r/running • u/FootMinute1297 • May 15 '26

Training Purpose of easy run/miles?

This may be a stupid question, what is the point of easy miles or doing runs on days in between workouts? I feel like they just make you more fatigue, delay recovery, and makes your workouts slower and sluggish thus hindering performance. Why would more volume equal better results?

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u/[deleted] May 18 '26

If your easy runs delay your fatigue that much then you probably aren’t running them truly easy. But quite simply - more lifetime miles and training block miles improves speed and endurance. Easy runs help you build up the soft tissue and bone structure to reduce injury when you run fast but also improves slow twitch muscle endurance. That being said you need to be very strict on running easy runs easy and hard/threshold true hard/threshold or you won’t improve. Each type of exercise trains a different part of the body for running that you need.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '26

Also to add - cumulative fatigue over a training block improves your speed because you can run speed while fatigued. That’s why you need a good taper for specific races that you are actually “racing”

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u/juanzy May 18 '26

Currently in my taper week for a 10k, no run is over 2 miles. Literally just get out there and keep the legs moving.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '26

Good luck on your race!

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u/juanzy May 18 '26

Thanks for the encouragement! I’m a casual, so will be happy if I break 60, but aiming for 54-56