What Pace Should Your Easy Runs Be?
How to tell if you are running your easy runs too fast: the talk test, perceived effort and three ways to work out your easy pace.
In this article
- What an easy run is and what it is for
- How to tell if you are going too fast
- Three ways to put a number on your easy pace
- Running slowly: doesn't it improve you less?
- Common mistakes in easy runs
- A practical example: from a 5K time to your easy pace
- When to look at your watch and when not to, and how to progress
The most common mistake among people who start running is heading out every day at the same pace, and doing it too fast. The run goes well, you feel active and, without realizing it, every outing turns into a small effort. Over time it gets harder to recover, your legs feel heavy and your motivation takes a hit.
An easy run has to feel easy. It sounds obvious, but it is one of the hardest things to put into practice, especially when you compare yourself with what you see around you or with what your watch says. In this article we look at what an easy run is, how to know if you are going too fast, three ways to put a number on your pace and which mistakes to avoid.
What an easy run is and what it is for
An easy run is a continuous run at a comfortable pace, with no intention of performing. It is not a hard workout disguised as a stroll: it is a session designed so that you finish feeling you could have kept going.
Within a training plan it usually has three functions:
- Building an aerobic base: it gets you used to spending time running in a way you can sustain.
- Recovering between hard sessions: it keeps you moving without adding much fatigue.
- Accumulating volume with little fatigue: it lets you run more days or more minutes without your body suffering as much.
You should not expect miracles from a single easy session. It is a useful tool within a whole, and its effects depend on each person, their history and how it fits with the rest of their training.
How to tell if you are going too fast
You do not need a sophisticated watch to know. Your body gives fairly clear signals.
The talk test
If you can hold a conversation in full sentences while you run, you are in the easy range. If you can only get out short sentences or single words, you are going faster than an easy run calls for.
Perceived effort
On a scale of 0 to 10, an easy run sits at a 3 or 4: you breathe freely, your stride is relaxed and you could keep going for much longer. A 7 is already a clear effort, and a 10 would be the most you can give. The full scale, with what you can say at each level, is in perceived effort in running.
If it feels natural, you can also breathe through your nose for a good part of the route. It is one more clue, not a rule: many people find it uncomfortable and are not going wrong because of it.
Warning signs
- You speak in broken sentences or have to stop to finish a thought.
- You are counting the minutes left until you finish.
- You get home feeling you have made an effort.
- The next day your legs feel loaded for no clear reason.
Three ways to put a number on your easy pace
Feel is enough to get started, but many people want a reference figure. There are three methods, from most to least practical.
1. Effort and the talk test
It is the most practical because it does not depend on any device and it adapts to each day. Heat, tiredness, terrain or lack of sleep change the pace at which you run comfortably, and effort adjusts by itself.
2. Heart rate
You can use a heart rate monitor and stay within a heart rate range. The usual reference is calculated as a percentage of your maximum heart rate, and that is where the problem lies: subtracting your age from 220 is an unreliable estimate, with typical errors of 10 beats or more. The ideal is to measure it with a real maximum effort. If you want to calculate your zones from your maximum heart rate, you can use the training zones calculator.
3. Pace from a recent race time
If you have run a recent race, you can calculate a performance level, the VDOT, and from it an easy pace range. The VDOT calculator does the math with your distance and your time. It works best with a recent race run at a hard effort on flat terrain, and it is an estimate, not an exact measure. If you want to know how long a 10K would take you with that time, there is a method in how long your 10K will take.
| Method | What you need | Advantage | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effort and the talk test | Nothing but your attention | Adapts to each day | Subjective at first |
| Heart rate | A heart rate monitor and your maximum heart rate | Gives an objective reference | Heart rate varies with heat, sleep or tiredness |
| Pace from a race time | A recent race | Gives a specific range in minutes per kilometer | It is an estimate and needs a reliable race time |
The most sensible approach is to combine them: use the number as a reference and your feel as the judge.
Running slowly: doesn't it improve you less?
It is the most frequent doubt. It seems logical to think that the faster you train, the more you improve. But training works through the sum of stimulus and recovery, not only through the intensity of each session.
That is why it is common for a large part of the volume in many plans to be easy, with few hard sessions that are well spaced out. It is a frequent guideline among coaches and not a universal rule: it depends on your level, your goal, how long you have been running and how you respond.
Running easy lets you repeat sessions, arrive at quality days with fresher legs and stay consistent, which is often an important factor in making progress. It is not a guarantee of improvement: it is a reasonable and prudent approach. To decide how many sessions to repeat each week, see how many days a week to run.
Common mistakes in easy runs
- Running almost every day at an almost comfortable pace. It is the most common trap: it is not easy enough to recover and not hard enough to count as a quality session.
- Comparing yourself with other people's pace. Your easy pace depends on your level, your day and your terrain. Someone else's is not a reference for you.
- Keeping the same pace every day. In heat, after a poor night's sleep or on uneven terrain, your easy pace will be slower. Adjust by effort and not by the watch.
- Trying to hold your pace on hills. Climbing more slowly is normal: what should stay constant is the effort, not the speed.
- Speeding up at the end because you feel good. An easy run ends easy. If you want to add speed, do it within a plan, with sessions designed for it.
A practical example: from a 5K time to your easy pace
Imagine you recently ran a 5K at a hard effort and you want to know what pace to head out at. The step by step is this:
- Open the VDOT calculator and choose 5K as the distance.
- Enter your race time, in hours, minutes and seconds.
- Look at your VDOT and, if it is within the tool's range, the training pace table: the Easy row gives you a range in minutes per kilometer.
- If you know your maximum heart rate, enter it in the training zones calculator to see the heart rate range too.
- Go for a run and check the range with the talk test: if you cannot talk in full sentences, slow down.
The range is a reference to get started. If one day the effort does not match what the watch says, effort rules.
When to look at your watch and when not to, and how to progress
Looking at your watch at the beginning helps you get an idea of your range. But on easy runs it is best to look at it little: use it to check that you have not gone above your range and let feel rule the rest of the time.
To progress you do not need to run faster on your easy runs. Over the weeks it is common for that same comfortable effort to translate into a slightly better pace, but you should not force it or take it for granted. If you want to see an example of a plan that combines easy runs with harder sessions, you can check the 10K training plan for beginners (in Spanish). And to apply easy effort to the longest session of the week, there is long run: how long, how fast and how to progress.