How fast should my easy runs be?
Slow enough to hold a full conversation, usually 45–90 seconds per kilometre70–145 seconds per mile slower than your 10K pace.
Easy runs add aerobic volume without leaving you too tired for the hard sessions. Well-trained endurance athletes do roughly 80% of their sessions at this low intensity.
Pace is only a guide: heat, hills and a bad night’s sleep all slow you down at the same effort. If you cannot speak in full sentences, slow down.
Run the numbers
Sources
3
- Seiler, S. (2010). What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes? Int J Sports Physiol Perform 5(3). The polarised model: roughly 80% of sessions below the first ventilatory threshold.
- Stöggl, T. & Sperlich, B. (2014). Polarized training has greater impact on key endurance variables than threshold, high intensity, or high volume training. Front Physiol 5. Polarised training outperformed threshold-heavy training.
- Daniels, J. (2014). Daniels' Running Formula, 3rd ed. Human Kinetics. Book. Easy pace is 59–74% of VO₂max; worked through his equations, that lands roughly 45–90 s/km slower than 10K pace for most recreational runners.