Jun 27 2023 31 mins 12
It seems like all easy running is the same, and I was in the camp of indifference for a long time, I grew to realize that as we advance in ability, how we approach our easy runs will change with the circumstance.I’ll be honest, I know what I want to convey in this post, but I am struggling with how to present it, or at least get the conversation started. So, let’s start with a common scenario that I see. * The runner finishes a training segment and takes some down time. They come back and the first several runs are really easy. This typically lasts a week or two.
* The runner gets into a groove and as mileage builds, so does the pace of their runs. During this time, there are either no workouts or very light workouts.
* Runner builds into full training and easy run paces stay the same as workouts increase in frequency and volume.
* Training gets real. Cumulative fatigue begins to take hold, but runner gets frustrated because they are really forcing themselves to maintain a moderate run pace, despite being in the heaviest amount of training. Does that sound familiar to anyone? It sure does me! What happens is we start off with our easy runs being the primary basis of our fitness, but we don’t allow our change in priorities to dictate how hard we run on our easy runs. In other words, we are saying our east runs are there for the same reason during weeks 12-17 as they are for weeks 1-11. They aren’t, and that’s what I want to explain. When easy runs are discussed, there are a lot of terms thrown around about defining a truly easy run. You may see it defined as 2.0 mmol of blood lactate, 60% of heart rate max, Zone 1-2, or an increase in lactic acid. In short, these are all centered around the idea of a person running around their aerobic threshold. When a person is just starting out running, these all occur at pretty low levels of running. Just getting out and jogging will probably cause you to reach these levels. The theory surrounding this is nice- that as you become fitter, you will naturally run faster at the same markers. For example, when you started, your pace at 60% HRmax was 9:30 per mile, maybe at the same percentage it is now 9:00. This is all pretty true, however, there are a couple of things I see with this camp that I don’t necessarily agree with. The first, is that do we continue to get the benefits from those runs all the time? Is that the staple of how our fitness is gained months and years later? I don’t think it is. I think this type of running is great for general fitness or endurance, but from a performance standpoint, I think doing this type of running all the time for my easy days will limit my aerobic growth. Secondly, I think that this type of running would shift from being my aerobic development driver to my recovery during hard training. This is probably where I would differ from other coaches who work with recreational type runners. We tend to run a lot more miles than those other plans, so we have enough maneuverability to have different types of easy runs that serve different purposes. When a person follows one of my plans, they will see easy to moderate, moderate to long run pace, and to a lesser extent, recovery paces when talking about runs normally referred to as the easy runs. If you are a zone person that’s going to include runs anywhere from what you would say zone 1 and zone 2. However, from my experience these aren’t necessarily cut and dry and I feel like there is some overlap between these zones. As much as they say that these eliminate “grey zone” training, I say that these create their own grey zones, but that’s another discussion for another time. If you read some more older school coaches, you’ll often just hear the terms regenerative, easy, aerobic, or even something like steady. What I want to get into a bit today revolves around the intermediate and above runners.
* The runner gets into a groove and as mileage builds, so does the pace of their runs. During this time, there are either no workouts or very light workouts.
* Runner builds into full training and easy run paces stay the same as workouts increase in frequency and volume.
* Training gets real. Cumulative fatigue begins to take hold, but runner gets frustrated because they are really forcing themselves to maintain a moderate run pace, despite being in the heaviest amount of training. Does that sound familiar to anyone? It sure does me! What happens is we start off with our easy runs being the primary basis of our fitness, but we don’t allow our change in priorities to dictate how hard we run on our easy runs. In other words, we are saying our east runs are there for the same reason during weeks 12-17 as they are for weeks 1-11. They aren’t, and that’s what I want to explain. When easy runs are discussed, there are a lot of terms thrown around about defining a truly easy run. You may see it defined as 2.0 mmol of blood lactate, 60% of heart rate max, Zone 1-2, or an increase in lactic acid. In short, these are all centered around the idea of a person running around their aerobic threshold. When a person is just starting out running, these all occur at pretty low levels of running. Just getting out and jogging will probably cause you to reach these levels. The theory surrounding this is nice- that as you become fitter, you will naturally run faster at the same markers. For example, when you started, your pace at 60% HRmax was 9:30 per mile, maybe at the same percentage it is now 9:00. This is all pretty true, however, there are a couple of things I see with this camp that I don’t necessarily agree with. The first, is that do we continue to get the benefits from those runs all the time? Is that the staple of how our fitness is gained months and years later? I don’t think it is. I think this type of running is great for general fitness or endurance, but from a performance standpoint, I think doing this type of running all the time for my easy days will limit my aerobic growth. Secondly, I think that this type of running would shift from being my aerobic development driver to my recovery during hard training. This is probably where I would differ from other coaches who work with recreational type runners. We tend to run a lot more miles than those other plans, so we have enough maneuverability to have different types of easy runs that serve different purposes. When a person follows one of my plans, they will see easy to moderate, moderate to long run pace, and to a lesser extent, recovery paces when talking about runs normally referred to as the easy runs. If you are a zone person that’s going to include runs anywhere from what you would say zone 1 and zone 2. However, from my experience these aren’t necessarily cut and dry and I feel like there is some overlap between these zones. As much as they say that these eliminate “grey zone” training, I say that these create their own grey zones, but that’s another discussion for another time. If you read some more older school coaches, you’ll often just hear the terms regenerative, easy, aerobic, or even something like steady. What I want to get into a bit today revolves around the intermediate and above runners.
