elite rather than elite. They would run hard in the morning, but do an easy 4 mile run at night. They would start the 4-mile run by walking a block or two, and then go into a slow 13 mpm. They would gradually pickup the pace until they were at about 7:30 mpm at the end of the run.

For a miler, Strava still has Dave Torrence's runs. He has some recovery runs like 1.35 miles at 10:07 pace (2017-7-22) and 1.21 miles at 9:24 pace (2017-8-20). Quite a few easy runs like 6.76 miles at 8:03 pace (2017-8-16). Pre-race warm up 3.19 miles at 8:48 pace (2017-8-9).

gregmacd wrote:

7:30 mpm or slower.

I spent a weekend with some Kenyan runners who were training in the US to pick up prize money. They were more in the 2:10 - 2:20 range, so maybe more sub-elite rather than elite. They would run hard in the morning, but do an easy 4 mile run at night. They would start the 4-mile run by walking a block or two, and then go into a slow 13 mpm. They would gradually pickup the pace until they were at about 7:30 mpm at the end of the run.

Yep. Pretty much this. Easy miles don't need to be hard, and most do them way to fast. This is 13:30 types going almost 50% slower by pace.

That's like 50%-70% slower. Which would be like a 17:30 guy doing 8:30+. Or a 15:30 guy doing 7:30+.

You get all the aerobic stimulus whether you run hard easy or slow easy. You recover much better and can do much more aerobic volume when you do easy days at 60-70% of HR max rather than the typical 70-75% people do to maintain their ego.

You only need to look at what the world class guys are doing to confirm this. Kipchoge isnt out doing bulk mileage at 5:30 or even 6:00 pace. As are none of the aerobic guys mile and up.

Go look at Seilers research as well. He does incredible physiology studies characterizing elite training, and then how well it scales down to sub elite and hobbyist level. He is consistently finding that scaled down elite training works, and consistently finding that doing those easy efforts very relaxed, well below 70% HRmax, is where the elites and those under them having the mose success are working.

As slow as need be. There's no point of running fast for a recovery run.

How many days a week are they running this slow?

If they do 2 workouts per week, then the two days after workouts are really slow. That leaves 3 days for aerobic runs at a faster pace? Or are the workout days so devastating that every non workout day is really slow?

It depends on where one is in their training. When I'm close to peak, my easy runs are easy, but faster than my easy runs when I'm not as fit. It's not rocket science.

How often wrote:

How many days a week are they running this slow?

If they do 2 workouts per week, then the two days after workouts are really slow. That leaves 3 days for aerobic runs at a faster pace? Or are the workout days so devastating that every non workout day is really slow?

They are usually doing 12 or more runs a week. So they might get 2 high quality rus, 3 moderate or long runs, and maybe 7 easy runs.

the morning after he won the 5k worlds in berlin (against lagat, great race) i was out running at 6am and lo and behold bekele was on the opposite corner jogging. he had someone on a bike following him. it was very very slow. he also won the 10k earlier.

best ever by a ton, watch the world xc and then it is very very clear. great to see him back.

LM wrote:

Go look at Seiler's research as well. He does incredible physiology studies characterizing elite training, and then how well it scales down to sub elite and hobbyist level. He is consistently finding that scaled down elite training works, and consistently finding that doing those easy efforts very relaxed, well below 70% HRmax, is where the elites and those under them having the most success are working.

it's entirely possibly you would benefit from going slower, especially if you have long-term hopes and goals

I'm an OTQ qualifier and I do my recovery runs often at 8-10 mpm pace. However they're almost always on rolling dirt and trails. That's for doubles and true recovery runs. General aerobic runs on flatter and faster terrain would be 6:00 - 7:00 per mile. If I was elite I imagine everything would be about a minute per mile faster.

Molly Huddle was filmed doing a longish run ~10 miles for one of those running YouTube channels, I can’t remember if it was recovery or easy day but pretty much the same, she went through 6 miles in about 43 min maybe? And she was chatting to the camera.

Here it is

https://youtu.be/o46m9u1lV0g

I myself am not an elite runner, but I am acquainted with a retired elite runner (800/1600 guy) and the advice he gave me was that for recovery you should just throw the timer out and get the mileage on your feet. Some days you can drop a 6 miler at 6 flat pace and feel great... Other days you'll try to do the same run and feel like you have to walk trying to maintain 7:30 pace.

Recovery is really just about aerobic maintenance in a way and shouldn't be such big of a deal . Just follow your most feel good pace on recovery.

What matters is how to be able to run a fast paced 1-5km with ease . I think that's how you get faster

in recovery, you don't really go by a clock.

you go by how you feel, which is to circulate the blood and breathe.

it is easy, which may be 530 per mile pace or 7 minute mile pace depending. really it is the quality that counts.

world class guys, their slow is say 545 a mile, but not necessarily, it could be 630/mile.

any way, it is the quality that counts, and an easy run is just that, easy.

chuck away the clock.

You want to talk ELITE elite?

In an article leading up to the INEOS Sub-2 Challenge, they talked about how he does a lot of recovery miles (about 30 mpw out of his 130-50) at lower than 10:00/mile pace.

Now THAT, my friend, is recovery.

Nick Willis often runs at 7:00-7:30 pace. Lagat seldom runs over 6:00 pace. Rupp runs 5:30-5:45 pace. Frank Shorter used to do 6:30-7:00 pace. The list goes on. The point is that pace varies from athlete to athlete. Some athletes like a faster easy pace, some don't. Physiologically speaking, you only need to run 60-65% max heart rate on easy runs to improve maximum heart stroke volume (the primary easy pace adaptation).

It's possible that some of those pros do their easy runs too fast, but no way to know for sure, because everyone's different. Easy days easy. Hard days hard. No reason to over do it on easy days. As long as your easy runs are at a conversational pace and you aren't slogging along at a super slow pace, you're probably going to be fine. It's easy to run them too fast, so when in doubt go a little slower to play it safe.