Easy Runs Explained: Why Most of Your Running Should Feel Slow

Easy runs are runs done at a relaxed, conversational effort, and for most runners they should make up the large majority of weekly training. They should feel slow, sometimes almost frustratingly so. That is not a sign you are doing too little. It is the foundation that lets the harder sessions, and eventually your race pace, improve.

This is one of the most common mistakes we see in recreational runners. Nearly every run ends up at the same moderately hard pace: too fast to recover from properly, too slow to build real speed. Fixing it is usually the single quickest way to run better.

What the research and the best runners actually do

When sports scientists have studied how successful endurance athletes train, a consistent pattern shows up. Roughly 80 percent of their sessions are done at low intensity, with around 20 percent at moderate or high intensity. This is often called 80/20 or polarised training, and it has been observed across running, cycling, rowing and cross country skiing.

Studies comparing training approaches in recreational runners have found similar results. Groups that kept most of their running easy tended to improve as much as, or more than, groups that did more moderate intensity work, while feeling less worn down.

The ratio is not a magic number, and you do not need to count to the minute. The principle is what matters: most of your running should be easy, so that the small amount of hard running can be properly hard.

Why slow running makes you faster

Easy running builds the aerobic engine that every distance from 5km to Comrades depends on. Over weeks and months it improves the capillary network in your muscles, the number and efficiency of mitochondria, and your heart's ability to pump blood. These adaptations respond mainly to time spent running, not to how much it hurts.

Easy running is also cheap to recover from, which matters because rest and recovery are where adaptation actually happens. You can do more of it, more often, with less risk of the overuse injuries that come from too much load too soon. Your tendons, bones and joints adapt more slowly than your heart and lungs, and steady easy kilometres give them time to catch up.

Finally, it protects your hard days. If you arrive at a speed session already tired from a week of medium effort runs, you cannot hit the paces that actually build speed. Keeping the easy days easy means the quality sessions get done properly.

How slow should an easy run be?

There is no single pace that is right for everyone, so use a few simple checks instead.

• The talk test: you can speak in full sentences without gasping. If you can only manage a few words, slow down.
• Effort: on a scale of 1 to 10, it should feel like a 3 or 4
• Breathing: steady and through the nose or mouth comfortably, never ragged
• Pace: for many runners, easy pace ends up somewhere around 60 to 90 seconds per kilometre slower than their 5km race pace
• Heart rate: if you use a heart rate monitor, keep most easy runs in the lower aerobic zone, but treat wrist based readings as a guide rather than gospel

The grey zone problem

The middle ground between easy and hard is sometimes called the grey zone. It feels productive because it is tiring, and it gives you a run you can feel good about on Strava. The problem is that it is too hard to recover from quickly and not hard enough to build top end speed.

A runner doing five runs a week, all in the grey zone, often plateaus and feels permanently a bit tired. The same runner doing four easy runs and one proper quality session usually improves, with less fatigue. It feels backwards, but it is one of the most reliable patterns in endurance training.

How to stop your easy runs creeping faster

Knowing you should run slower is the easy part. Actually doing it takes a bit of discipline, especially when you run with a club or a group.

• Run with someone slower than you, or with a group that runs at genuine conversation pace
• Hide pace on your watch and run by effort or heart rate instead
• Plan hills as effort, not pace. Slowing down on the climbs up Signal Hill or around Westcliff is normal and correct.
• Leave the watch screen on time rather than distance, so the run is about time on your feet
• Do not race your easy runs on segment leaderboards. Save that for the days that call for it.

Adjusting for heat and altitude

Easy pace is an effort, not a fixed number. On a hot, humid Durban morning or a summer afternoon in the Karoo, the same effort will produce a slower pace, and that is fine. In Gauteng, coastal runners will also find their easy pace slows noticeably at altitude. Run by feel and let the pace be whatever it needs to be. Our guide to hydration in hot weather covers the fluid side of summer training.

Where the hard running fits in

Easy running is the foundation, not the whole plan. Most runners still benefit from one, or for more experienced runners two, quality sessions each week: intervals, tempo runs or hill repeats. These are where you develop speed and race specific fitness. If you are chasing a 5km time, see our guide on how to pace a parkrun for how to put that fitness to use.

Strength training also belongs in a runner's week and does not count against your easy running. Two short sessions a week can improve running economy and help your body handle the load. Read more in strength training for runners.

Getting the balance right for you

The right mix of easy and hard running depends on how many days you run, your race goal and what else is going on in your life. A runner training for Two Oceans on four days a week needs a different week to someone building to Comrades on six. If you would like that balance set for you and adjusted every week based on what your runs show, have a look at our online run coaching.

If easy running still feels hard after several weeks of consistent training, or you are unusually breathless, dizzy or tired, it is worth seeing a doctor to rule out things like low iron or other medical causes before simply pushing on.

Frequently asked questions