r/CrossCountry • u/Odd-Part7180 • 2d ago
Training Related Easy run pace
Lately i’ve been running about 9:00 to 9:30 on my easy runs and my coach tells me that i should be going between 7:00 and 8:00. My 5k pr is also 18:48. I was just wondering if there is any real benefit of going faster or if i’m good with these paces.
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u/Virtual_Constant8380 2d ago
For reference before I say anything I was sitting at 45 mpw and have a 18:21 5k pr. I ran all my easy runs at around 7:30 to 7:45 freshman year, and I ended of injured because just that extra little pace pushing adds a lot more load on your joints. I'd recommend both finding a conversationial pace and checking your mileage to see how much the extra stress would do to your legs. I really don't think people should go under 8:00 unless they're on very low mileage or very high level. Typically trusting your coach is smart because they've been designing your training, but never assume everything they say is law.
Tl;dr: Pushing down to 7:00 might give you gains for a bit, but you're likely to end up injured depending on your mileage and experience.
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u/rahindabulll34 2d ago
You could go a little faster like 8:30 but yeah that’s probably not a good idea
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u/arrr8 2d ago
I spent much of my career running at 7-7:30 pace on my easy runs ran in the 16s for 5k and a 1:13 half marathon. I think you have to listen to your heart rate and keep it at the right level. Everyone is going to be different as it comes to easy runs. I have a top girl running below 18 and she runs 7-7:45 on easy runs based of heart rate while my top boy runs 17:40 and does his easy pace around 8-9.
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u/SnugglieJellyfish 2d ago
If it's supposed to be an easy run, then you do not need to be hitting a pace, In fact, that is detrimental to the true purpose of that run. Some runners skew faster or slower for their easy pace but HR should be low (usually below 140, maybe 145-150 because you are young).
Theres only gain for pushing on harder runs. If its steady state or tempo, yeah, or you are doing repeats but easy should be easy
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u/Caldraddigon 1d ago edited 1d ago
While I don't worry too much about heart rate zones, I do like to make sure I'm below 160bpm, and I'll keep an eye on what heart rate normally looks like on my runs.
Then what I think is more important, is if my heart rate goes higher than usual, then that's one of two things, I have lost fitness or my body isn't recovering and likewise if it's lower than usual then I've either gained fitness or I'm recovering well.
Combine the above with the Pace your running at(is it lower end of your target pace range or higher end(like for 8:00-8:30 pace, is it closer to 8:00min/mile or closer to 8:30min/mile)) and the RPE for that run as well as taking into account terrain, weather etc etc, you get a very strong idea on how well your body is adapting and Recovering.
And I think this is one of the most important indicators to look for in training, as checking how well your recovering and adapting to training can really help dictate what training you should do and whether you are over training, should take it up a notch or whether you should take a recovery week.
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u/shakawallsfall 2d ago
It depends greatly on what you are doing the rest of the week. Your current pace is great the day after a hard interval session, but if you're fresh you could goose it faster without a problem.
Rather than tell you a specific pace to shoot for, my advice is to go as fast as you can at a pace that you could do again tomorrow and the day after. When in doubt, go slightly slower.
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u/Caldraddigon 2d ago edited 1d ago
There's so many factors that could go into this, but general rule of thumb is higher total volume(like weekly mileage), the slower you can take the Easy Runs, the lower the total volume you get away with doing them a bit faster.
But other factors do include how long you've trained for and how much training you've done in that time, age, how versatile your body is(how easy you get injured when increasing volume and intensity) and your current ability, altitude(dependent on location) and ofc the route itself(is it hilly, what is the terrain like, what is the weather like on that day etc).
Steve Magnus has a great video on this if you really want to get into the nitty gritty of it.
If it was me, what I'd do is do some at 8:00-8:30(guessing your talking min/mile not min/km) and some other runs at 8:30-9:00 pace, then my long run at 7:45-8:15 pace but I just personally treat my long run pace as slightly faster than easy run pace which I've done for many years now. Key thing to note that none of these different pace ranges are suppose to get into moderate pace, they are all suppose to be easy paces.
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u/pc9401 2d ago
I send it out on clipboard to target 72% of 5k race pace. That would be about 8:30. However, if it's hot, it's getting altered to 66%, or about 9:15. And we have been really hot lately, so that's getting slowed down to 9:15 and cut into two sessions with a short break to cool off.
Is there a benefit of going faster? Well that depends on what is planned for the next day. We are going to follow up that easy day with a hard one the next and running 7 minutes is going to increase your muscle tone and compromise the quality day. So you may gain a little, but will eventually lose it back by not being able to do the focused workout as well. If you aren't going hard the next day, feel free to pick it up a bit.
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u/themanofmeung 1d ago
I read all of the responses so far - I haven't seen the correct big picture answer, and most are wrong. Pleas be careful with the advice you recieved here. It's a bit worrying.
The real answer is that you need to talk to your coach and ask why he suggested that pace and how it fits into his training program. There are many different training philosophies and depending on which one your coach uses, you probably need to treat easy days differently.
Also, there are calculators out there and "rules of thumb" for guessing what is a good easy pace - my favorite says for your 5k pr, your easy pace should be 7:45-8:30 - but those numbers need to be looked at by someone who has followed your progress and knows the conditions that your training and racing were done under. Sometimes it's clear to a coach that your race times aren't living up to your fitness, and you can safely train faster than the calculator recommendations, and sometimes a coach sees your development and knows you need to back off a bit. No one can conclusively give you a proper recommendation from one data point on a Reddit post.
My general philosophy is that most people take easy too literally - you don't want to be dying, but you also want to get a training benefit from the run. If easy is just to do something while you recover between hard workouts, you are getting no benefit from half (or more) of the work you are putting in! I'd wager your coach shares this philosophy and it's why they want you to go faster on easy days. Not to mention that it's hard to run with proper form when you are going 9:30 pace - going to slow can literally hold you back! But please check this with your coach. Part of faster easy days is also slightly less hard difficult days. You can't just increase difficulty in one place without compensating for it somewhere else. Make sure it's all part of a plan.
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u/xcrunner1988 2d ago
7:00 is way too fast for an easy run at that PR. My 5K from back in the day was three minutes faster and I was running 7-8 pace for easy days.
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u/Tigersteel_ Lone Wolf 2d ago
I wouldn't call it too fast but everyone is going to be different and there is no reason to speed up. I assume the coach just wants to be able to get OP some more mileage within the times of practice. OP should ask if that's why and maybe offer to do some extra running outside of practice.
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u/Cavendish30 2d ago
I’d suggest if you are recovering from hard efforts or racing. Go as slow as you need to go to not run over aerobic HR zone. Pace is going to vary. If it’s just miles or basework, then I’d suggest a bit faster would be ideal. My daughter is 17:25 5k and her mileage days… are typically 7:45-7:55.
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u/VamosDCU 2d ago edited 2d ago
The only people I know who regularly run 7:00 pace on easy runs are like top level D1 runners or sub 2:30 marathoners. That’s borderline tempo pace for a high 18 5k runner.
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u/ImpureVessel46 2d ago
What is your pulse like at your 9:00 pace? I’ve been told that it should be between 140-160 and you should be able to hold a conversation with someone.
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u/ExcitingAd3341 1d ago
Easy is easy, my coach has always told me to run on EFFORT, not pace. Whether it's tempo, threshold, race pace, everything should be based on effort. Sometimes like intervals the pace might matter depending on the situation, but alot of runners are tied to pace like it's never wrong.
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u/Runningaroundnyc 1d ago edited 1d ago
I would say that 9:30 is probably a bit too slow or rather... not "too slow", but you could benefit from faster without it being detrimental. But 7:00-8:00 is a huge range. 7:00 would definitely put unnecessary stress on your system and you wouldn't be truly recovering.
8:00-8:30 pace seems perfectly reasonable for that time.
But context matters. If it's your medium distance day and you feel good, maybe a couple miles creep into the 7:40s and 7:50s if you are vibing a bit. But if it's the day after a hard workout and you are flushing the system, then 9:00 pace is perfectly fine for that.
But also, as a coach, sometimes the messaging is just as much "I think you are talented and doing well, I want you to run with the top runners... who are running in that range" Versus specifically "I don't want you running 9:00". It is a message to push yourself a bit, sometimes. When an athlete is showing promise and their usual group of people they run with have times significantly slower, I may (when the time is right) push them towards running with a different group.
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u/Ollly77 2d ago
9-9:30 is definitely too slow for your PR… but 7 flat isn’t needed (especially coming from 9 pace)… but your coach is correct that you should be at 8 flat or faster, I’d try and go 8 flat and it’ll become easier to dip down to 7:30… I was in your same boat in high school, I joined the top group based on race times and practiced at their pace I really struggled to keep up at first but then I got used to it, my race times improved with that
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u/andy-022 2d ago
I would absolutely not go faster than 7:30 with that PR. 9-9:30 is a little slow. That's more appropriate for a 21 minute runner.
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u/VamosDCU 2d ago
It’s a little slow but not necessarily BAD, either. Especially if there are other factors like heat and humidity. The point of easy runs is to be easy.
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u/Maleficent_Horse_759 1d ago
My 5k pb is 15:45 and my easy pace is around 5:30/km, I don’t look at the pace when running easy I just go of feel I recommend you do the same.
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u/lumberjack_dad 2d ago
We call anything above 9:00 minutes junk miles. Our boys train 7:00 to 7:30... easy days... girls 8:00 to 8:30.
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u/Acrobatic-Eye-8132 2d ago
This is a good question. Easy should be easy. Rule of thumb is 2-3 minutes slower than your 5k pace. 18:48 is roughly 6:16 pace so mid to high 8's is the maximum speed I would advise as a coach. Running faster will make you faster in the short term but fatigue will get you in a few weeks.