Marathon Training Series

Week 2 - The Importance of Easy Pace

If there's one thing I wish more runners understood about marathon training, it's that easy running is supposed to be easy. That sounds obvious, but it's one of the most common mistakes I see. Runners will tell me they understand the difference between easy running and hard running, and then I'll look at their training and see that their "easy" days are only 30–60 seconds per mile slower than their tempo pace. That's not easy running. And the problem isn't simply that they're running a little too fast. They're potentially making it harder to recover, reducing the quality of their workouts, increasing fatigue, and making it more difficult to consistently handle the training load required to prepare for 26.2 miles. In Week 1, we talked about how a good marathon plan develops several different qualities while giving the athlete enough recovery to actually absorb the training. Easy running is a huge part of how we accomplish that. So what exactly should an easy pace feel like? And perhaps more importantly, how do you find it?

1. Easy Pace Is Very Important

One of the biggest misconceptions about easy running is that it's somehow less important than workouts. It's not. Easy running develops and reinforces many of the adaptations we're looking for in marathon training, including:

  • Aerobic development

  • Running economy

  • Muscular endurance

  • Capillary development

  • Mitochondrial adaptations

  • Ability to accumulate mileage

  • Recovery between harder sessions

  • Durability

The marathon is an aerobic event. That means a huge percentage of the training we do should develop the aerobic system. And we don't need to run hard to accomplish that. In fact, one of the reasons marathoners can handle significant training volumes is because most of that training is performed at relatively low intensity. The goal isn't to make every run impressive. The goal is to make the entire training week work.

2. The Problem With Running Easy Days Too Fast

This is where things get interesting. Let's say you have a workout on Tuesday and a long run on Sunday. Wednesday's run is supposed to help you recover from Tuesday. If you run Wednesday too hard, you haven't necessarily created a huge fitness stimulus. You've simply added more fatigue. Then Thursday comes around. You're still carrying fatigue from Tuesday and Wednesday. You run Thursday a little harder than you should because you're feeling good enough to do so. Now you're accumulating even more fatigue. By Sunday, your long run may suffer. The problem wasn't Tuesday's workout. The problem was that you never gave your body enough opportunity to recover from it. This is why I often tell runners that their easy pace isn't determined by how fast you can run. It's determined by how fast you can run while still accomplishing the purpose of an easy day. That's a very different question.

3. Easy Does Not Mean Slow for the Sake of Being Slow

I also don't want runners to misunderstand this. I'm not interested in making someone run artificially slowly. There is nothing magical about a particular pace. An easy pace for a 3-hour marathoner might be completely different from an easy pace for a 5-hour marathoner. Even the same runner may have different easy paces throughout the year. Easy pace changes based on:

  • Fitness

  • Mileage

  • Fatigue

  • Weather

  • Elevation

  • Terrain

  • Sleep

  • Stress

  • Training phase

  • Injury or soreness

A pace that feels easy on a cool morning after a rest day might not feel easy after a hard workout, during a heat wave, or on a hilly route. That's why I don't want runners obsessing over one specific number. And that’s why I give each runner an easy run range to guide them. But at the end of the day, it’s all about effort.

4. So What Should Easy Pace Actually Feel Like?

The easiest way to explain easy running is that you should feel like you're holding something back. When the run is over, you should generally feel like you could have run for twice as long or maybe another hour or so. A useful way to think about it is approximately 3 or 4 out of a 10 effort. There should be a noticeable difference between your easy running and your marathon pace running. And an even bigger difference between easy running and your tempo pace.

5. Use Your Recent Race Fitness as a Starting Point

One additional resource for finding an appropriate easy run pace range is to use recent race performances. A recent 5K, 10K, half marathon, or other race can help establish your current fitness. From there, we can estimate reasonable training zones and use those as a starting point. But it’s important to keep in mind that a calculated easy pace is a starting point, not a command. If a calculator tells you that your easy pace should be 8:15–8:45 per mile but you're exhausted from a 70-mile training week, running 8:15 because the calculator told you to isn't accomplishing anything. Run 8:45 or even over 9:00. Whatever pace allows you to accomplish the purpose of recovering. Whatever pace makes you feel like you are holding back.

6. Easy Pace Should Change Throughout the Run

Another mistake I see is thinking that every mile needs to be identical. It doesn't. You might start a run feeling stiff and run the first mile slowly. Then you warm up and naturally speed up. That's completely fine. You might also slow down toward the end because you're tired. That's fine too.

7. Your Easy Pace May Be Slower Than You Think

This is probably the hardest thing for some runners to accept. Especially experienced runners.

If you used to run a 7:00 mile, running at a 9:00 pace can feel embarrassing. It shouldn't.

Your easy pace isn't a reflection of how fast you are. It's a tool that allows you to train. And most often the better marathoner is the person willing to run slower. Think about the purpose of the day. If the objective is recovery, aerobic development, and preparing for tomorrow's training, then running faster than necessary isn't a sign of fitness. It's a failure to follow the plan.

8. Easy Pace and Marathon Pace Are Not the Same Thing

This distinction is extremely important. Marathon pace should feel controlled, but it is still a significant effort. An easy pace should feel comfortable. If your marathon pace is 8:00 per mile, your easy pace might be somewhere around 9:00–10:00 pace. But there's no universal formula. Some runners will have a larger gap. Some will have a smaller gap. And that gap can change as fitness develops. The important thing is that marathon pace should feel meaningfully harder than easy pace. If your easy runs are constantly creeping toward marathon pace, you're losing separation between training intensities. And that separation matters.

9. Easy Running Makes Hard Running Better

This is one of the most important concepts in the entire series. Easy running doesn't compete with your workouts. It helps you perform them. Imagine Tuesday's workout is: 5 × 1 mile at tempo pace (one of my favorite workouts). The objective is to run those repetitions at the appropriate intensity. But if Monday's "easy" run was actually a moderate effort, you may arrive Tuesday with unnecessary fatigue. Now you can't hit the workout properly. Or you hit it, but it feels much harder than it should. The same thing happens with long runs. If your easy running is truly easy, you can arrive at your important sessions ready to train. That's the point.

Easy days protect the quality of hard days.

10. The Easy Run Should Leave You Better Prepared for What's Next

When I look at an athlete's easy run, I'm not asking: "How fast did they run?" I'm asking:

"Did this run accomplish what it was supposed to accomplish?" If it's a recovery day, did it facilitate recovery? If it's an aerobic day, did it provide aerobic work without creating unnecessary fatigue? If it's part of a higher-mileage week, did it allow the athlete to accumulate mileage they can actually absorb? If the answer is yes, then the run was successful. Even if it was slower than expected.

11. What About Days When You Feel Amazing?

This is another trap. You go out for an easy run. The weather is perfect. Your legs feel great. Your watch says you're running 30 seconds faster than normal. So you think: "Maybe I'm fitter than I thought." And suddenly the easy run becomes a progression run. Then you finish feeling fantastic. What's the problem? There may not be one. But if you consistently turn easy days into moderate days because you're feeling good, eventually you'll pay for it. There will always be days when you can run faster. That doesn't mean you should. Sometimes the smartest training decision is to finish the run feeling like you left something in the tank.

12. What If Easy Pace Feels Unnaturally Slow?

This happens. Especially when runners first start intentionally slowing down. You may feel like you're shuffling. You may feel like your stride is awkward. You may wonder whether you're even getting a workout. Give it time. Your body has become accustomed to associating running with a certain level of effort. If you've spent years running every run moderately hard, slowing down can feel strange. But eventually you'll learn what truly easy running feels like. And something interesting often happens. You start enjoying those runs. You finish with energy. You recover faster. You look forward to the next workout. And you can handle more consistent training. That's exactly what we want.

13. Don't Let Your Watch Dictate Your Training

Technology is incredibly useful. I use it. Most of my runners use it. But your watch should provide information, not make every training decision for you. If you're supposed to run easy and your watch says you're running 9:10 pace, but you're having an easy conversation and feel great, there's no reason to speed up simply to hit 8:45. Likewise, if your watch says you're running 8:45 but your breathing is labored and your legs feel heavy, slow down. Your body gets the final vote. The watch doesn't know the purpose of today's run. You d

14. Weather Changes Everything

This becomes especially important during marathon training. Heat and humidity can dramatically increase the effort required to maintain a given pace. So if your normal easy pace is 9:00 per mile and it's 90 degrees outside, don't try to force 9:00. Maybe today's easy pace is 9:30. Maybe it's 10:00. Maybe you need to run by effort instead of pace altogether. That's not losing fitness. That's adjusting training to the conditions. The same principle applies to:

  • Hills

  • Trails

  • Strong wind

  • Snow

  • Heat

  • Humidity

  • Altitude

15. How I Want My Runners to Find Easy Pace

When a new runner starts working with me, I don't simply hand them one easy-pace number and tell them to hit it every day. Instead, I want them to learn how their body feels. I'll use recent race performances, training history, and possibly other data to establish a starting range.

Then we'll adjust based on what we see in training. But the simplest framework is: Start slower than you think you need to. Run by feel. Make sure your breathing is controlled. Make sure you can speak comfortably. Don't chase the watch. And finish the run feeling like you could have done more. Over time, you'll develop a much better understanding of your own easy pace.

16. The Bigger Picture

This brings us back to the philosophy from Week 1. A marathon training plan isn't about making every run difficult. It's about creating the right combination of stress and recovery over a long period of time. Hard workouts provide an important stimulus. Long runs build durability. Marathon-pace work develops race-specific fitness. Strength training supports the athlete. Fueling allows us to train and race. And easy running ties much of it together. Without enough easy running, we can't consistently do the work that matters most. That's why I don't consider easy runs filler. They are the foundation that allows the rest of the training to work. The goal isn't to see how fast you can run on an easy day. The goal is to see how consistently you can train over months. And that's ultimately what builds a marathoner.