Easy runs: Their fundamental role in training

Are you preparing for a multi-mile race? Looking for the golden ratio in your running training to improve? If so, then you have to start from an important assumption: You cannot always train at high intensities, especially if the goal is long distances…

Success in long-distance races mainly depends on physiological determinants such as maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O2max), velocity at V̇O2max (vVO2max), running economy (RE) and lactate threshold (LA), as well as anaerobic capacity and fitness sprint¹. High-intensity workouts aimed at improving these determinants for long-distance runners include short intervals, long intervals, tempo runs and participation in official races or time trials at race pace.

These training methods have a high physical and mental cost, so athletes usually “make up the kilometers” with easier running sessions (easy runs), usually conducted at distances between 8 and 40.5 km and from 62 to 82% of HRmax¹ (maximum heart rate).

In a study of world-class long-distance runners during the first 7 years of their athletic careers, associations were found between “easy” running workouts and better performance².

A first finding was that total training distance volume was a strong predictor of performance; indeed, total training volume alone explained up to 59% of the variability in performance between athletes.

Due to their less demanding nature – they do not require high physical effort and concentration – easy runs can be run for longer, cover more kilometers and are therefore important for accumulating greater total running distances.

Easier runs form the base and allow athletes to develop other important aspects of physiological function, such as RE and maximal functional speed^1,3. Easy runs can act as:

• basic training during the early part of the season
• active recovery sessions between harder workouts
• continuous stimulus for cardiovascular conditioning and the development of connective tissue adaptations^1,2,3

Runners can alternate between hard and easy workouts per day, while world-class athletes who typically train more than once a day have their easy sessions done in the mornings.

In conclusion, understanding how useful easy runs are will help develop programs that make the most of the time spent. It is of paramount importance that they are not underestimated, and that they are part of the training of elite runners, as they effortlessly add mileage to the preparation for long distance races and benefit athletes manifold in the context of training diversity

1. Enoksen E, Tjelta AR, and Tjelta LI. Distribution of training volume and intensity of elite male and female track marathon runners. Int J Sports Sci Coach 6: 273–293, 2011.
2. Casado A, Hanley B, Santos-Concejero J, Ruiz-Pérez LM. World-Class Long-Distance Running Performances Are Best Predicted by Volume of Easy Runs and Deliberate Practice of Short-Interval and Tempo Runs. J Strength Cond Res. 2021 Sep 1;35(9):2525-2531. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003176. PMID: 31045681.
3. Casado A, Hanley B, Ruiz-Pérez LM. Deliberate practice in training differentiates the best Kenyan and Spanish long-distance runners. Eur J Sport Sci. 2020 Aug;20(7):887-895. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2019.1694077. Epub 2019 Nov 21. PMID: 31724902.

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