As runners, we often want to work hard. We’re not afraid to push our limits and push our pace. However! Taking it easy is super important when it comes to gearing up for a race or simply getting fitter and healthier. In fact, most of your runs should feel pretty light on effort.
“An easy run should be at a casual pace that feels easily sustainable and not taxing—when you’re done, it should feel like you could keep going and going,” says Meg Takacs, NASM-CPT, a run coach and founder of the Movement & Miles app.
Although the whole focus of easy runs is an easy effort—and you shouldn’t stress about pace—when you’re able to run faster (while still feeling relaxed), you’ll tick off more miles in less time and be able to get on with the rest of your day sooner.
So, for more info on how to dial into the right effort for easy runs and what workouts to add to your routine to make those outings a little speedier, keep reading.
The Benefits of Running an Easy Pace
The name is pretty self-explanatory: An easy run is any workout that’s not a long training run or speed work, and it should be done at a relaxed effort. The purpose, explains Takacs, is to build up your aerobic system, which uses oxygen as its primary source of energy. “When your aerobic system is strong, you can optimize your performance on anaerobic runs—a.k.a. speed days—as well,” she says.
There are a lot of adaptations happening in your body during these slower efforts. “Easy runs are extremely beneficial from a physiological standpoint: They increase capillaries, which supply blood to the muscles; increase mitochondria, which converts fat and carbs into fuel; and improve aerobic capacity, the amount of oxygen your body can use while running,” says Takacs.
They also help your body bounce back from harder efforts—like long runs or sprint repeats, for example—and help combat injuries. “Easy runs, especially for people who run endurance races, are a form of active recovery,” says Gabe Gonzales, certified trainer and director of experience and head coach at C3 Fitness in Texas. “Moving your body at a slower pace and keeping your heart rate down flushes lactic acid buildup, avoids putting excess strain on your muscles and joints, and helps your body get stronger and ready to go again.”
How to Find the Right Pace for Easy Runs
To find your groove on an easy run, use the talk test, says Gonzales: “You should be able to easily hold a conversation with someone throughout the entire run,” he says. “If your heart rate starts to go up and you start having a harder time breathing or talking, you need to dial it back.”
You can also gauge if your pace is relaxed enough by aiming for a rate of perceived exertion (RPE) of no more than 5 or 6 out of 10. Or if you’re into tracking your heart rate, go for zone 2, or 60 to 70 percent of your max, advises Takacs.
Whatever you do, resist the urge to kick it up a notch—even if you’re listening to music that makes you feel good and makes a moderate effort feel easier than usual. If you do so, “your recovery is harder, it’s more taxing on the body, and you’re more susceptible to overuse injuries,” says Takacs. Plus, she adds, you’ll miss out on those physiological benefits, “which are key to building a solid foundation for being able to run faster and farther.”
How to Improve Your Running Pace for Easy Days
Okay, yes, wanting to do an easy run faster is a bit counterintuitive. You’re not supposed to care how fast you’re going, after all. But while you shouldn’t actively try to push your pace during easy outings, the volume and intensity of your weekly runs can help you gradually improve your running pace without pushing the effort level up (which would, in turn, nix some of the easy-run benefits). Here’s what to know.
Gradually Build Mileage
In terms of total weekly mileage, there’s not a magic number that will help improve your pace on easy runs, says Takacs, as it depends on your fitness level and heart rate. She recommends gradually building up your mileage, always keeping around 80 percent of your runs throughout the week at an easy effort.
Mix Intervals Into Other Days
Once a week, mix in some faster intervals with a fartlek run (a type of unstructured speed work where you play around with your speed throughout), suggests Gonzales. “Adding very short bursts of intensity into a run at an overall slow, easy pace helps your body adapt to those quicker paces at the same time you’re building endurance,” he says.
Adding some workouts incorporating hill repeats can also help, he says, because they strengthen the lower body and will help increase your power output overall—making an easy effort eventually feel even easier. You could also turn to VO2 max workouts or tempo efforts to help improve your running pace on those easy days.
Build Strength
Along with speed work, make sure you’re getting in some resistance sessions, too. “Strength training is a very important factor in building endurance and durability of your muscles, and it improves your power output,” says Gonzales.
It may also help make you faster by making you a more efficient runner; exercises such as leg presses and plyometric jumps lead to significant improvements in running economy, according to a 2022 review published in the journal Sports. Plus, says Takacs, resistance training improves joint strength, which can increase your speed by improving your mechanics.
For the biggest benefit, Gonzales recommends lower-body moves that work your glutes and hamstrings, like squats and deadlifts; core moves like Russian twists or mountain climbers; and moves that strengthen your shoulders, like overhead presses, lateral raises, and dumbbell flys to add power to your arm swing. For each of these moves, he suggests doing two to three sets of eight to 10 reps at least twice a week.
Give Yourself Time
Becoming a faster runner during easy session is a long game. Even if clocking a faster easy run pace is one of your goals, prioritizing the time on your feet and a relaxed effort—rather than pushing into a moderate effort on easy runs—will be the most beneficial in the long term, notes Takacs. “The longer you can sustain an easy effort, the easier it is to gradually increase your pace while maintaining that easy, zone 2 heart rate,” she says.
Laurel Leicht
Laurel Leicht is a writer and editor in Brooklyn. She's covered health, fitness, and travel for outlets including Well+Good, Glamour, and O, The Oprah Magazine.
