Easy / Long Pace

Another training pace we will use, based on our VDOT reading, is the Easy / Long pace. This is the recommended pace to use when doing a long run, or an easy run. It varies much more widely than the other paces. Our faster runners may only be a little more than a minute and a half slower than 5K race pace, while some should be over 2 minutes per mile slower than 5K pace.

Remember, this is not walking pace. We do not want to do the easy days too slow, or we would be better off taking the day off, or cross-training. We also want to be careful of running too fast on the easy days. It can prevent our bodies from adequately recovering from one quality session and being prepared for the next quality session.

Speaking of long runs, we should have been building up our long runs over the summer, and we should have probably gone as far as we need to by now. For those that have done that, the long runs will not get any longer, and will become just a bit faster as our fitness improves. For those that have not reached their ideal long run distance yet, we will still increase the length of the run, but by no more than a mile per week, and never for three weeks in a row.