Somewhere along the way, the running world decided the only thing that mattered was easy running.
You’ve probably heard it before (maybe even from me…)
“You have to build up a large amount of easy running before adding speed.”
“Easy running is the real way to make progress.”
“Run slow to get fast.”
Here’s the thing:
While easy running is an important part of any training program, it’s neither the fastest way for you to see results nor is it the only thing that matters.
If that’s the case, why do we hear so much about easy running?
Two big reasons.
1 – New people.
When you’re new, it doesn’t really matter what you do.
You’re going to see improvements.
If you’ve only been running for a couple months or less and you’re running less than ten miles per week, it doesn’t really matter how hard you run.
If you’re this early in the process, then you only have two goals.
Practice running.
Don’t get hurt.
That’s it.
If you’re incredibly new to anything, then pretty much anything will work to create results.
So you just need to get out there, build some volume, and avoid injuries – which probably means running at whatever pace feels most comfortable to you.
For most people, this will likely be a bit harder than truly “easy” – but only a bit.
Most beginners don’t need to go out and push themselves until they can’t breathe.
It could be good to do some strides, but anything longer than that will just lead to a degradation in form that’s more likely to cause injuries.
And since most coaches really don’t want people to get injured, we guide people to start fairly easy because it allows someone to build a bit of running volume with less risk for injury.
On the other side of things, we have…
2 – Professional athletes.
When you’re training at the volumes of a professional athlete, you can’t do most of your training at a high intensity.
You’d break.
So in order to keep your volume high, you do a lot of training in the “easy” zone.
But first, we should probably recognize that “easy” isn’t that easy when we’re talking about professional athletes.
Yes, they’re in an easy heart rate zone, but they’re still pushing 6-minute miles uphill. The absolute intensity of their training is something we often forget.
Even if it were easy, they still do a substantial amount of incredibly difficult work.
Most professional athletes do more high-intensity training in a week than most people do training… period.
And these are the people on whom most of us model our training – even if we don’t realize it.
That’s where all the data and research and information originates.
Studies on professional athletes.
Studies on people who are training “easy” by running 15 miles in 90 minutes on a 5% uphill grade.
If the rest of us want to see results, we probably need to be a little liberal with how we interpret and apply the methods from those studies.
Intensity matters if you want to improve.
You don’t need to live in this perpetual “easy” zone where you aren’t really seeing any progress.
And there are a bunch of ways to include that higher intensity work while staying safe.
You just have to have a good plan.
That’s the secret to training that produces results.
Not endless miles in the easy zone.
But a plan that fits your life and allows you to challenge yourself on a regular basis.
If you’ve been spinning your wheels in the easy zone without much to show for it, you’re not broken.
You just need a plan that actually helps you create progress.
If you’re interested, message me and let me know.
We’ll chat about your goals, where you’ve been stuck, and whether coaching is a good fit to help you finally see some results.
Hope to hear from you.