The most common mistake new runners make is running every run as hard as they can. It feels productive, but it leads to tired legs, slow progress and injuries.
What "easy" means
Easy running is a pace where you can hold a conversation in full sentences. You breathe a little faster than walking but you are never gasping. For many people it feels almost too slow, and it may include walk breaks. That is fine.
Why it works
- It builds the heart, lungs and the small blood vessels in your muscles that endurance depends on.
- It lets tendons, ligaments and bones, which adapt more slowly than muscles, catch up.
- You recover quickly, so you can run again in a day or two.
Many coaches suggest keeping roughly four out of every five runs easy, and making only one session a week hard, such as a tempo run or hill repeats.
The talk test on a group run
That is one reason we run in pace groups. If you can't chat with the runner next to you, drop back a group. You will finish fresher and come back stronger next week.
General guidance, not medical advice.